Past Grants Awarded

An original play about the life of women's suffrage activist Victoria Woodhull, to focus in part on the adultery scandal referred to as the Beecher-Tilton Affair.

Third and fifth grade curriculum units that use local history materials on colonial life, maritime industry, the War of 1812, and the life of Katherine Lee Bates.

Identification and research of African Americans buried at Forest Hills and incorporation of the findings into a walking tour.

Research and interpretation of the Society's collection of clothes used by women in the rural community of Westport during the nineteenth century.

Research on a collection of Native American artifacts from the Rose Farm area of Corn Hill in Truro, and provide interpretive material for scholars and visitors.

Research on North Sunderland's relation to the natural resources of the Connecticut River, incorporating insights from natural and environmental history in a historic tour.

Inventory of the Cutthyhunk Historical Society's collection of materials from local shipwrecks off the Elizabeth Islands.

Inventory of artifacts and documents in public collections across the three counties of the Pioneer Valley related to Valley residents who journeyed to California as part of the California Gold Rush.

Inventory of the Ellis Family collection, a recent donation of 200 items from the Ellis Family of Westwood, to be used as the basis for a major exhibition at the Westwood Historical Society in the fall of 2009.

Production of a short web film template and launch of a website focusing on the needs of immigrants seeking citizenship in the United States.

Pre-production of a two-part documentary telling the story of the military draft. Project treatment, full proposal and a promo.

Support of various programs related to "Fitting Out," a new exhibit focusing on the shoreside industries that supported the local fishing fleet circa 1900. Includes production of a training packet for docents, equipment design for docent use, production of an activity guide and the organization of a lecture series.

Conversion to DVD of the educational video production "A Little Rebellion Now and Then".

Two-day festival of both feature and documentary films dealing with the impact of globalization on garment production and the production and distribution of food, as well as globalization's impact on issues involving labor and women. Includes film screenings, panel discussions and a fair trade market.

Original musical theater production about immigrants to America in 1907. Two public performances and five school programs.

Publication of a bilingual Cambodian Refugee Poetry & CD Project.

A multi-faceted journey into the origin and continuation of American craft traditions.

Consultation and programming for an idea based interpretation of Judith Sargent Murray, a writer who championed equal eductaion and "female" rights in her pioneering essay "On the Equality of the Sexes."

Pre-production of a film about five children of 60's and 70's social just activists.

Inventory of the sources of contemporary information about the Royall family's correspondence at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Production of a book of photographs and essays documenting the history of Colonial Meetinghouses in New England. Accompanying travel exhibition.

Creation of a trailer and script treatment for the Paper Mills Documentary Project.

Library reading and discussion program featuring books with a strong sense of place.

Requested funds will be used to pay for an English editorial service for the bilingual Cambodian Refugee Poetry Book & CD Project to make sure the proposal has proper English language syntax, clear objectives, achievable measurable outcomes, and is in line with the mission of Mass Humanities and the sponsoring agency.

Planning and design of an exhibit to commemorate the two-hundredth anniversary of the Jackson Homestead.

Festival of films examining artistic expression in the face of censorship. The festival aims to engage the general public on developments in the Muslim world with free screenings, expert presenters and live performances.

Creation of an oral history component for the online collection of Holyoke's history. The component will provide a training session on how to conduct oral history interviews, a library of oral history texts, oral history opportunities for classrooms and the opportunity for applicatns to collect digital oral histories from institutions such as Holyoke's Soldier's Home.

Development of an interactive museum exhibit designed to connect people to the constitutional significance of the Springfield Armory Historical site. The exhibit will use the Springfield Technical Community College's Shays' Rebellion & the Making of a Nation: from Revolution to Constitution website as the centerpiece.

Public lecture series and forum taking place over five weeks focusing on American foreign policy issues.

Multicultural film series held at the Sharon Public Library. Each of four evenings will feature a popular film about the struggle between traditional family values and modern society in a different ethnic or religious group represented in Sharon. A discussion by a scholar will precede each film to provide a cultural and historic context for the movie and to connect these themes to our present day lives among neighbors from different religious and cultural backgrounds. One or two local residents will also share their personal experience as they relate to the movie themes.

Planning for an interactive exhibit of Aquinnah Wampanoag oral histories describing Aquinnah Wampanoag lifeways, history and culture.

Re-versioning of a substantial volume of website materials first developed for the award-winning radio series to become an audio-visual online exhibition.

Pre-production of a documentary film tentatively called "As Nutayunean," a Wampanoag phrase meaning "we still live here". This is a powerful statement from people who are thought by many to be extinct. The film centers on Jessie Little-Doe, a woman of indomitable spirit who has accomplished the unprecedented feat of reviving a language with no native speakers.

Reading and discussion program focusing on Jewish adventures in the graphic novel.

Inventory of 10-12 boxes of the costume and textile collection of the Westport Historical Society with reference to themes in Westport local history as well as national issues such as the civil war.

Support for partial inventory of core collection. Frank White will pick, inventory and mark 60 core artifacts directly associated with up to three themes in the development of farming in the Pioneer Valley from subsistence to industrial farming. The report and catalog will be used to develop a mission statement and create one and five-year programming plans.

Pre-production of a 90 minute historical documentary film about the Al Cap, creator of the long-running comic strip Li'l Abner (1934-1977).

Pre-production of a feature documentary chronicling the story of a small town Massachusetts housewife who, in the 1960's, single-handedly led the charge to clean up the Nashua River, one of America's ten most polluted rivers.

A six-week summer program for youth ages 13-17 at the Mystic Public Housing Development. Participants will engage in learning photography, interviewing and story-telling skills that will enable them to tell the story of immigrant groups in Somerville. Participants will also explore the experiences of other immigrant youth around the United States through literature and film and engage in a dialogue about the impact they can have as immigrant youth in bringing about change in their community.

Development of a walking tour and creation and printing of an accompanying guide to identify H.M. Francis buildings city wide.