Explore the Mass Humanities funded projects awarded from 2000 to the present. Browse by grant type, city, region or keyword. Subscribe to our newsletter and receive news when grants are awarded.
Reading Frederick Douglass Together in the BerkshiresSusan B. Anthony Birthplace Museummore
A three-part event on the history of Frederick Douglass' alliance with Susan B. Anthony and his enduring relevance.
Adams, MA, Berkshire County
project director: Mary Ostraff
awarded on: 2016-05-18
amount: $275
Fitchburg Frederick Douglass Communal ReadingWomen in Actionmore
A parade and public discussion during the Reading Frederick Douglass event in Fitchburg, co-sponsored by many local organizations.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County
project director: Chantel Bethea
awarded on: 2016-05-18
amount: $500
At Sword's Point: A Labor History of GreenfieldMuseum of Our Industrial Heritagemore
Research and an overview history of local factory labor based on materials in the collection of the Museum and other sources.
Greenfield, MA, Franklin County (CT Valley)
project director: James Terapane
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $3,000
Processes: A Lecture Series on the Social Impact of Contemporary PhotographyNewburyport Clean Tech Centermore
A three-lecture series about the relationship between photographic processes and the "truth" in photography.
Amesbury, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Asia Scudder
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $3,360
150 Years of Caroline Emmerton: Celebrating a LegacyThe House of the Seven Gables Settlement Associationmore
A series of lectures and community conversations marking the 150th birthday of founder Caroline Emmerton.
Salem, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Julie Arrison-Bishop
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
Theatrical Production of "American Son" with Weekend SymposiumBarrington Stage Companymore
A weekend symposium on race, bias, and culture in present-day America held in conjunction with their production of "American Son."
Pittsfield, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Martin Mansfield
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
The MastheadsCity of Pittsfield Office of Cultural Developmentmore
A series of five community conversations about writers of the American renaissance in the Pittsfield in conjunction with the City's new writers' residency program.
Pittsfield, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Jen Glockner
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $5,000
Reel Talk Film Series: Conscious ConsumersLawrence Community Worksmore
A public film series, focused on issues relevant to the local Lawrence community.
Lawrence, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Jared Ravreby
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $3,300
James Baldwin ProjectMaysles Institutemore
Creation of classroom-ready multimedia study guides and lesson plans, including optional events programming, about the life and work of James Baldwin.
New York, NY, New York County
project director: Karen Thorsen
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
Dialogues Across Divides SeriesCritical Connectionsmore
A series of six dialogues entitled "Muslims in America: Dialogue Across Divides" on the issues shaping misperceptions of Muslims in the U.S. and in the greater Pioneer Valley.
Longmeadow, MA, Hampden County (CT Valley)
project director: Mehlaqa Samdani
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
Circle Up: Let's Talk About Justice, Forgiveness and AccountabilityCenter For Independent Documentarymore
Creation of discussion materials and a series of conversations in Boston Public High Schools using clips from the film "The Circle: A Story of Murder and Reconciliation in Boston".
Walpole, MA, Norfolk County (Southeast)
project director: Julie Mallozzi
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $9,998
Neighborhoods of WorcesterWorcester Historical Museummore
Research and creation of a traveling exhibit focused on the history of Latino immigration in Worcester, MA.
Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Olga Lopez Hill
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
Fitchburg Immigrant Experience OnlineFitchburg Historical Societymore
An internship program whose purpose is to inventory new acquisitions and engage local and immigrant audiences in Fitchburg.
Fitchburg, MA, Worcester County (Central)
project director: Susan L. Navarre
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $6,000
Storytelling by the SeaSave the Harbor/Save the Baymore
A new storytelling program about the history of Boston Harbor.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Bruce Berman
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $10,000
Beyond Success: Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee WilliamsProvincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festivalmore
Support for the 2016 Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival.
Provincetown, MA, Barnstable County (Cape & Islands)
project director: Jeff Hall-Flavin
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $5,000
Touching Home in China: Curriculum for EducatorsFilmmakers Collaborativemore
Distribution of a curriculum to accompany the film "Touching Home in China," including videos, trainings, and presentations about Chinese history and culture.
Melrose, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
project director: Melissa Ludtke
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $5,000
Making History on the Common 2016Friends of the Public Gardenmore
Support for the annual history day on Boston Common, in which more than 1,000 Boston school third-to-fifth-grade school kids usually participate.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Elizabeth Vizza
awarded on: 2016-03-18
amount: $8,000
Women in Politics: Then and NowNichols House Museummore
A slate of programming around the theme of women in politics, especially the life and work of the progressive Nichols sisters.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Victoria Glazomitsky
awarded on: 2016-03-17
amount: $7,550
We Read Frederick Douglass as a Community: One Voice, Three LanguagesFrederick Douglass Neighborhood Associationmore
A public reading of Frederick Douglass' "What is the Fourth of July to the Slave" in the three major languages of Brockton.
Brockton, MA, Plymouth County
project director: Madeline M. Smith
awarded on: 2016-03-16
amount: $500
Competing Notions for a Common GoodM.G. Parker Memorial Librarymore
A Common Good Reads discussion series that will cover texts that ask participants to consider contemporary anti-Islam rhetoric in larger historical contexts.
Dracut, MA, Middlesex County
project director: Nanci M. Hill
awarded on: 2016-03-01
amount: $1,000
Incarceration and the Common GoodFranklin County Sherrif's Officemore
Common Good Reads discussion series that uses discussion, theatre, storytelling, reading, and writing to engage residents in conversations about Douglass Blackmon's Pulitzer-Prize-winning book "Slavery by Another Name" and Loftin's play "When the System Swallows You."
Greenfield, MA, Franklin County
project director: Revan Schendler
awarded on: 2016-02-10
amount: $2,500
Common Good Reads Discussion SeriesPeabody Institute Librarymore
A Common Good Reads discussion series that will cover texts that ask participants to consider the relationship between diversity, culture, migration, and the social contract.
Peabody, MA, Essex County
project director: Kelly R. Unger
awarded on: 2016-02-05
amount: $1,500
Norwood Historical Costume CollectionNorwood Historical Societymore
Funding to inventory, evaluate, photograph and re-house their collection of 750 garments dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. Materials will be used in a digital presentation of their entire costume collection, an exhibit of WWI era clothing and a planned exhibit exploring the diversity of Norwood's participation in the Great War.
Norwood, MA, Norfolk County
project director: Bryan Burns
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $1,500
Reweaving the Social Fabric - Inventorying Leverett's Historical RecordLeverett Historical Commissionmore
Funding to inventory the Leverett Town Meeting Record and Municipal Archives in order to asses and catalogue town collections for their research potential.
Leverett, MA, Franklin County
project director: Lisa Stratford
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $1,500
Early Families & Industries of West StockbridgeWest Stockbridge Historical Societymore
Funding to inventory, catalogue and preserve four boxes of records, invoices and papers from Baldwin's Extracts Company, est. 1865, ranging from the late 19th through early mid 20th centuries. The material will be part of an on-going series of talks and remembrances celebrating West Stockbridge and its families.
West Stockbridge, MA, Berkshire County
project director: Robert Salerno
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $1,500
Squam: An Intimate HistoryAnnisquam Historical Societymore
Funding to inventory, photograph, and index 39 family albums and scrapbooks made by village residents from pre- civil war time on. Selected albums will be featured in an upcoming exhibit about what life was like for families in the village during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Gloucester, MA, Essex County
project director: Mary Ellen Lepionka
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $1,500
The Philadelphia ElevenDocumentary Educational Resourcesmore
Funding to conduct and film interviews and to perform archival research for the documentary film, "The Philadelphia Eleven," about the women who were ordained as priests in 1974 as an act of civil disobedience within the Episcopal Church.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Margo Guernsey
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
Reclaiming Urban Renewal - Community Efforts and Impacts in Lawrence MALawrence History Center / Immigrant City Archivesmore
Planning and implementation of a one-day symposium on the effects of federal and state urban renewal programs on Lawrence and other industrial cities.
Lawrence, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
project director: Susan Grabski
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Olde Colraine: A Musical Hilltown HistoryFractured Atlasmore
Performer Jonathan Mirin's expansion and development of a new version of "Mill, Mountain, River: A Child's Eye View of Older Colraine," a local history theatre piece adapted to different communities which share Coleraine's mill history and to be performed at the SYRUP Festival in Shelburne Falls.
New York, NY, New York County
project director: Jonathan Mirin
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,500
Initial filming, research, and the creation of a project website and plan for a documentary that follows prisoners as they work with programs intended to help them establish a foothold in society after being released from incarceration.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Robert Nesson
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
History Theater at the Old State House: Blood on the SnowBostonian Societymore
Educational programming in conjunction with the production of "History Theater at the Old State House: Blood on the Snow," a collaborative theatre project with educational components surrounding the aftermath of the Boston Massacre.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Nathaniel G. Sheidley
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War IICityLoremore
Design and building of an interactive educational website in order to publicize and foster discussion around the feature-length documentary film "GI JEWS: Jewish Americans in WWII."
New York, NY, New York County
project director: Lisa Ades
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
New Rep Spotlight Symposium SeriesNew Repertory Theatremore
A symposium series in conjunction with theatrical productions that explore the connections between religion, science, and identity.
Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Adrienne Boris
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Belmont World Film's Family Festival & 15th Annual International Film SeriesBelmont World Filmmore
Support for the Family Festival & 15th Annual International Film Series, featuring international film and documentary premiers and focusing on international cultural understanding.
Sudbury, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
project director: Ellen Gitelman
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Spirit Voices: Pacific Northwest Native MythsBerkshire Museummore
A five-month exhibition that explores and dramatizes the cultural heritage of various Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest through myths and stories embodied in art, artifacts, and performances.
Pittsfield, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
project director: Maria Mingalone
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,680
Boston's Colonial Religious History Tour AppCongregational Library and Archivesmore
Development of a walking tour mobile application explores Boston's early religious history, with a particular focus on the decision-making practices and contentious issues that characterized life in seventeenth-century Boston.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Carolyn Hewitt
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $7,000
Somerset, Massachusetts: Envisioning Past and PresentSomerset Berkley Regional High Schoolmore
A program for 36 students in the school's Advanced Digital Photography program to create a town-wide large-scale photo installation of the historic places, people, and culture of the town.
Somerset, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
project director: Virginia Troutman
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Long Road to Justice: The African American Experience in the Massachusetts CourtsGeorge Lewis Ruffin Societymore
Expansion and updating of the exhibit Long Road to Justice: The African American Experience in the Massachusetts Courts, a chronicle of the legal struggle for civil rights of African Americans in Massachusetts.
Somerville, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
project director: Julian Houston
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $10,000
Boston Live Theater ProjectThe Boston Live Theater Projectmore
A program to introduce 36 high school juniors and seniors from nine public charter schools to live theater through six live shows and post-performance discussions.
Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
project director: Eleanor Devens
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $5,000
Pre-Teen Reading ProgramFoxborough Regional Charter Schoolmore
A reading and discussion program for pre-teens and their caregivers, particularly focused on participation by male caregivers.
Foxborough, MA, Norfolk County (Southeast)
project director: Karen Harris
awarded on: 2015-12-11
amount: $4,047