Past Grants Awarded

A public reading of Frederick Douglass' "What is the Fourth of July to the Slave" in the three major languages of Brockton.

A Common Good Reads discussion series that will cover texts that ask participants to consider contemporary anti-Islam rhetoric in larger historical contexts.

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."

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.

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.

Funding to inventory the Leverett Town Meeting Record and Municipal Archives in order to asses and catalogue town collections for their research potential.

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.

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.

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.

Planning and implementation of a one-day symposium on the effects of federal and state urban renewal programs on Lawrence and other industrial cities.

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.

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.

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.

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."

A symposium series in conjunction with theatrical productions that explore the connections between religion, science, and identity.

Support for the Family Festival & 15th Annual International Film Series, featuring international film and documentary premiers and focusing on international cultural understanding.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A reading and discussion program for pre-teens and their caregivers, particularly focused on participation by male caregivers.

Production of an 80-minute documentary featuring footage from more than 50 oral-history interviews of elderly Lenox residents to mark the town's 250th anniversary.

Writing of the libretto of a "folk opera" about the mid-nineteenth-century African American experience on Martha's Vineyard.

Support for a public reading of Frederick Douglass' famous Fourth of July oratory as part of the Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass program.

Preproduction work on a documentary covering the role of music in the maintaining of cultural identity among Tibetan exiles.

A bilingual exhibit on Latino heritage created in consultation with Holyoke residents and focused on the relationships of the subjects with their grandmothers.

A local history day at Mohawk Trail Regional High School uniting teachers, students, and the public with local history organizations.

Inventory, translation, and assessment of client files from the Harry H. Dow papers archived at the Suffolk Law School Library.

A multimedia oral history project with workers and employers about the MA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, including two public events.

Support for the 80th season of the speaker series, consisting of five free public lectures.

Creation of a trailer, script, and fundraising plan for a one-hour documentary film by Bestor Cram about the post-war realities in Vietnam and American veterans' ongoing involvement there.

A four-day themed film festival on intergenerational immigrant experiences.

Production of a play by Yussef El Guindi, post-performance talks with the playwright, and a free, public symposium on the role of the arts in challenging stereotypes.

Creation of a five-to-twelve minute pilot video about Portuguese cuisine and its history hosted by Manny Lopes of "Cooking with Dad TV."

A reading, discussion, and performance program for Boston cab drivers based on Dmitry Samarov's Where To?

A short film featuring an animation of the 1790s building of the USS Constitution, to be shown while Old Ironsides is in dry dock and can be seen in her entirety.

A community art and discussion project that will engage former chair manufacturing workers in producing 400 copies of eleven oral histories recorded in 2009, after the closing of the city's last chair manufacturer.

Production of a 3-minute film that is to provide background for Tsongas Center interactive civic activity that focuses on immigration.

A one-day symposium familiarizing regional historic and cultural resource organizations with the history and legacy of slavery in the north and helping them develop programming and materials.