12 nonprofits will continue to redefine the stories of Massachusetts by creatively expanding access to their untold histories.
In October, Mass Humanities concluded its fifth round of the Expand Massachusetts Stories (EMS) initiative by providing $800,000 in grants to 46 cultural nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts. Thirty four of the storytelling projects focus on the nation’s 250th and address the theme of “Promises of the Revolution.” Twelve grant recipients will build on their storytelling work in innovative ways with the support of “Story Forward” grants. Examples include:
- The Sheffield Historical Society creating a public-facing website and interactive map to continue telling the stories of free and enslaved Black residents of Sheffield in the colonial and federal periods;
- The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe increasing community engagement sessions about hunting and fishing rights on ancestral lands;
- Filmmaker Gabrielle Ewing creating a nuanced discussion guide for an upcoming documentary film, Credible Fear, about the U.S. asylum system, religion, motherhood, and female empowerment
The “Story Forward” grants come at a precarious time for cultural organizations of all types, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) terminated funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and Institute of Museum and Library Services in April. Mass Humanities lost 35% of its annual operating budget, more than $1.3 million, as a result.
With the support of “Story Forward,” our grantees will have the resources to continue developing stories that matter to local communities. Each of the 12 organizations in this year’s cohort intend to expand access to their work in some way, whether that involves digitizing archives, designing exhibitions that can travel around the commonwealth, or creating guides and curricula that help residents dive deeper into stories of Massachusetts.
The Lowell Latinx Archive preserves the rich heritage of Lowell’s Latinx community through oral histories, photography, and community engagement events. The Latinx Center will expand its community building initiatives, enhance its archival practices, and digitize its growing collection to ensure these valuable cultural resources are accessible to researchers, educators, and community members for generations to come.
“Collective Journeys: Multilingual Histories in Motion” is a traveling and digital expansion of “Framingham’s Collective Journeys,” sharing stories of immigration from 1960 to today. The Framingham History Center will continue its research, design, and printing of a 10-panel pop-up exhibit in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, curriculum development, and a redesigned website featuring adaptive translations for ongoing oral histories and improved translation access.
Since 2021, Mass Humanities has distributed $3.8 million in EMS grants with support from Mass Cultural Council and the Barr Foundation. The initiative creates opportunities for local organizations and audiences to delve into the past, record the experience of residents, and deepen public understanding of the ideas, events, and people who shape Massachusetts.
A full list of “Story Forward” grantees is listed below.
For more information, contact Wes DeShano, communications manager, at wdeshano@masshumanities.org or 413-203-6241, ext. 102.
Berkshires
Grantee: Sheffield Historical Society
Location: Sheffield
Project title: In Elizabeth Freeman’s World: Tracing Black Lives Across Slavery, Freedom, and the Early Republic in Sheffield
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://sheffieldhistory.weebly.com/
Project summary: In Elizabeth Freeman’s World is an ongoing effort of the Sheffield Historical Society to document the lives of free and enslaved Black residents of Sheffield during the colonial (1733-1783) and federal (1783-1830s) periods. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for continued archival research, publication, a public-facing website with biographies, an interactive storymap of key sites, and descendant outreach to honor and preserve community memory.
Cape and Islands
Grantee: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
Location: Mashpee
Project title: Across Generations – Aboriginal Hunting and Fishing
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov/
Project summary: “Across Generations – Aboriginal Hunting and Fishing” is a continuation of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s community centered effort to document, preserve, and share the stories of our people’s enduring struggle to retain, exercise, and defend our inherent rights to hunt and fish on our ancestral homelands and waterways. We will transform compiled research into a physical and digital exhibit and with more community engagement sessions, interpretive development, and consultation on graphic design.
Connecticut River Valley
Grantee: Michelle Falcón Fontánez Filmmaker
Location: Indian Orchard
Project title: Ashes in my Neighborhood
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://www.falconfontanezfoto.com/ashes/
Project summary: Ashes in My Neighborhood is a three-part mini-doc following Maria’s journey—from living through the 1970s South Holyoke fires as a teen to investigating their causes and impacts as an adult historian. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for community screenings with partners, festival submissions, and outreach across Massachusetts and Puerto Rican communities in New York and Chicago to expand the project’s reach.
Greater Boston
Grantee: Gabrielle Ewing Filmmaker
Location: Washington, DC
Project title: Credible Fear
Grant: $10,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://www.gabrielle-ewing.com/credible-fear-coming-soon
Project summary: Credible Fear is a documentary film that explores the intersections of the U.S. asylum system, religion, motherhood, and female empowerment. Gabrielle Ewing, an independent filmmaker with a fiscal sponsor, will use grant funds to create and distribute a short impact excerpt of the film, organize focus group screenings, and create a nuanced discussion guide.
Grantee: Jewish Women’s Archive
Location: Newton
Project title: Jewish Women’s Voices, Jewish Women’s Lives
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://jwa.org/
Project summary: Jewish Women’s Voices, Jewish Women’s Lives is an oral history preservation and publication project aimed at filling the gaps in the history of Massachusetts Jewish women. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for digitizing, processing, and adding 80 MA-based oral histories to the 118 we processed with the previous Expanding Massachusetts Stories grant. We will also offer a free oral history workshop to 10-15 local community members, introducing them to our collections and training them to become collectors.
Grantee: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England
Location: Boston
Project title: Resiliency in Chinatown: Stories of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://ccbaboston.org/en/welcome-to-ccba-of-new-england
Project summary: Resiliency in Chinatown: Stories of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will build upon previous collected oral history accounts by further exploring immigrant stories of people who were detained during the period of the Chinese Exclusion Act at the East Boston Detention Center. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for further research, design for printing of exhibit panels and to produce a short film that will be available at the Chinatown Heritage Center and on our website.
Metro West
Grantee: Framingham History Center
Location: Framingham
Project title: Collective Journeys: Multilingual Histories in Motion
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://framinghamhistory.org/
Project summary: “Collective Journeys: Multilingual Histories in Motion” is a traveling and digital expansion of “Framingham’s Collective Journeys,” sharing stories of immigration from 1960 to today. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for research, design, and printing of a 10-panel pop-up exhibit in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, curriculum development, and a redesigned website featuring adaptive translations for ongoing oral histories and improved translation access.
Northeast
Grantee: Latinx Community Center for Empowerment
Location: Lowell
Project title: Lowell Latinx Archive
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://latinxcenter.org/
Project summary: The Lowell Latinx Archive preserves the rich heritage of Lowell’s Latinx community through oral histories, photography, and community engagement events. Mass Humanities funds will provide support support to expand our community building initiatives, enhance our archival practices, and digitize our growing collection to ensure these valuable cultural resources are accessible to researchers, educators, and community members for generations to come.
Grantee: ActiveVista Media
Location: Malden
Project title: Searching for Flora
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://www.activevistafilms.com/activevista-media
Project summary: “Searching for Flora” is a documentary film that follows the community of St. Peter’s Church in Salem as they search for answers about their church’s involvement with slavery. This film explores how a community and its members, in the context of the legacy of slavery, constructs the stories we tell about ourselves and our communities. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for final editing of the film and an impact campaign of community screenings and discussions in Massachusetts.
Grantee: Doris Prouty Foundation
Location: Boston
Project title: Vessels of Slavery: Forget Me Not
Grant: $20,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://www.dorisproutyfoundation.org/
Project summary: Vessels of Slavery: Forget Me Not is a traveling exhibition of interpreted archival materials around the history of enslaved people in Essex County, Massachusetts. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for continuing research, exhibition installation, public programming, and teaching materials.
Grantee: Angkor Dance Troupe
Location: Lowell
Project title: Between Earth and Sky: Staging a Khmer Swan Lake
Grant: $10,000
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://www.angkordance.org/
Project summary: “Between Earth and Sky: Staging a Khmer Swan Lake” is a 26-minute documentary that explores intergenerational creativity and cultural preservation through the lens of Cambodian classical dance. Mass Humanities funds will provide support for filming, editing, and community engagement tied to the development of “A Khmer Swan Lake,” an original performance blending Khmer classical forms with Western ballet narrative, a new project in collaboration with the Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT), premiering in Spring 2026.
Southeast
Grantee: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center
Location: New Bedford
Project title: Sharing the Catch
Grant: $19,525
Category: Story Forward
Website: https://fishingheritagecenter.org/
Project summary: Sharing the Catch will engage new audiences with the multilingual, multicultural, multimedia exhibit created in 2024 as part of our Casting A Wider Net (CAWN) community-based oral history project. This engagement will include traveling the physical exhibit to community sites; activating those sites with public programming; developing a digital version of the exhibit; and creating related curriculum with the help of CAWN cohort members and local educators.
