Mass Humanities Recent Grants

Hawk Valley Farm - 350th Anniversary of the First Settlement North of the Merrimack River

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Research into and documentation of the land use history of Hawk Valley Farm (1664), a five-acre conservation property that is still occupied by the descendants of the settlers.
   Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust
   Lowell, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
   project director: Jane Calvin

Elizabeth Cadman White

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Research into the life of Elizabeth Cadman White (1685-1768), one of the first owners of the 1710 Cadman-White-Handy House, and her social, cultural, economic, and political environment.
   Westport Historical Society
   Westport, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
   project director: Jenny O'Neill

Unlearning the Language of Violence

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Community conversations about violence in America by way of a series of public events, lectures, panels, oral history, film, literature, radio interviews or "town meetings," and online outreach.
   Veterans Education Project
   Amherst, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Susan Leary

Roots of Liberty: The Haitian Revolution and the American Civil War

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Community conversations and other interactive programming around the production of a historical pageant commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The pageant will be focused on the Haitian Revolution (a defining moment in the history of slavery in the Americas) and the larger-than-life figure of Haitian liberator Toussaint Louverture.
   Central Square Theater
   Cambridge, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
   project director: Debra Wise

Poetry Lifts Literacy

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

The introduction of 75 adult basic education students to literature through poetry workshops that will culminate in a reading alongside nationally and regionally known poets at the fourth annual Greenfield Annual Word Festival.
   The Literacy Project
   Greenfield, MA, Franklin County (CT Valley)
   project director: Judith Roberts

New Voices: Nantucket's Diverse Immigrant Population

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A complex and multifaceted oral history project to record the new voices and life histories of recent immigrants to the island.
   Nantucket Historical Association
   Nantucket, MA, Nantucket County (Cape & Islands)
   project director: Betsy S. Tyler

"I Have a Dream": Public Dialogues on the Unfinished Business of Emancipation & Civil Rights

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Six public events-in the Berkshires, Roxbury, Cambridge, Medford, Watertown and Worcester-that explore the unfinished business of the Civil War and the civil rights era.
   The Tracing Center on Histories and Legacies of Slavery
   Watertown, MA, Middlesex County (Greater Boston)
   project director: Margo Varea

Harvest of Voices - Cuentos de Lawrence

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A community-based oral history/musical theatre project drawn from personal interviews within the Latino community in Lawrence, collected by Spanish-speaking students at Merrimack College, and dramatized by playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez.
   Merrimack College
   North Andover, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
   project director: Joseph Kelley

Farenheit 451: "If I had to Choose..." and "Who Gets to Choose..."

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Two-months of community programming on the history and contemporary role of censorship in our society, using Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" as the centerpiece.
   Fitchburg State University
   Fitchburg, MA, Worcester County (Central)
   project director: Mary C. Durling

CAM Connections

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester will bring reproductions of regional landscape paintings from the Museum collection to seniors in care facilities in and around Gloucester, and also to support field trips for these seniors to the museum.
   Cape Ann Museum
   Gloucester, MA, Essex County (Northeast)
   project director: Peggy Cahill

Academy of Music Play Development

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Development of a play that tackles issues in the history of women's work, based on the life of the strong-willed Mildred E. Walker, box office manager at the Academy whose controversial promotion to interim manager became the occasion of a scandal, criminal accusations, and the loss of her job.
   Northampton Academy of Music, Inc.
   Northampton, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Debra J'Anthony

A Legacy of Rural Music, People and Place

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A weeklong workshop between beginner musicians from a selection of Hill Towns (Ashfield, Plainfield, Hawley, and Buckland) and mentors conversant in regional folk classics in preparation for storytelling performances.
   Country Dance and Song Society, Inc.
   Easthampton, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Jacqueline Cooper

Making History on the Commons

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

The fourth annual history fair on the Boston Common for third and fifth grade students. The fair has grown into an annual collaboration between FPG, the schools, and various history organizations that interpret, re-enact, and engage students in how the Common has been used throughout history.
   Friends of the Public Garden
   Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
   project director: Elizabeth Vizza

Music for the Soul: Building Community Through Musical Diversity

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Four dinner concerts and 10 lunchtime concerts, to be followed by scholar-facilitated discussions at the Center, a community organization that serves homeless and low-income people.
   Amherst Survival Center
   Amherst, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Bob Weiner

Buckman Tavern Self-Guided Audio Tour

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A new audio tour for Buckman Tavern, the gathering place for the Lexington militia before they encountered British soldiers in the first battle of the American Revolution.
   Lexington Historical Society
   Lexington, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
   project director: Alison Falotico

Jack Kerouac Reading and Discussion Series

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Reading and discussion series focusing on books by Jack Kerouac.
   University of Massachusetts Lowell
   Lowell, MA, Middlesex County (Northeast)
   project director: Sara Marks

Photo Digitization and Exhibit

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Scanning, inventory, and electronic storage of more than 500 photographs in the Hassanamisco Indian Museum's collection.
   Hassanamisco Indian Museum / Nipmuc Nation
   South Grafton, MA, Worcester County (Central)
   project director: D. Rae Gould

Helen V. Manning Archive Inventory Project

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Inventory of the archival pictures, research papers, and notes left by Helen Vanderhoop Manning, an Aquinnah Wampanoag leader, historian, and educator.
   Aquinnah Cultural Center
   Aquinnah, MA, Dukes County (Cape & Islands)
   project director: Berta Welch

Art in Words

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

An after-school reading and visual arts program for middle school students focusing on the connection between the novel Okay for Now by award-winning writer Gary Schmidt and the New Bedford Public Library's unique collection of James Audubon's Birds of America prints.
   Community Foundation of Southeastern MA
   New Bedford, MA, Bristol County (Southeast)
   project director: Jill Horton-Simms

Youth Programs at the Royall House & Slave Quarters

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Development of a youth curriculum for the museum-which features the only known "slave quarters" in New England-that is tied to the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks for third and fifth grade (when Massachusetts history is taught).
   Royall House Association
   Medford, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
   project director: Margen Kelsey

Sojourner Truth and 19th Century Florence

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A three-part effort to bring 300 Springfield students to Florence for a Sojourner Truth walking tour, which will include exploration of historic houses and places where African-American fugitives lived and worked during the antebellum period.
   Committee for Northampton, Inc.
   Florence, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Terrence O'Toole

Writing and Reading Through Illness

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A reading, discussion, and writing initiative in nursing homes, retirement facilities, hospitals, and care centers. Using Virginia Woolf's "On Being Ill" along with "Notes from Sick Rooms" by Julia Stephen (Woolf's mother), staff and residents in these facilities will explore the experience, meaning, and transformational aspect of illness and care giving.
   Paris Press
   Ashfield, MA, Franklin County (CT Valley)
   project director: Jan Freeman

Why Worcester?

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

An oral history project about immigration to Worcester, in which the oral histories are conversations between two people about migration to Worcester, recorded in a Story Corps booth.
   New England Archivists
   Boston, MA, Suffolk County (Greater Boston)
   project director: Lisa Long Feldmann

StoriesLive III

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A program in which professional Massachusetts storytellers teach 10th, 11th, and 12th graders in 10 Massachusetts high schools the art of personal storytelling while imparting formative public speaking skills and writing strategies. The program culminates in an intramural story slam (with cash prizes).
   Massmouth, Inc.
   Brookline, MA, Norfolk County (Greater Boston)
   project director: Norah Dooley

Community by Design: The Olmsted Firm and the Development of Brookline, MA

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Research, script development, image selection, location scouting, music, and more for a short film on the Olmsted architectural firm's role in shaping the design and urban plan of Brookline, Massachusetts
   Library of American Landscape History
   Amherst, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Robin Karson

Linking Past and Present: Slavery and Anti-Slavery Reform in the Northampton Landscape

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Creation and installation of three historic markers about local history concerning slavery and abolition. The new markers will feature "QR codes" that, when scanned with a smartphone, will lead to Web resources that feature more information than the marker, such as short audio and video files.
   Historic Northampton
   Northampton, MA, Hampshire County (CT Valley)
   project director: Kerry Buckley

Fine Arts Work Center Year-Round Reading Series

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

Honoraria for visiting authors of national repute and two chartered buses that will be used to transport seniors to readings held at the Center.
   Fine Arts Work Center
   Provincetown, MA, Barnstable County (Cape & Islands)
   project director: Salvatore Scibona

Making Media Now Conference Panel

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A panel at the "Making Media Now," conference, that will offer insights and best practices to filmmakers on developing the most productive working relationships between humanities scholars and documentary filmmakers.
   Filmmakers Collaborative
   Waltham, MA, Middlesex County (Metrowest Boston)
   project director: Kathryn Dietz

Non-Violent Movements in the Modern World

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A 10-session professional development course for 20 teachers to study primary sources and teaching materials on notable nonviolent movements in the modern world.
   Center for Nonviolent Solutions
   Worcester, MA, Worcester County (Central)
   project director: Paul S. Ropp

Berkshire Festival of Women Writers

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:45:51 +0000

A month-long, community-wide series of readings, lectures, films and discussions, writing workshops, networking events, and performances by and for women writers. The festival focuses on the concept of strengthening women's voices through writing.
   Bard College at Simon's Rock
   Great Barrington, MA, Berkshire County (Berkshire)
   project director: Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez