For Immediate Release
July 13, 2022
Contact: Aimee Cotton Bogush | abogush@cthumanities.org | 860-937-6648
Download Release – PDF

CT Humanities Awards $45,907 in Quick Grants to 10 Cultural Nonprofits for Humanities Programs

MIDDLETOWN, CT-– At their recent meeting, the board of directors of CT Humanities (CTH) awarded $45,907 in humanities project grants from the CT Humanities fund

The ten organizations awarded Quick Grants in June are:

City Lights (Bridgeport, $4,999), The 2022 Bridgeport Film Fest, Bruce Museum (Greenwich, $4,999), Spanish Language Translation of Labels for Natural Cycles Shape Our Land Exhibit, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (Hartford, $4,999), Understanding Katharine Seymour Day’s Identity: Interpreting Women’s Sexuality in the early 20th Century, Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society, Inc. (Killingly, $3,442), “A Better Life for Their Children: The story of Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America,” Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut (New London, $4,600), Act 1, Act Tú, New London Landmarks (New London, $3,825), Holding Space for Each Other: New London’s LGBTQ+ Community, Pomfret Cemetery Corporation South Cemetery, (Pomfret Center, $4,990), Written in Stone: An Interpretive Tour of Gravestone Carvers,  The Ridgefield Playhouse (Ridgefield, $4,999), Independent Filmmaker Forum: Best of RIFF Shorts Fest- “Are the Kids All Right? – Raising Resilient Children in Cinema,” UNA Southwestern Connecticut (Westport, $4,980), “When the Stars are Scattered” Author/Illustrator Visits, Westport Museum for History & Culture (Westport, $4,074), Saugatuck Stories: Walking Tour Exploring Diverse Experiences.

“We are thrilled to receive a CT Humanities Quick Grant for a new project we’re developing on our organization’s founder titled Understanding Katharine Seymour Day’s Identity: Interpreting Women’s Sexuality in the Early Twentieth-Century,” says Linn McGlade, Interim Executive Director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford. “We are very excited to work on a humanities project that brings together informed inquiry on the historical importance of Day related to CT’s development in urbanization, preservation, and social equity along with the growing field of LGBTQIA+ studies. CT Humanities has been a longtime supporter of the Stowe Center’s programming and we remain grateful for their recognition of our work.”

A first-time applicant to CTH, the Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society in Killingly will use funding to present A Better Life For Their Children, (photographs and stories) by Andrew Feiler. The presentation tells the story of Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, and the friendship these two extraordinary men forged that led to the creation of 4,978 schools that changed the course of America and transformed life for thousands of African American children across the segregated South.

“The grant from CT Humanities helps make it possible to engage a wide audience of young people and adults from throughout Eastern Connecticut with the compelling story of Rosenwald and Washington,” explains Joel Rosenberg, Board Member, Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society. “This is an important community conversation to have during the times of great unrest in America today. The story demonstrates how people of diverse backgrounds can make meaningful, positive, and lasting changes in our society.”

Funding will also support first-time CTH grantee, Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut’s bilingual theatre program, Act 1, Act Tú. The program is open to high school students in Southeastern Connecticut, free of charge.

According to Claudio Melendez-Cooper, Interim Executive Director, Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut in New London, “The Act 1, Act Tú program is dedicated to creating unique, rewarding, and fulfilling theatre experiences that are accessible to both English and Spanish speaking actors/audiences. This summer’s production of The HisPANICk Zone and related talk backs will share Hispanic culture and aspects of the immigrant experience with the entire community, while providing laughs along the way! We are thrilled that Connecticut Humanities has helped turn this vision into a reality.”

The Westport Museum will use their grant for research and development for a new walking tour centered in the Saugatuck area of Westport. Situated at the mouth of the Saugatuck River at the Long Island Sound, this area has been historically significant from before European colonization, through the 20th century.

“Thanks to the CTH Quick Grant, Westport Museum is able to apply resources to examining the diverse history of the Saugatuck area of Westport which has been, for centuries, the gateway to the town and its four centuries of American history,” says Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director, Westport Museum. “The Quick Grant is allowing us to do a deep dive into the social history of immigrant, African American and Indigenous cultures that have lived, worked, and influenced our area to support a walking tour that will be an interactive access point to this fascinating history.”

Opportunities to apply for a Quick Grant from CT Humanities exist throughout the year. For more information on eligibility and application due dates, visit cthumanities.org/grants/quick-grants.