At the March deadline, CT Humanities awarded eight sponsorships totaling $16,000. Sponsorships are intended for events, conferences, scholarships, awards, and more, with a maximum award of $2,000.

Receiving sponsorships at the March deadline are:

WPKN (Bridgeport, $2,000)
The Greatest Radio Station in the World
The Greatest Radio Station in the World is a new documentary film about WPKN, a Bridgeport-based community radio station with a fifty-year history of programming not available in the consolidated media. The first public screening is at the Bridgeport Film Festival, July 22 through 24. A talk-back at the end of the film allows the audience and filmmaker to share stories about documentaries and the role of radio, art, and journalism in fostering independent thinking and learning.

Maritime Music & Tradition Society (Essex, $2,000)
Connecticut Sea Music Festival and Symposium at Essex CT
The CTH sponsorship supports educational family outreach activities at Maritime Music & Tradition Society’s first Connecticut Sea Music Festival, Essex, CT, June 10 through 12. The symposium presents original humanities scholarship from international academics, independent researchers, and practitioners live and online. Interactive workshops showcase maritime traditions, providing living historical context for British, American, African American, and other chanteys and foc’sle songs.

First Night Hartford (Hartford, $2,000)
Hartford Bonanza
Hartford Bonanza is the city’s Independence Day event highlighting the vitality of Hartford through community-oriented programming. With programming on July 2 and July 5, the two-day event promotes local talent and provides opportunities to increase civic engagement.

Lutz Children’s Museum (Manchester, $2,000)
A Lutz Children’s Museum Community Read
This summer the Lutz Children’s Museum promotes literacy and engages the community with a common reading experience at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills. The once-a-month book selections, read by the authors, focus on themes that matter in life itself: fairness, honor, love, dreams, courage, and community.

Association for the Study of Connecticut History (New London, $2,000)
Teaching History with Courage
On April 23, the Association for the Study of Connecticut History presented a day-long conference on issues related to the study and use of history today. David Blight from Yale University was the featured speaker.

Connecticut Storytelling Center (New London, $2,000)
41st Annual Connecticut Storytelling Festival & Conference
For the first time, the CT Storytelling Festival & Conference will be held in venues in downtown New London. With events throughout April 29 and 30, this year’s program includes a culturally diverse roster of storytellers presenting programs for families, teens, and adults across the city.  From age-old folk tales to contemporary personal tales, participants will hear humanity’s wisdom and humor.

New London Maritime Society (New London, $2,000)
Sentinels on the Sound – New London Lighthouse Celebration
Sentinels on the Sound summer lighthouse festivals, held June through September, raise awareness of lighthouse history, preservation, and recreation. This year NLMS is offering free or affordable exhibitions, special events, a play, and tours inside the lighthouses. CTH’s sponsorship will help raise visibility of these rare opportunities for access and activities.

Noah Webster House (West Hartford, $2,000)
West Hartford Hauntings
West Hartford Hauntings is a spooky and theatrical tour of West Hartford’s Old North Cemetery. Participants are led through the cemetery by lantern-light, where a cast of two dozen actors educate and entertain with true tales of the lives and deaths of long-departed Connecticut residents. Held the last two weekends in October, this progressive play through one of West Hartford’s oldest cemeteries presents “history as you’ve never heard it before.”

For more information about sponsorships please visit: https://cthumanities.org/sponsorships/.