CT Humanities is pleased to announce the following grant awards made in February. Keep an eye out in your local media outlets and on the CT Humanities events calendar for more information!
Avon Historical Society
Grant Amount: $1,194
Project Title: One Square in Avon’s Heritage Quilt History
From March through June 2016, Avon Historical Society will hold a three-part lecture series based on the former residents of the Derrin Farmhouse and their neighbors in West Avon. The series is designed to educate the community about Avon’s early farming days, using the Derrin family as an example. Program speakers are UCONN Professor of Geology Robert Thorson talking about From Bedrock to Bedroom Community-The Evolution of Avon on March 5 at 1pm at Avon Senior Community Center; Society member Janet Conner speaking about The Origins of the Derrin Family in West Avon on April 2 at 1pm at the Avon Senior Community Center; and historian Diana McCain presenting Here Lie the Derrins on June 5 at 7pm at the Avon Free Public Library. The project also includes a complementary exhibit to be held at Avon Library as well as an educational pamphlet about the Derrin Farmhouse.
Friends of Prudence Crandall Museum
Grant Amount: $3,434
No Small Courage Lecture Series A Symposium
The Friends of the Prudence Crandall Museum’s annual lecture series in 2016 focuses on the impact made by African-American women who attended Prudence Crandall’s Academy. Presenters include: Dr. Afua Cooper who discovered and confirmed that Mary Elizabeth Miles (Bibb) was a student at the Academy; Dr. Carla Peterson, author of Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in 19th-Century New York City; and Dr. Jennifer Rycenga, a Prudence Crandall biographer. Dr. Robert Forbes, historian and author, will moderate the session. Following lunch, program attendees will reconvene for a moderated questions-and-answers session. $25 admission fee which includes the symposium, admission to the Prudence Crandall Museum, and a box lunch.
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
Grant Amount: $4,318
Words that Changed the World: A Community Reads Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Beginning at 11am on Saturday March 19, concluding at 11am on Sunday March 20, 2016, politicians, community leaders, and citizens will come together for a free, twenty-four hour community reading of Uncle Tom’s Cabin at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. Participants will learn how the power of words can be used to motivate action and discuss the impact Stowe’s seminal novel had on the nation. In addition to reading the novel, which will occur in several languages, this year’s program also includes facilitated discussions of the book led by Stowe Center staff.
Hartford Stage Company
Grant Amount: $4,995
Having Their Say
Hartford Stage’s next main stage play, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years will explore African-American history through the stories of two centenarian sisters. To complement the production, and add local content for stage goers, Hartford Stage will conduct interviews with ten local, African-American women, videotape the conversations, and present the interviews in individual, three to four minute video clips available in Hartford Stage’s upper lobby, on their website, and in social media.
Middlesex Community College Foundation
Grant Amount: $3,200
Author Talk: A Day with Novelist Andre Dubus III
The Middlesex Community College Foundation welcomes novelist Andre Dubus III to Middletown on April 20, 2016 for a series of three programs at Middlesex Community College (MCC) over the course of one day. The programs include a classroom-based discussion of his memoir, Townie; a public reading and discussion of Townie examining important social issues including drug use, crime, street violence, and divorce; and a writing workshop on engaging fiction and memoir exercises. All events are free and open to the public.
Portland Public Library
Grant Amount: $3,809
One Book on the Riverbend
One Book on the Riverbend is a three-town community read involving the neighboring towns of Portland, Cromwell, and Middletown. All three communities will hold public programming around the same book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and all programs will take place in April and May. The book was chosen for the continued relevance of its central themes and interest to both young and old alike. All programs are free, take place at various locations across the communities, and are led by facilitator Marsha Bansavage.
Ferguson Library
Grant Amount: $4,000
Freedom in Three Acts
On June 18, 2016, Ferguson Library in Stamford will host a free public performance of Bated Breath Theatre Company’s Freedom in Three Acts. This performance explores the country’s struggle for civil rights through song, movement, and narrative, discussing the escape of runaway slaves in Act 1, American slave spirituals in Act 2, and the life and work of Marian Anderson in Act 3. The 2pm performance will be followed by a Q & A session with the theatre company.
