Fiscal Year FY19

The project will commemorate the iconic “Isle of Safety” located at State House Square from 1913 to 1976 sheltering thousands of commuters who rode the trolleys, and later, buses. Funding will be used to install two commemorative permanent outdoor pictorial exhibits: one in the courtyard of the Old State House just thirty feet from where the Isle of Safety was originally located and the other at the Trolley Museum in East Windsor.

The 2019 Guilford Performing Arts festival (September 26 to September 29, 2019) will present public shows; multi-cultural/ethnic classes and talks in the schools; a community-service program pairing professional dancers with youth in opioid-addiction treatment; an expanded program of pre/post-performance talk-backs; and a spoken-word track with themes of diversity, the impact of the arts on society, culture & community. CTH funding will expand the festival’s humanities programming with a goal of supporting the town’s efforts to become a more sustainable community by supporting multicultural artists who teach and talk about their work in the schools, curating a spoken-word track, outfitting and running the venues for such events, and catalyzing a series of ongoing talks/dialogues about important issues.

Funding will allow Deep River Historical Society to reorganize the Munson Gallery within the 1842 Stone House Museum into a long-term exhibit: “From Wharf to Waterfall: Deep River and the Industrial Revolution.” This exhibit will highlight Deep River’s artisan and industrial heritage. Visitors will be presented with artifacts relating to the stories of the many factories on the Deep River, their unique products that had national appeal, the significant role that the importation of ivory and Pratt, Read & Co. played in the community’s development, and how Pratt, Read & Co. adapted to the changing consumer climate over time. Grand opening gala will be held May 4, 2020.

Greenwich Historical Society will present an exhibition in 2020 in conjunction with the national centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment that will take a new look at its history and legacy using original sources and voices from Greenwich. The exhibition will be enhanced by educational and interpretive programming to address broader social and civic issues that resonate today and that prompt individual and collective responses to topics such as voter registration, voter suppression and the Equal Rights Amendment. This planning grant will be used to support a Guest Curator, two humanities scholars, a marketing/PR professional and an exhibition design firm to supplement GHS’s staff to research and create a compelling Exhibition Implementation Plan, Education Plan and Marketing/PR Plan to expand and engage broad audiences with the history, values and beliefs that inspired and continue to inspire sweeping social movements like the ERA, Black Lives Matter and Me Too.

Funding will allow the Wethersfield Historical Society to survey the current collection and deaccession and dispose of objects that do not fit the approved scope, or are redundant, creating more room for newer collection objects. In the course of this process WHS will identify collection objects and themes that can be used for future exhibitions. The current object collection is heavily focused on the 19th century, and in order to reflect more recent periods of Wethersfield’s history, the society endeavors to add more 20th and 21st century objects to the collection. Collections management software will be evaluated and potentially upgraded or migrated elsewhere with a goal of having better intellectual and physical control of one of its most important assets and be able to use that asset to the greatest advantage for the service of its community.

Funding will be used for the Rainbow Library Community Reads Project to spark young readers to engage with LGBTQ+ history and literature through reading, discussion, and writing. By giving schools and libraries across Connecticut affirming texts and instructional resources, the project will promote learning and rich discussion about LGBTQ+ history and themes. Rainbow Library packages will arrive with school staff in the first week of September and Rainbow Reader Summit where students will engage with an LGBTQ+ author and each other on the books’ humanities themes will take place in November.

Renovations and construction are taking place throughout the Mattatuck Museum from May 2019 to June 2020. Funding will allow the Museum to take advantage of this opportunity to evaluate how the space can best serve audiences for the next 10-20 years and update portions of the history exhibition that have become outdated or fallen into disrepair.

Funding will allow Fairfield Museum to revamp the immigration section of their semi-permanent “Creating Community” exhibition. Installed in 2014, “Creating Community” is the Museum’s central history exhibition; attracting more than 30,000 visitors each year and serving as a vital curriculum resource for school programming. The exhibition’s immigration section will be updated to improve the visitor experience, better support curriculum standards, and incorporate more recent research. The museum is open daily.

Funding will support The Fairfield Museum (FMHC) in planning for an inspirational and provocative new exhibition and related public programs titled “Speak Up!” which is scheduled for July 2, 2020 – January 18, 2021. “Speak Up!” will celebrate and explore the history of citizen’s advocacy in southwestern CT and the vital role that social activism plays in our communities. The exhibition will focus on 6-8 profiles of contemporary people who have made a difference through their activism in civic and political issues in the greater Fairfield-Bridgeport area (i.e. environmental, school, tax, political reform, anti-corruption, housing, voting rights, and other issues). Through photographs and interview excerpts, individuals who are involved in local activism from different political perspectives will share what spurred them to become active on public issues and what they have learned about making change.

Funding will help underwrite the Mystic Seaport Museum’s 2019 Arts on the Quad Summer Evening Program Series. The four selected performances will support the content of four exhibits currently on display around the Gallery Quadrangle. All the programs in the 2019 series will feature humanities-based discussions or activities linking exhibit content with the performances.

Sugar changed the global economy and indelibly impacted mankind’s cultural footprint through commerce, the wealth it generated, and the subsequent human diaspora it catalyzed. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art is crafting an exhibition that aims to explore the material world fueled and shaped by this commodity—from the resulting histories of the sugar trade and its human impact to the physical goods generated around and for its use. By broadening the discussion of sugar to encompass social, cultural, and economic topics, American fine and decorative arts can be made relevant to visitors. This exhibition will help further develop an innovative, programming-based road map that resonates with international, national, and local constituencies, especially the African American and Afro-Caribbean communities in Hartford. By identifying local and national experts to collaborate in the telling of these humanities stories, new audiences can be reached and content with lasting impact can be created. Planning is projected to take place from July 2019 through December 2020.

Over the past five years, the Norwich Historical Society launched a number of initiatives designed to strengthen Norwich’s heritage tourism efforts via the “Discover Norwich” project. The Experience Historic Norwich vision includes continuing to make Norwich’s remarkable historic resources (buildings and sites) more visitor ready. Another portion will be creating a more complete heritage experience in Norwichtown capitalizing on eight historic buildings and landscapes and branding the Norwich tourism experience to create an authentic experience that links Norwich’s history through a series of themes. The marketing effort will help promote “visitor ready” assets such as the Slater Memorial Museum. The branding initiative will also focus on creating wayfinding signage that will direct residents and visitors to local businesses and historic sites. A consultant will be responsible for creating a business plan that will provide a heritage and cultural tourism strategy (and a sustainable financing component) to implement the vision.

2019 marks the 200th anniversary of Faith Congregational Church, formerly Talcott Street Congregational Church. The church has made an enormous impact in the City of Hartford in terms of African American-led social, economic, and racial justice, yet it remains a hidden story. Faith will partner with Hartford heritage organizations to tell the story. Through an outdoor program on the original site, we will publicly acknowledge this history followed by a reception at Connecticut’s Old State House. The program will take place on September 29, 2019.

Funding allows the Mark Twain House & Museum to create a long-term exhibition for the lobby of its Museum Center that will provide visitors to the building with an introduction to Samuel Clemens (“Mark Twain”), his life in Hartford, and his work. The exhibition will consist of panels featuring content about Twain, his family members, his home, the works he wrote while living in Hartford, and his enduring relevance. The exhibition will open in December 2019 and remain on view for the foreseeable future.

Funding will allow Westport Country Playhouse to offer several education and community engagement activities in conjunction with the production of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage’s newest work MLIMA’S TALE in fall 2019. This poignant play follows the spirit of Mlima, an African elephant killed for his tusks. With Mlima always present and embodied by a human actor, Nottage leads the audience through the shadowy and complicated world of the illicit international ivory trade. In collaboration with community partners, the Playhouse will offer several forums in which the audience can further explore the work on stage, its relationship to their own lives, and its impact on the larger world.

Funding will allow the East Haddam Historical Museum to partner with the East Haddam Land Trust to create an exhibit and series of short mini documentaries produced by local resident, Ken Simon. In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Land Trust, these films will highlight their history and focus on two of preserves that hold remains of the town’s historic mills. Narration will include the mills’ history and impact on the town’s growth. The grand opening of the exhibit takes place in March 2020.

Funding will be used by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center to revamp the visitor experience with a video exhibit about Eugene O’Neill. The original exhibit, which debuted in 1981, has been presented in a VHS format that is deteriorating due to age. The updated exhibit will include a new video in .mp4 format for sharing and archiving and a more modern look at the Cottage and is expected to be complete in April 2020.

Funding will allow the International Festival of Arts & Ideas’ to integrate June and year-round programming in 2019 into the tapestry of programs and initiatives driven by CT Humanities each year.

The IDEAS program offers dozens of free opportunities for the public to hear from preeminent thought leaders in an intimate setting that allows for an incredible depth of conversation. IDEAS programming has a year-round presence via the recording of each event and free access given to the public via YouTube, Vimeo, and as a podcast through iTunes.

Funding is for the New Britain Industrial Museum’s first traveling exhibit. “Interwoven: Labor, Innovation, and Consumerism in New Britain’s Textile Industry” focuses on the city’s robust textile industry and will be on view from November 2019 to May 2021 at various locations across the city. Community partners hosting the exhibit and show-related programs will engage already interested groups and reach other community members.

Funding for Rise Up Sisters! will be used for two free-standing banner exhibits consisting of six panels each that will tell the story of the fight for women’s suffrage and the anti-suffrage viewpoint specifically within the state of Connecticut. The panels will focus on inductees of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame along with other CT suffragists and national figures who influenced and worked with CT women and will be on view at the Annual Induction Ceremony in November 2019. Banners will be made available for display free of charge to schools, libraries & civic organizations in 2020 and beyond, including the League of Women Voters Gala in February, Connecticut Historical Society in March, and Girls Day at the Capitol in April.

Funding will allow creation of ten three-minute “audio exhibits” within the Windham Textile and History Museum, in partnership with CRIS Radio’s CRISAccess Program. The audio exhibits will accompany the Museum’s traditional history exhibits already in place but will make those exhibits accessible to sight-impaired and other non-reading visitors, both on-site and on the museum’s website. The audio exhibits will be maintained by CRIS Access, be accessible via QR codes, and can be updated. They will be available November 1, 2019 and accompany permanent exhibits into the future.

Funding will help Connecticut College partner with One Book One Region of Eastern Connecticut to bring a book to Eastern Connecticut that will spark discussions and related programming. The 2019 selection is “Hey, Kiddo” by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, an autobiographical graphic novel which explores themes of opioid abuse and fitting in. It will be the subject of public programs throughout the community between June and September. The capstone event, the author talk, will be held on September 17, 2019.

Funding allows the creation of the “Mas:Carnival Costumes from Hartford’s West Indian Community” exhibit to examine the heritage of Carnival as practiced in Hartford. Costumes created by Caribbean-descendant youth under the direction of experienced costume makers from the islands are displayed with images of dance at the West Indian Parade over the years. The exhibit will explore the cultural meanings inherent in performing in these costumes and will feature community voices explaining their traditions. Exhibit runs from August 18 to October 8, 2019 with a guest lecture in late September.

“Out on View” is a self-guided tour through the Wadsworth’s collections focusing on LGBTQ+ history. Visitors will discover narratives about gender and sexuality spanning 2,000 years that are often omitted from interpretive materials. The tour will be the first of its kind in a major museum in the United States. Funding will be used to hire an expert on the history of gender and sexuality, to consult on the project, lead two “live” tours, and deliver a lecture. The exhibition runs from June 22 to September 15, 2019.

Funding for A Question of Survival: Saybrook Fort and the Pequot War, 1636-1637 will be used to tell the significant story of the Pequot War during the siege and battles at Saybrook Fort and will feature the multi-year archaeological work of researchers from the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. Accompanying the newly discovered artifacts will be a large walking/biking tour map illustrating and explaining 12 significant local sites. The exhibit will open with a public presentation that will highlight this state and nationally important historic event. Tentatively opening on June 8, 2019 the exhibit will remain through the summer of 2020.

Funding allows Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation to offer the lecture “Lost in a Laughing-Gas World: The Life of Horace Wells in Fact and Fiction.” Author Michael Downs will expound upon the historical Wells and how his tragic life became the subject of his most recent novel. A collaboration between Cedar Hill and Bushnell Park Foundation, the program will take place on Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center, Wethersfield.

Funding is used to present a free, day-long celebration of the literary arts from the center of the state at Real Art Ways on October 5, 2019. Connecticut Literary Festival presents fun, smart, diverse, inclusive, and sometimes irreverent programming celebrating readers, writers, and the written word across four unique experiences: public readings; the Readers’ Marketplace; a performance space; and panel discussions featuring leading thinkers, writers, and educators. Website: https://connecticutliteraryfestival.org/

Funding will allow the Ancient Burying Ground, Hartford’s oldest historic site, to re-envision its public programming to present fresh viewpoints that draw on new scholarship on the Witch Trials of 1662; Hartford in the American Revolution; and the African and Native Americans of Early Hartford, 1640-1815. Included are three guided walking tours (May 18, July 13, August 3, 2019) and a lecture (September 12, 2019), exhibit (September 1 – October 31, 2019) and workshop (October 5, 2019).

This partnership grant provides funding to the Office of the State Archaeologist for the retention of a graduate assistant during the 2019-2020 academic year. The graduate assistant will work with artifact identification, typing and cataloging as well as some additional responsibilities in required site research and report writing to allow the State Archaeologist more time for outreach and educational programming to benefit the public. The grant allows for the distribution (and creation) of content connected to Connecticut’s rich archaeological heritage for CTH platforms including ConnecticutHistory.org and TeachItCT.org. In addition to classroom presentations during the 2019-2020 school year, programs will also take place during the summer of 2019 and include digs for kids, adults, veterans, and teachers.

Every day, Today in Connecticut History tells a significant Connecticut history story through :30 second radio spots on all Connecticut Public Radio stations, graphically compelling posts on social media, and to an ever-growing list of daily email subscribers – all of which direct audiences to the todayinhistory.com website. There visitors find relatively short (400-700 word), visually compelling, reader-friendly posts providing details about the daily story along with additional links to web-based resources providing additional information on the topic — notably including CT Humanities’ online encyclopedia ConnecticutHistory.org. Radio spots will run July 1 to March 31, 2019 and daily stories will be presented throughout the year.

Using the Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA) as the technology platform, funding enables this six-month pilot project to test a methodology for improved “tagging” of metadata, with the end goal of facilitating the discoverability of content and the interoperability of disparate databases, to meet contemporary end-user interests. Women’s suffrage was selected as the ideal trial subject, both because of ongoing centennial preparations and for the topic’s illustrative value, demonstrating how historically undermined subject areas like women’s history suffer from inadequate, inconsistent metadata and antiquated cataloging protocols that essentially suppressed women’s voices within the historical record. Building on a successful, 20-year collaboration of Connecticut-based organizations including Connecticut History Illustrated, Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA) technology platform, Mystic Seaport Museum, the Connecticut State Library, Connecticut Historical Society, the Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO), and Connecticut Humanities (CTH), this project will explore a methodology for identifying and correcting historical record keeping discrepancies, so that humanities content can be realized in its fullest expression. The metadata enhancement will take place from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.

Funding will allow Playhouse on Park, an award-winning professional theater founded in 2009, to hold talkbacks after all performances of its production of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, June 26 to August 4, 2019. Featuring the cast and facilitated by community leaders with expertise in racial justice issues, the talkbacks will allow the audience to ask the cast questions about the powerful play they have just seen. The talkbacks will foster discussion of sensitive topics raised by the Scottsboro story and the play itself.

Funding will enable Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame (CWHF) to develop a three-year strategic plan that will guide the CWHF staff and Board of Trustees in setting common, focused goals in order to continue financial stability, rebrand to reflect the full scope of their historical resources, enhance programming and outreach, increase staffing to meet program demands currently beyond their capacity, and build a new website to showcase the “Virtual Hall”.

Connecticut Trust is creating tailored audience-focused branding, development strategies, and a cohesive web presence as part of an overall, multi-part communications strategy, essential to the long-term success of the organization. Funding is for a portion of Phase 2 of the work, resulting in a strategy to allow the Connecticut Trust to better understand and communicate with a diverse set of stakeholders, in order to attract a greater diversity of revenue and new members that will enable the Trust to sustain its mission over time.

Funding will be used for a program with Connecticut resident Richard Lenzi, author of “Facing the Dawn: the Italian Anarchists of New London” published by SUNY press in February 2019. He will discuss the Italian anarchist community which lived in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood from the 1890’s through the 1960’s. Following his talk, Connecticut College history professor Fred Paxton–former co-chair of the Coalition to Save the Fort Trumbull Neighborhood–will moderate a discussion between audience members and Lenzi. The program is September 26, 2019.

How did African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and West Indians make Hartford their home between 1940 and 2019? Funding will be used for a traveling exhibition, oral histories, and a panel discussion with housing advocates to integrate the narratives of migration and settlement to explore the relationship between poverty, systemic racism, and housing. Housing became a theater in the struggle for civil and human rights for groups that are now the majority of Hartford’s population. The exhibit runs October 2019 to January 2020. The panel discussion is October 22, 2019.

“Emancipation and Freedom” is a developmental summer camp program aimed to invigorate and educate youth about their lineage and the use of traditional artistic methods as a means of emancipation. Youth will learn about various Caribbean Islands and their perceptions of freedom as compared to liberation of people of color in the United States. Funding will allow attendees to participate in a 4-week program (July to August 2019), panel discussion (August 5, 2019) and final presentations to showcase their knowledge of each construct learned.

Sold, Made, & Grown in Litchfield showcases the history of commerce, industry, and agriculture in the town of Litchfield. As part of the town’s 300th Anniversary celebration, Sold, Made, & Grown will examine the continued connection between Litchfield businesses and the formation of community space, identity, and memory. Interpretive displays and interactive components will encourage visitors to share their memories and reflect on the relationship between commerce and community.

The Mattatuck Museum is temporarily relocating its operations to Rose Hill, a Victorian house in downtown Waterbury that was home to three prominent Waterbury families. The Museum plans to develop a special exhibit to interpret the history of these families and how their legacy is relevant to Waterbury today. In conjunction with the exhibit, the Museum will share the history of the building and its inhabitants through a community open house, lecture series, and other programs.

The project will encompass two public panel discussions that will use Mark Twain?s writings as prompts to examine pressing social and cultural questions of today. Each event will feature a panel composed of museum staff and four faculty members of the University of Connecticut?s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with the Dean of College serving as panel chair, and will include opportunities for audience participation.

This project is an engagement point between the local community and indigenous communities as a continuation of our 2017 program ?Here We Stand: Native History and Culture from Pyquag to Wethersfield and Beyond.? Wethersfield Historical Society is committed to continued inclusion of Native History and lifeways in our programming. This 2-part project utilizes the expertise of native chef Sherry Pocknett and Pequot tribe member Gary Carter Jr. in a foraging and foodways program and presentation.

The Gov. Samuel Huntington Trust will bring national history home when it hosts George Washington portrayer actor Dean Malissa, at the Huntington Homestead. This event will showcase Washington and his relationship with Declaration of Independence signer Samuel Huntington. The “American identity” will be explored through dialogue with a cadre of reenactors, historic pageantry from CT’s 2nd Company Governor?s Foot guard and the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons plus hands-on activities for all ages.

Medicine has been a part of Sharon since Dr. Simeon Smith arrived in 1756 to focus on the controversial smallpox inoculation and on the professionalism of medical practitioners. Our exhibit, Sharon Cures, will look at three still-relevant 21st century medical controversies through the lens of time and local stories. Advancement in vaccination, immunotherapy and physician gender equality are evident throughout Sharon?s history, with two local doctors making significant national contributions.

Ongoing programs to support and further understanding of the themes in our exhibit Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport. Our goal is to present a roster of interactive as well as scholarly programs which allows visitors to extend their understanding of local African American heritage in a lasting and holistic way. Among the major components of the program include a re-enactment of several of the women in the exhibit by Kimberly Wilson that we hope to repeat a number of times.

During the 2018/2019 academic year, Housatonic Community College (HCC) will host One Book, One College (OBOC) 2018/2019, its third annual community-read program, with Connecticut author Okey Ndibe and his memoir Never Look an American in the Eye, centered around immigrating from Nigeria to the United States. This cross-curricular program will include an author talk, book signing, lectures around themes in the book, and a meet-and-greet reception open to the public, free of charge.

Discussion-based humanities programs?keynote lecture, historical colloquy, moderated panel, storytelling, and oral history?will enrich an exhibit featuring artists who are making the strongest works of their careers in their advanced years. ReFRAMING Aging will debunk myths about aging, deepen visitors? understanding of why lifelong creativity matters, and inspire inter-generational bonds?illuminating what it means to age creatively in our youth-oriented society when people are living longer.

This is a community-based project with a school component. In partnership with the Noah Webster House, eighth grade students work with our town historian and another consultant to conduct original research on the history of enslaved persons in the West Hartford community. The project culminates with the placement of “witness stones” to commemorate the individuals studied and their stories. This also involves a public ceremony, sharing the outcomes of student research.

A unique ?school for colored children? operated between 1803 and 1840 in Colchester. It’s existence and history has been obscure. An exhibition featuring historical images, objects, and research in original resources, including newly discovered documents, will explore what is known about this landmark institution and its significance in the history of Colchester, of Connecticut education, and of the state?s African-American community.

Creating an exhibit at the Windham Textile and History Museum of Sidonia Perlstein’s personal history and artistic work. Sidonia, a Holocaust survivor, came to Springfield, MA with no family except a baby daughter and evolved into a clothing designer and dressmaker. Up to 50 garments represent significant historical, cultural and artistic interest. The exhibit will be complemented by events that will be beneficial to local and student communities, promote interest in local history and arts.

This project will consist of a series of four programs in five parts, looking at different land use practices over time in Roxbury and surrounding areas. From an exploration of the geology that sets the stage for the kinds of activities possible in our area, through Native American land practices and cultural values, to the rise and fall of industry in Litchfield County, these programs will help attendees understand the intersection of culture and land through lectures and a field walk.

FGM seeks funding to create a humanities-rich online exhibition delving into the work of Lyme Art Colony painter, Edward Volkert, best-known for his early-20th century depictions of agrarian life in CT created at a time of great technological and societal change.

The Hartford Studies Public Lecture Series and Tour is a free program at Capital Community College. The spring 2019 series enables the Capital Community College Foundation to share the multifaceted rewards of place-based learning with residents of Greater Hartford, including greater awareness of the city’s rich heritage and culture and informed civic engagement. The series features one walking tour and four college-style lectures on the places, personalities and themes that have shaped Hartford.

In February 2019, Hartford Stage will present Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit ’67. This compelling drama takes place during the Motor City’s violent 1967 uprising. Hartford also experienced racism-fueled unrest that year. We will draw connections between these events through an oral history project and lobby exhibit. Through a panel discussion, we will examine the effects of Hartford’s riots on civic life and explore current ways local activists are working to create meaningful change today.

Waterbury Interactive is a multigenerational project that engages students from elementary school through high school, together with artists and older adults, all utilizing their own personal skill sets in writing, visual arts, oral histories, and performance arts to develop an interactive theatrical production. Each production focuses on neighborhoods in Waterbury and raises concerns of livability and sustainability while encouraging audience members to create thoughtful, informed solutions.

This project is a series of discussion-based programs intended to foster intercultural understanding through the arts and humanities. The programs focus on the Russian paradigm as a culture with a historically contentious relationship with America. The programs examine the human consequences of the rapid and traumatic cultural transformation of Russia in the Soviet era, as expressed in the arts and humanities (particularly the novel A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles).

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will present an exhibition to mark the centennial of the 19th Amendment (1919-20), which guaranteed women the right to vote. The exhibition will use objects, manuscripts, images, text, and costumes to illustrate the activities and contributions of Norwalk suffragists — including two directly associated with the Mansion — placing the local story in the state and national context and exploring the lasting significance of the suffrage movement.

To provide a fresh perspective – plus significant Wilton connections – on Women’s History Month, the Wilton Historical Society and the Wilton Library plan to collaborate on presenting a one-woman musical performance of “A Journey.? In this approximately 75-minute performance, local actor and writer Kimberly Wilson tells the stories of seven women of color, five based on historical figures, plus two which are composite characters. A talk-back completes the event.

The Barnum Museum plans to pursue an opportunity to engage a forensic imaging specialist in sculpting the face of the museum?s 4000-year-old Egyptian mummy using a 3-D print replica of the skull. Funding is requested to film the process, and to enable a live-streamed public program with facilitated discussion at the Museum. Filming will be done at the New York Academy of Art during a one-week course in forensic sculpting taught by the specialist, who will demonstrate with the mummy skull.

The Hempsted Houses will host the Fifth Annual New London Juneteenth Festival with our partners, the New London NAACP and New London?s OIC (Opportunities and Industrialization Center) June 7 through June 9. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in America. This year Joseph McGill of The Slave Dwelling Project will be returning to hold community conversations and to spend the night in the Joshua Hempsted House with community members.

Fairfield Museum is beginning a new strategic planning effort that will help chart the Museum?s next decade of growth and success.

The Bill Memorial Library will begin a thorough and formal strategic planning process that will help guide them into their next chapter as a relevant, sustainable, and enriching institution that meets the needs of the citizens of Groton.

The Durham Public Library will hire a marketing consultant to assist in developing a brand strategy and to design a new logo, tagline, and visual identity.

Connecticut Historical Society receives support for phase I of the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program Archival Project. The project will establish a professionally organized and catalogued archive of the folklife program, making the archive accessible to researchers as well as members of the communities whose stories and heritage are represented in the collection.

Keeler Tavern receives funding for a consultant-led initiative to conduct audience research (to gain a snapshot in time) and obtain the internal capacity to conduct audience research going forward (to evaluate results of changes and to track trends over time).

The Festival will conduct an in-depth community assessment over the next nine months that will solicit input into the relevance of the Festival’s programming and guide the institution and its new leadership into the future.

CPAN requests funding for a special, two-hour, Conversation at Noon entitled: Navigating the News: Past & Present. Moderated by Diane Smith, the program will consist of three speakers–Dr. Barry O’Connell from Amherst College, Adam Chiara from University of Hartford, and Richard Hanley from Quinnipiac University– followed by a panel discussion. Participants will learn about the antecedents of “fake news” and discover how to balance their media “diet” in the modern age.

A lecture to take place at CHS on December 10, 2018, given by Professor Robert W.T. Martin of Hamilton College. Dr. Martin, who has written extensively on the role of the press in the Early American Republic, will discuss the role of the free press in the young republic, how the founding generation grappled with the problem of ?fake news,? and what Americans in 2018 can learn from their experience. The talk will use Hamilton’s relationship with the press to shed light on the larger topic.

Fairfield Museum proposes a series of programs about navigating contemporary and historic issues and events in the news designed for educators, high school students, and the general public. The programs will build upon successful existing collaborations with schools, non-profit organizations, and universities to encourage broader civic participation among the next generation of informed citizens.

The New Haven Free Public Library will present Fake News Month in October 2018 with a series of films, discussions, and speakers curated to elucidate the historical and present-day themes, implications and contexts of fake news. In addition, the library will develop a complementary list of further reading, bibliographic references, and online resources to distribute at events and for all patrons to access via nhfpl.org.

The Prospect Library will be hosting a forum on Fake News.
We will open the forum with a keynote address by a noted professor who is a expert and author on Fake News.
After the 30 minute keynote speech, a journalism professor will give his own observations and reactions to the speech and his
views on Fake News. Finally both professors will then take questions from the audience in a discussion moderated by Larry Rifkin.

The Florence Griswold Museum presents an exhibition of the work of emerging Connecticut artist, Jac Lahav. The Great Americans explores the ideas of who we consider ?great? and the cultural underpinnings of our perceptions (whether fact or fiction). Through his cheeky, psychologically complex treatment of iconic figures, Lahav explores the multifaceted nature of cultural identity, calling into question the very notion of ?greatness? among American historical figures and exploring the concept of fame itself (on view Feb. 9-May 12, 2019).

The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival is Hill-Stead Museum?s longest-running public program. During its 27th season in 2019, seven award-winning poets will read their work over five evenings from June through August. Set in the historic Sunken Garden, the Sunken Garden is one of the country?s premier poetry events.

Based on 150+ artifacts, Ancient Mesopotamia Speaks will bring the culture, history, and society of the ancient Near East to life, from the invention of writing in Uruk in southern Iraq during the mid-fourth millennium BC to the last cuneiform texts from the first century of the common era (on view from April 4, 2019 until the end of 2020).

Artspace will develop an exhibition and related programming to mark the fiftieth anniversary of a watershed moment in New Haven history, the May Day rally in protest of the Black Panther trials in May 1970, laying the groundwork for public programs and an exhibition at Artspace that will run May-September 2020.

The Community Foundation of Middlesex County will begin the second phase of planning for a 60-minute documentary about an African-American family in the late 19th and early 20th century that helped shape the life of a bestselling author and cultural icon. The project will answer the questions Ann Petry raised in her essay: ?How did my family survive in this all-white community? How did my parents transmit to their children a feeling of self-worth? And how did I manage to become a writer??

Weston Historical Society will conduct research for future interpretive signage around the Coley Homestead that shares the history of the property, buildings, and Coley family as well as the workings of a 19th-century farm.

Funding supports Connecticut Explored Magazine and its content.

Funding supports the 2019 Connecticut History Day competition.

Funding supports the Connecticut League of History Organizations and their programs.