The Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to announce more than $60,000 in grants to 11 Mississippi organizations in support of public humanities programs. In addition to this direct support, each agency was required to present matching cash or in-kind cost share, pledging an additional $60,000 to humanities programming around our state. The humanities programs funded in this major round support projects exploring the literary value of graphic novels, women’s suffrage, slavery, midwifery, and growing up female in the Mississippi Delta.
Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, said, “We are pleased to support such a diverse array of programs in communities throughout our state. Each of the funded projects offers opportunities for Mississippians to consider different perspectives, share ideas, and understand one another better.”
Humanities grants are awarded to Mississippi nonprofit organizations in support of programs that foster the public’s understanding of our rich history and culture.
“The Mississippi Humanities Council continues to be excited about the number of creative and exciting programs supported by our grants,” said Council Board Chair Dr. Wilma Mosley Clopton. “Through our grants programs, we continue to support Mississippi communities that wish to provide programming which most effectively engages all audiences in civil discourse opportunities.
“We feel that each community can best serve as its own catalyst for change. Through our grants program, we offer these communities our continued support, and look forward to expanding our partnerships to include all areas of the state; after all, the Humanities are for everyone.”
Major grants are offered twice each year. Deadlines are May 1 and September 15. Please visit http://mshumanities.org/grants/, or contact Carol Andersen, carol@mhc.state.ms.us, for additional information.
The organizations and projects that were awarded grants, listed by community, include:
Greenville:
Community Foundation of Washington County—$6,700.00
Girls Write the World Documentary
Filmmaking project for young women in the Mississippi Delta, to portray their life experiences through film and poetry.
Hattiesburg:
The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County—$3,117.32
Will Eisner and the Graphic Novel
Series of public engagements around an exhibit featuring the work of renowned graphic novel artist Will Eisner.
Holly Springs:
Preserve Marshall County & Holly Springs, Inc.—$7,232.54
Behind the Big House program & tour (2020)
Educational tour of former slave dwellings, and related programs, offered either during or very close to an annual pilgrimage of historic homes in Holly Springs, to provide visitors to that community with a more complete narrative of its history.
Jackson:
International Museum of Muslim Cultures—$3,500.00
Bridging Cultures: Working for Equity across Race, Class, Religion, and Ethnicity
Series of public engagements around a new exhibit entitled “Muslims with Christians and Jews: An Exhibition of Covenants and Coexistence,” examining the “peace-building leadership of Muhammad, the Prophet and respected Head of State, who prepared the first Constitution in history,” which may have influenced the U.S. Constitution.
New Hope Baptist Church—$4,000.00
“Back in the Day” Black History Celebration
Annual Black History Month programs, featuring historical perspectives on the African American experience in Mississippi, from slavery through Civil Rights and contemporary times.
Jackson State University—$7,500.00
50th Recollection and Commemoration of Gibbs-Green
Annual commemoration of the deaths of two Jackson State University students at a campus dormitory the evening of a student demonstration condemning racial discrimination in Mississippi and the killing of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.
Scott Ford House, Inc.—$5,000.00
Presenting Regional Perspectives of Mississippi: From Jim Crow to Civil Rights
Four regional programs, in each of the state’s four congressional districts, sharing progress to date in the applicant’s ongoing effort to collect, preserve and interpret the history of midwifery in Mississippi.
Natchez:
Historic Natchez Foundation—$7,000.00
Slave Dwelling Project—Natchez
Weekend-long programs illuminating the slave experience in Natchez, featuring Joseph McGill of the award-winning Slave Dwelling Project.
Copiah-Lincoln Community College—$3,750.00
Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration 2020—“Visits, Vittles & Vines: The Culture of Southern Hospitality”
Annual festival exploring southern history and culture through film and books. The 2020 event will focus on southern hospitality, highlighting Natchez’s cultural traditions around food, gardens and entertainment.
Oxford:
University of Mississippi—$7,134.00
The Twenty-Seventh Oxford Conference for the Book
Annual event celebrating books, reading and writing. The 2020 conference will feature programs celebrating postbellum radical women thinkers, discussions on environmental literature, poetry sessions, a literary examination of class struggle, and more.
Statewide:
League of Women Voters of MS, Inc.—$7,500.00
Bridge Builders and Burners: 100 Years of Woman in a Southern State
Series of “micro-messaged documentaries” to air on MPB throughout 2020 exploring woman suffrage in Mississippi and the South, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of both the passage of the 19th Amendment and the founding of the League of Women Voters.