Indiana Humanities awards 18 nonprofits with nearly $45,000 in grants

A total of 18 libraries, schools, museums and other nonprofit organizations from Gary to New Albany have received grants from Indiana Humanities this spring. Selected projects range from the creation of an exhibit to explore the history of women firefighters to the production of a video to preserve the history of an African-American church in West Baden Springs.

Action Grants offer up to $3,000 to support nonprofit organizations that sponsor public humanities programs such as exhibitions, workshops, lectures and reading and discussion programs.

This spring, Indiana Humanities awarded more than $30,000 in Action Grants to 12 organizations, funding projects that intertwine history, literature and culture with opportunities for public dialogue and conversation. Applications for these grants are accepted throughout the year and reviewed on a monthly basis.

Historic Preservation Education Grants, awarded in partnership with Indiana Landmarks, fund programs that educate Indiana citizens about historic places and properties—and particularly about the need to preserve and protect them. The grants provide up to $2,500 for programs that come in a variety of formats—workshops, presentations, booklets, brochures, reading and discussion programs, exhibitions, film documentaries and more.

In this spring’s round of Historic Preservation Education Grants, Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks awarded more than $14,000 to six organizations for projects that include creating an interactive digital tour of the Billy and Helen Sunday Home for those unable to access the building and constructing a history of the Rivoli Theatre in Indianapolis. The next round of applications is due Aug. 31.

“Funding a wide range of thoughtful and creative programming that connects so many Hoosiers to the depth and breadth of the humanities is core to our mission,” said Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of Indiana Humanities. “We are encouraged, every year, by the innovative programs proposed by the grantees and the opportunity to touch the lives of residents all over Indiana.”

Action Grant recipients (more detailed information about the projects follows):

• • Ball State University/Book Arts Collaborative, Muncie

• • BCT Management, Bloomington

• • InterAction Initiative, South Bend

• • Osgood Public Library

• • Spirit & Place, Indianapolis

• • Trustees of Indiana University/IUPUI, Indianapolis

• • University of Southern Indiana/Historic New Harmony, Evansville

• • Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education Center, Jeffersonville

• • Southeastern District Association, New Albany

• • The Welcome Project at Valparaiso University

• • Trustees of Indiana University/IU Northwest, Gary
  • Science Central, Fort Wayne

Historic Preservation Education Grant recipients (more detailed information about the projects follows):

• • Grace College, Winona Lake

• • John H. Boner Community Center, Indianapolis

• • Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Terre Haute

• • City of South Bend

• • Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
  • Markle Historical Society 

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Action Grant project descriptions:

Interrobang Wayzgoose 2019
Ball State University/Book Arts Collaborative, Muncie
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: April 12-13

Interrobang Wayzgoose hosted professional book artists, students and community members for a two-day celebration of book arts, including presentations and demonstrations.

Telling Our Story/Creating Our Town
BCT Management, Bloomington
Awarded: $3,000
Timeline: August–December

Local scholars, educators and filmmakers will help students research the history of Monroe County and uncover the stories of their families. The students will create short films that document their work and explore how the community’s history influences its future.

2nd Annual Community Theater for Social Justice Action Conference
InterAction Initiative, South Bend
Awarded: $2,532
Timeline: April 25-26

As part of its annual conference, InterAction Initiative hosted two scholars/artists to discuss the untold stories of the Hmong/Lao community, as well as the history and ramification of racial violence in the United States.

Ripley County Reads

Osgood Public Library
Awarded: $3,000
Timeline: May–August

The Osgood Public Library and community partners will present a summer reading program celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The library will choose a book for a county-wide read and will present book discussions, history presentations and movie screenings at locations around Ripley County.

Civic Saturday
Spirit & Place, Indianapolis
Awarded: $2,000
Timeline: April 16 and July 20

Civic Saturdays will bring community members together to read provocative humanities-based texts, hear a civic “sermon” and engage one another in conversation. The goal of the series is to nurture a shared sense of civic spirit and character.

Historians and the Public Doing Things Differently with Tale of Black Histories
Trustees of Indiana University/IUPUI, Indianapolis
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: April 6

IUPUI introduced the 1971 play Tale of Black Histories at a public event during the Society for French Historical Studies annual meeting. Members of the Asante Children’s Theater read excerpts from the play, and scholars led a discussion around its history and themes.

Heritage Artisans Days
University of Southern Indiana/Historic New Harmony, New Harmony
Awarded: $3,000
Timeline: April 16-18

Heritage Artisans Days welcomed approximately 2,500 elementary students to experience what life was like in the village of New Harmony in the early 1800s. More than a dozen reenactors, including a naval captain, a frontiersman and a cattle farmer, discussed their trades in the context of New Harmony’s beginnings.

Women in the Fire Service
Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education Center, Jeffersonville
Awarded: $2,010
Timeline: July-December

The Vintage Fire Museum will create an exhibition on the history of Kentuckiana women in the fire service. It will also host a speaker and discussion panel to explore the problems and rewards that women in the fire service experience.

The West Baden Church Renewal Project
Southeastern District Association, New Albany
Awarded: $3,000
Timeline: May 2020

The Southeastern District Association will produce a video documenting the origin, growth, decline and preservation of the First Baptist (Colored) Church of West Baden Springs, Indiana.

Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods
The Welcome Project at Valparaiso University
Awarded: $3,000
Timeline: Fall 2019-Summer 2020

The Welcome Center is developing a multimedia initiative that explores de-urbanization and the fracturing of neighborhoods, communities and regions in postindustrial America. The center will create a prototype website and introduce it to area residents through focus groups and a public workshop.

Senior University: Faculty Summer Series
Trustees of Indiana University/IU Northwest, Gary
Awarded: $1,764
Timeline: July-August

Indiana University Northwest will host a faculty-led summer reading and discussion series that introduces senior citizens to topics related to local history and disaster preparedness.

Apollo 11 Exhibition and Speaker
Science Central, Fort Wayne
Awarded: $1,900
Timeline: May-July

Science Central will create an exhibition telling the history of the Apollo 11 moon landing and provide copies to local organizations. It will also host a lecture by a Purdue University professor on the 50th anniversary of the landing.

 

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Historic Preservation Education Grant project descriptions:

Small-Town Americana: Bringing Accessibility to the Billy and Helen Sunday Home
Grace College, Winona Lake
Awarded: $1,680
Timeline: February 2020

Grace College will create an interactive digital map to provide those who are not able to access the home the opportunity to explore its architecture and furnishings.

The Rivoli Theatre: Past and Future
John H. Boner Community Center, Indianapolis
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: April-December

The Boner Center will collect neighbors’ memories of the historic Rivoli Theatre through oral histories and digitization workshops then will share the theater’s history online, in a printed brochure and at a community event. It will incorporate this information into a reuse study.

Bohlen Design: Four Generations of Indiana Architectural Prominence
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Terre Haute
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: Oct. 13 and 20

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College will hire a scholar to research the historic campus structures that were designed by the Bohlen family and to deliver two presentations based on the findings. The college will also incorporate the research into a campus open house/tour.

Standards and Guidelines Updates and Reorganization
City of South Bend
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: July 2019-March 2020

South Bend’s Historic Preservation Commission will hold public meetings to educate city residents about the need for and benefits of historic preservation districts and to get their input on how preservation can positively impact their neighborhoods. Based on the public dialogue, commission staff will update the city’s preservation standards and guidelines.

William Wesley Peters, Evansville’s Connection to the World of Frank Lloyd Wright
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: Aug. 11-Oct. 27

The Evansville Museum will create an exhibition and accompanying programs on William Wesley Peters, who grew up in the city and became Frank Lloyd Wright’s first apprentice and right-hand man. The project will focus on Peters’ life and works, including the recently restored Peters-Margedant House on the University of Evansville campus.

Markle Log Home: Educational Outreach Program
Markle Historical Society
Awarded: $2,500
Timeline: May-August

The Markle Historical Society will conduct a series of student programs to raise awareness of a recently rescued and restored log house. Students will learn about the history and preservation of the house, practice preservation techniques and work with mentors to develop an exhibition about the structure.