2020 Grantees

Congratulations to our first 2020 Grantees! Visit our calendar to find an event near you.

How We Work(ed): A Smithsonian & RCHS Collaboration

Rensselaer County Historical Society

$5000

Exhibition and program series on the history of work in the Capital Region and where that history fits within a national context.

Troy

Capital Region
Dox Thrash, Black Life, and the Carborundum Mezzotint

The Hyde Collection

$5,000

Exhibition and related programs celebrating artist Dox Thrash (1893–1965), whose art portrayed his experiences as an African American.

Glens Falls

Capital Region
Portraits: Memory & Identity

Albany County Historical Association

$5,000

Exhibit on the role of images in shaping the human experience and identity.

Albany

Capital Region
Wheels, Women & Independence: 1920- 1929

Saratoga Automobile Museum

$5000

Exhibit series on pioneer female automobile enthusiasts and the automobile's influence on the suffrage movement.

Sarasota Springs

Capital Region
Peterboro, Madison County, Joins the Suffrage Centennial Commemoration

Smithfield Community Association

$3,967

Exhibition and program series on African–American and women’s history and their legacies.

Peterboro

Central New York
Complex Lives: Women of the Oneida Community

Oneida Community Mansion House

$5,000

Exhibit on the experiences of women and girls in the Oneida Community, the perfectionist religious communal society founded in 1848.

Oneida

Central New York
Unladylike: Women Who Changed America

Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York

$5,000

Two public programs on the unsung heroines of the suffrage movement.

Syracuse

Central New York
Women's Suffrage in New York

Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

$5,000

Documentary on the history of the women's suffrage movement in New York State.

Buffalo

Western New York
If These Walls Could Talk: the Underground Railroad and Abolitionists of Yates County

Yates County History Center

$4142.35

Exhibit on Yates County abolitionists and their involvement in the Underground Railroad.

Penn Yan

Finger Lakes
1st Amendment-1st Vote... Exploring Civic Engagement with High School Girls

1st Amendment-1st Vote

$5,000

Program series in which high school–age girls engage the political process, envisioning themselves as candidates for elected office.

Auburn

Finger Lakes
Using Hologram Technology to Illuminate the Stories of Lesser Known Suffragists and Inspiring Women

Rochester Museum & Science Center

$5,000

Hologram–based exhibition marking the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States in 2020.

Rochester

Finger Lakes
Long Island’s First Whalers

The Whaling Museum and Education Center

$5,000

Two–year exhibition & programming exploring the cultural significance of whales for the Shinnecock people, past and present.

Cold Spring Harbor

Long Island
Yiddish Culture Series

The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County

$3,870

Four–part public program series on Yiddish Culture, particularly the rich pre–Holocaust world of Eastern and Central Europe.

Glen Cove

Long Island
Suffrage Signatures: A New Music Collaboration Between Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble and Composer Joelle Wallach

Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble

$5,000

Long Island's Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble and New York City-based composer Joelle Wallach will collaborate on the composition and premiere performances of Suffrage Signatures, a new work celebrating the Women's Suffrage movement and its roots in New York State.

Centerport

Long Island
Incorrigibles: Exhibition and Story Share

Incorrigibles, a project of New York Foundation for the Arts

$5,000

Transmedia documentary project on the stories and lives of incarcerated girls and young women in the US, from 1900 to present day.

Brooklyn/Newburgh

Mid-Hudson
Sewing in Kingston: Home, Factory, and Tradition

Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History, a project of the Jewish Federation of Ulster County

$5,000

Exhibition and public program series that explores how Kingstonians from many backgrounds have used sewing as a source of income, an expression of creativity, and a vehicle for cultural transmission.

Kingston

Mid-Hudson
Real History Series

The Library at the A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Community Center

$5,000

Twelve events – including lectures, panels, film screenings, and book discussions – on topics related to history, culture, social justice, and current events.

Kingston

Mid-Hudson
Suffrage Centennial and Women of Putnam County Exhibition

Putnam History Museum

$5,000

Exhibition on the history and legacy of the women’s suffrage movement throughout Putnam County, New York.

Cold Spring

Mid-Hudson
Identity/Identify

Iroquois Indian Museum

$5,000

Exhibition, programming, and artwork examining multiple perspectives on tribal enrollment, blood quantum, residency, and other issues relating to Haudenosaunee/Iroquois identity.

Howes Cave

Mohawk Valley
Ann Pale | Haiti X New York

Haiti Cultural Exchange

$5,000

Conversation series featuring resident artists from Haiti on socio–political issues facing Haiti today and their implications for the Haitian Diaspora.

Brooklyn

NYC
In the Company of Superheroes: HIV and AIDS in Comics - Public Programming

Visual AIDS

$5,000

Two panel discussions and a comics–making workshop considering how the medium of comics contributes to the public understanding of HIV and AIDS through didacticism, creativity, and imagination.

New York

NYC
Powerful and Dangerous: The Words and Images of Audre Lorde

Friends of Alice Austen House

$5,000

Exhibition focusing on the 1983 landmark press photo series of Audre Lorde by Robert Alexander, with its implications for the women’s movement and Lorde’s legacy.

Staten Island

NYC
Rabita 2020: 100 Years of Arab Immigrant Artists

Lebanese American University – New York Academic Center

$5,000

Celebration of Arab–Americans' cultural contributions to New York City, New York State, and the United States more generally.

New York

NYC
Open Doors

Realness, Resilience & Healing Tour

$5,000

Discussion and workshop in which survivors of urban gun violence access humanities tools and experiences, gaining purpose, agency, and platforms for their voices.

New York

NYC
Death Becomes Her: Public Program Series

BRIC Arts Media Bklyn

$5,000

Art exhibition featuring multimedia works from a group of female artists that explore the changing narrative around death, loss, and mourning.

New York

NYC
Helen Keller Archive Curricula Project

American Foundation for the Blind

$5,000

Research meant to expand the Helen Keller Archive’s reach by creating curricula on Keller’s role in the women's suffrage movement.

New York

New York
Women March Programming at the New-York Historical Society

New–York Historical Society

$5,000

Exhibition and public programming exploring the history of women in politics and to whom exactly the 19th amendment extended voting rights.

New York

New York
Celebrating Suffrage in the Champlain Valley

Ticonderoga Historical Society

$5,000

Multi–disciplinary series of events and projects designed to inform, educate and celebrate the accomplishments of suffrage activists across the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Region.

Ticonderoga

North Country
Sisters of Change: Dorothy Cotton and Unsung Sheroes for Racial Justice, Human Rights, and the Vote, Whose Names Everyone Ought to Know

The History Center in Tompkins County

$5,000

Exhibits and programming showcasing the legacy of Civil Rights icon Dorothy Cotton and unsung sheroes of color through photos, video, students’ voting projects, oral histories, panels and performance.

Ithaca

Finger Lakes
Emblem of Equality

The Buffalo History Museum

$5,000

Programs and publications on the women's suffrage movement.

Buffalo

Western New York
The Art of Suffrage

Lockport Public Arts Council

$5,000

Multi-sensory, interactive exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

Lockport

Western New York
Crafting Democracy in the Finger Lakes

Davis Gallery, Hobart & William Smith Colleges

$5,000

Crafting Democracy is a humanities focused exhibition with a large public outreach component. We will work with local organizations in and around Geneva, NY to talk about craft and making, rural democracy, and suffrage and voting rights.

Geneva

Finger Lakes
Standing on Their Shoulders:100 Years of Voting and Still Marching for Women's Rights

The Historical Society of Woodstock

$3,934

An exhibit and events connecting Woodstock, NY to the US early women's rights movement highlights activists Edna Kearns and Elisabeth Freeman, with participation by their community-related descendants—Kearns' granddaughter and Freeman's grandniece.

Woodstock

Mid-Hudson
The 150th Anniversary Celebration of Frederick Douglass' Visit to Newburgh, NY

The 150th Anniversary Celebration of Frederick Douglass' Visit to Newburgh, NY

$5,000

This multi-part program, consisting of a mural unveiling, live recitation, city proclamation, and panel discussion, is the culmination of community work that has explored Frederick Douglass' legacy and visit to Newburgh, NY on August 11, 1870.

Newburgh

Mid-Hudson
War of 1812 - A Walk Through History

Hull House Foundation

$2,390

The 'War of 1812- A Walk Through History' presents a series of short scenes in which actors portraying historic figures depict events and critical elements of the War of 1812, that impacted the Village of Buffalo, Western New York and the nation.

Lancaster

Western New York
Race Films/Race Matters: Conversations About Race in America

Wharton Studio Museum

$5,000

“Race Films/Race Matters: Conversations About Race in America,” a new Finger Lakes Film Trail program series, draws on "race films" from the 1910s-1920s to begin important conversations about race and race relations today.

Ithaca

Finger Lakes
Black Cultural History of Fort Greene: Tour and Programs

Fort Greene Park Conservancy

$5,000

In 2020, FGPC will launch a new walking tour and related programs, providing opportunities for community members to connect to the rich Black cultural and social history of Fort Greene and engage in dialogue on the power of varied forms of activism.

Brooklyn

New York City
Indigenous History & Art at Good Little Water Place

Preservation Long Island

$5,000

A collaborative exhibition between PLI, the NYS Museum, and Shinnecock artist Jeremy Dennis that juxtaposes historic objects with contemporary Indigenous art to highlight the enduring connections between land, materiality, and Native peoples.

Cold Spring Harbor

Long Island
For the Future: The Susan B. Anthony Historic District (music, art and action)

fivebyfive

$4,750

A public program held in the Susan B. Anthony Historic District that combines music, art and action, with new music composed for the event, a community talkback and neighborhood walk, with all proceeds benefiting the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood.

Rochester

Western New York
A public program held in the Susan B. Anthony Historic District that combines music, art and action, with new music composed for the event, a community talkback and neighborhood walk, with all proceeds benefiting the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood.

Niagara County Historical Society

$5,000

Belva Lockwood, the first woman to run for president of the US, journeyed from wife and mother to lawyer and politician as an advocate for equal rights. We explore her legacy in the fight for equality from the nineteenth century to the present.

Lockport

Western New York
Voices of HerStory: Perspectives on the Women's Suffrage Movement

Albany Institute of History & Art

$5,000

The Voices of HerStory is a series of public programs exploring diverse perspectives on the women's suffrage movement and its continuing legacy today.

Albany

Capital Region
Oral History LIVE!

BOMB Magazine

$5,000

BOMB’s Oral History LIVE! presents public programs, including artist talks and workshops, by influential New York City-based African diasporic artists who have been included in BOMB’s Oral History Project.

Brooklyn

New York City
African/American: Making the Nation's Table

The Museum of Food and Drink

$5,000

For over 400 years, African Americans have shaped our national culinary identity. African/American: Making the Nation’s Table is the country’s first large-scale exhibition celebrating the countless African American contributions to American cuisine.

Brooklyn

New York City
GLORIA, A LIFE, A Play by Emily Mann

JCC of Greater Rochester

$5,000

Gloria Steinem - the face of the Women's Movement - first raised her voice five decades ago as co-founder of Ms. Magazine. This insightful new play JCC play uniquely chronicles her inspiring crusade and the work of her contemporaries in the 1960s.

Rochester

Finger Lakes
Harlem is . . . Healing: Heroes of the Pandemic

New Heritage Theatre Group

$5,000

Using social media, Harlem is...Healing: Heroes of the Pandemic tells the stories of people making a difference in the health of the community now and looks at the historic racial imbalance that black and brown people have endured through time.

Manhattan

New York City
Native Nations Festival 2020

Seven Generations of Stewards

$5,000

The Native Nations Festival is a free to the public cultural and art event where attendees will get to experience live multi tribal Native American dances, drumming, singing, storytelling, arts, crafts and even native food.

Corning

Southern Tier
Radical Cartography

The Laundromat Project

$4,475

Radical Cartography is a public panel discussion to empower NYC residents and tenants of color to use cartography as an advocacy tool in decision-making processes that impact their communities, including gentrification, re-zoning, and eviction.

Manhattan

New York City
Art Start Portrait Project

Art Start

$5,000

The Art Start Portrait Project is a public-facing multimedia exhibition that provides a platform for youth from historically marginalized communities to explore issues of personal identity and use the arts to envision their lives without boundaries.

Manhattan

New York City
Seen and Heard: Symbols of Protest and Solidarity From Central New York's Women's Suffrage Movement

Onondaga Historical Association

$5,000

A centennial celebration featuring exhibits and programs about Central New York's contributions to the Women's Suffrage Movement, and the artifacts of community organizing activities that led to the groundbreaking legislation of the 19th Amendment.

Syracuse

Central New York
The View from Within: Reforming the Criminal Justice System and the Transformative Power of the Humanities

Brooklyn Historical Society

$5,000

BHS is proud to shine a spotlight on the transformative power of the humanities for those ‘on the inside’ – incarcerated men and women for whom the humanities and arts provide a new and illuminating way to understand their world.

Brooklyn

New York City
Narratio Fellowship

Syracuse University, Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition

$5,000

This project brings immigrant artists and historians together with resettled refugee youth fellows to reinterpret objects in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fellows display their work at the Met and in schools, libraries, and galleries in Syracuse.

Syracuse

Central New York
Exploring the Erie Canal

Explore Buffalo

$5,000

Exploring the Erie Canal will be a series of digital resources to educate the public about the remarkable history and significance of the Erie Canal in Western New York, as part of New York's ongoing celebration of the Erie Canal's Bicentennial.

Buffalo

Western New York
Exploring the Erie Canal

Explore Buffalo

$5,000

Exploring the Erie Canal will be a series of digital resources to educate the public about the remarkable history and significance of the Erie Canal in Western New York, as part of New York's ongoing celebration of the Erie Canal's Bicentennial.

Buffalo

Western New York
One Book One Bronx: Black Futures

Literary Freedom Project

$5,000

The goal is to present the 2020 Mosaic Literary Conference and a series of lead-in programs. MLC presents a variety of topical, historical, and culturally themed ideas and public programs to our South Bronx community.

Bronx

New York City
Suffrage Centennial Program Suite

Staten Island Museum

$5,000

This suite of programs takes inspiration from and works to support the content in Women of the Nation Arise! Staten Islanders in the Fight for Women’s Right to Vote through a theatrical production, interactive poetry reading and zine workshops.

Staten Island

New York City
Brownsville: Looking Back to Look Forward, Volume 1: Youth Activism

Empowering Youth Towards Excellence

$5,000

Youth will document the history of youth activism in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and reflect on the state of youth activism today. Testimonies from past and present will culminate in a book and documentary project to be shared throughout the community.

Brooklyn

New York City
They Sang Too: Unheard Voices of the Suffrage Movement

Rochester Oratorio Society

$4,300

The ROS will showcase non-white/non-Christian suffragists on Election Day at Susan B. Anthony’s grave, thereby conducting historical research, creating a video record of the day, and yielding new historical artifacts.

Rochester

Finger Lakes
Humanities Program Series: Migration, Nature and Womanhood

KODA Arts, a project of New York Foundation of the Arts

$5,000

Suite of programs to foster community engagement of under-served communities and deeper exploration of the forthcoming residency and exhibition’s themes, with a focus on women rights, nature preservation and Latinx and indigenous cultures.

Brooklyn

New York City
Hermerica

Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild

$5,000

Art and history exhibition celebrating the United States Suffrage Centennial, HERMERICA pairs contemporary art by women with historical artifacts. Exploring origins of the Suffrage movement, Hermerica reflects upon women’s struggle for equality.

Woodstock

Capital Region
First Responders: Then and Now

Irish American Heritage Museum

$4,250

An exhibition and lecture series to examine the Irish refugees of the Great Hunger 1845-52 and the religious and medical teams who were on the front lines at ports in North America. We will also discuss recent immigrant experiences in US and Ireland.

Albany

Capital Region
The North Country Art, Land and Environment 2020 Summit

St. Lawrence University

$5,000

The North Country Art, Land and Environment 2020 Summit will use the humanities and arts to contextualize the climate emergency through discussions, exhibitions, and films, focusing on the St. Lawrence River Watershed and sustainable solutions.

Canton

North Country
CSI Orchestra & Richmond County Orchestra present a Jewish & Arab Composers’ Project

College of Staten Island Foundation

$5,000

The CSI Orchestra provides a musical and cultural enriching experiences to students from Staten Island, many of whom are from Title I schools (Curtis and Port Richmond High Schools) who otherwise would not have such an opportunity.

Staten Island

New York City
Epic Forum Series: DEFAULT

Epic Theatre Ensemble

$4,350

Epic Forum Series: DEFAULT features five virtual community conversations centered around Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Manhattan

New York City
The Power of Native Women

Huguenot Historical Society

$5,000

“The Power of Native Women,” examines the history of Indigenous Women’s political power and voting rights with a focus on Esopus-Munsee Women. The program is part of Historic Huguenot Street's 2020 programming for the US Women’s Suffrage Centennial

New Paltz

Mid-Hudson
Virtual History Fair: #BuildingStories

Historic Cherry Hill

$2,500

This project transforms Historic Cherry Hill’s annual Albany History Fair into a digital affair. The Virtual Fair will explore this year’s theme, #BuildingStories though a social media campaign, a virtual event, and web-based interpretative products.

Albany

Capital Region
Don't Shut Up: 100 Years of Women's Suffrage

Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden

$5,000

Don’t Shut Up: 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage explores the continued disenfranchisement and silencing of women in contemporary culture. Snug Harbor’s exhibition and programming includes a spoken word event, discussions and a Smithsonian Speaker.

Staten Island

New York City
Upstate History in Women's History: Women's Suffrage Series

Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum

$5,000

"Upstate History in Women's History: Women's Suffrage Series" Exhibit, speaker series and voting re-enactment highlighting Upstate New York's place in history as the birthplace of the Women's Suffrage Movement and home of many noted reformers.

Chittenango

Central New York
Harriet Tubman "Journey to Freedom"

Friends of Newburgh Free Library

$5,000

“Journey to Freedom” is a year long series of arts, cultural and educational programs to be held at the Newburgh Free Library, inspired by the courage, vision and strength of the American abolitionist and political activist, Harriet Tubman.

Newburgh

Mid-Hudson
Freedom Conversations: Turning Memory to Action with Facilitated Dialogue

Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Commission

$4,585

Freedom Conversations engage visitors in an immersive one-hour walking tour where facilitators weave authentic historic narratives with questions that prompt participants to find their own voice in the universal story of freedom.

Niagara Falls

Western New York
Undesign the Redline @ Barnard

Barnard College, Barnard Library

$5,000

Undesign the Redline is an interactive exhibition on place, class and race in America from slavery to the present day. The Undesign@Barnard series includes an online summer reading group, and fall panels centering voices from the Harlem community.

Manhattan

Barnard College, Barnard Library
The Production of Neighborhood: LES Places / People / Buildings and Actions

The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Education Center

$5,000

The Production of Neighborhood: LES Places/People/Buildings and Actions digitizes the 2019 exhibition, Activist Estates of the Lower East Side, that spatialized the cultural contributions of communities via maps, timelines & ethnographic documents.

Manhattan

New York City
Passing through the heart

Buffalo Media Resources

$5,000

Passing through the heart by Public Visualization Lab is a series of cooking and photogrammetry workshops, storytelling events, and an exhibition that explore migration, big data, and collective knowledge.

Buffalo

Western New York
#DearCANY: COVID-19 Diaries from Prison

Correctional Association of New York

$5,000

The project gathers and interprets letters received by CANY from people incarcerated in New York during the pandemic. The letters offer glimpses into lives deeply impacted by the complex, tragic nexus of inequality, mass incarceration, and disaster.

Brooklyn

New York City
History and Art for People with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families

Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden

$1,250

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden hosts a monthly weekend program for people with autism and their families. Participants focus on a particular theme originating from the Museum's collection and period rooms, then create an artwork.

New York

NYC
The Sankofa Stories Oral History Project

Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment (FORCE)

$1,500

Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment (FORCE) conducts brainstorming sessions, scholar consultations, and collaborative research towards establishing the feasibility of the Sankofa Stories Oral History Project. The Sankofa Stories Oral History Project will document the lives of Black people who live or have lived in the Southside neighborhood of Syracuse, NY.

Syracuse

Central New York
The Path Home: Immigrants Making America

Res Publica

$1,500

An exhibition that presents the welcoming of almost three million new Americans through the bipartisan Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986.

New York

Finger Lakes | Long Island | Mid-Hudson
The Boscobel Rock Musical: A Revolutionary War Adventure

Boscobel House and Gardens

$1,500

Performance by local musicians and a theatre group, who tell the history of Boscobel in a new and engaging way.

Garrison

Mid-Hudson | New York City
The Haudenosaunee Voice in Archaeology

Iroquois Indian Museum

$1,500

Planning session between Iroquois consultants, museum staff, and archaeology professionals to review and discuss the museum's archaeology exhibitions.

Howes Cave

Mohawk Valley
2021 Access Podcast Series

Interference Archive

$1,500

Development of a podcast that addresses what access means for archives as physical spaces, as communities, and as repositories of public knowledge.

Brooklyn

New York City
Reimagining Immigration and Immigrants

Reimagining Immigration and Immigrants, a Project of Fractured Atlas

$1,500

Changing the perception of immigrants in the United States by exploring the relationship between traditional family recipes and memories in its collaborative space.

Hartsdale

New York City
New Black Narratives into Core Materials

Morris-Jumel Mansion

$1,500

Integrating narratives of significant Black figures of the home’s past into the core educational programs and interpretative framework.

New York City

New York City
Planning the North Country Art, Land and Environment Summit

St. Lawrence University

$1,500

Utilizing the humanities and art to contextualize the climate emergency, spark policy debate, and inspire action.

Canton

North Country
History of Native Americans in the Saranac Lake Region

Historic Saranac Lake

$1,500

Consulting with the Six Nations Indian Museum to create an interpretive plan for this forthcoming exhibition.

Saranac Lake

North Country
Strategic Plan for Accessible Folk Culture Collections

New York Folklore Society

$1,500

Meetings with organizations that hold folk culture collections to plan for a platform that will make these holdings digitally accessible.

Schenectady

Capital Region
Parallel Lives: A History of Transgender Men

Buffalo-Niagara LGBTQ History Project

$1,500

Research on—followed by public presentation of—the history of transgender men and their contributions to Western New York from 1900 to the present.

Buffalo

Western New York