Division of Public ProgramsThrough the Division of Public Programs, the Endowment supports activities that engage Americans of all ages in the study, interpretation, and appreciation of important works, ideas, and events that make up the record of human civilization. The Endowment's programs for the public are based on the assumption that reflection upon the fundamental ideas and perennial questions addressed by the humanities remains important throughout a person's life, not just during the years of formal education. The Division of Public Programs accomplishes its mission through support of interpretive exhibitions, radio and television programs, reading and film discussion groups, symposia, conferences, interactive multimedia projects, and other types of humanities programs that reach communities throughout the country. The division particularly encourages projects that have regional or national significance or impact, reach new, expanded, and diverse audiences, use new technologies or multiple formats, and represent collaborations between cultural institutions and organizations. Museum exhibitions funded in fiscal year 1998 will bring new insights into several aspects of American Indian life, including a permanent exhibition on the boarding school experience at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. Using oral histories and memorabilia gathered from former students at the government's boarding schools, the exhibition will speak with an insider's voice. It will also feature a simulated classroom and other components on dormitory life, curriculum, clubs, and sports, thus encouraging visitors to make connections to their own schooling. The division also provided funds for an exhibition, an interpretive garden, and related programs in schools, libraries, and community centers on life among the Creek and Cherokee tribes in Georgia before their expulsion from the state. Organized by the Atlanta Historical Society, a traveling version of the exhibition will go to Indian museums in North Carolina, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Regional identity will be explored through projects funded in fiscal year 1998 and taking place in the nation's libraries. Regional literature and American identity will be the focus of "StoryLines America," which will offer talk show radio broadcasts and library programs on Southeastern and California literature. Featured authors will include Thomas Wolfe, Zora Neale Hurston, Pat Conroy, Wallace Stegner, and John Steinbeck. Regional and national themes related to issues of immigration and acculturation within a Latino context will be explored through another project entitled "Bridges That Unite Us/Puentes que nos unen." These bilingual reading and discussion programs will take place in 180 libraries in six Western states. Representing multiple perspectives and voices, the texts and study guides will engage participants in reflection upon issues that are of special importance to the West. The public and private evolution of a complex American life, that of Eleanor Roosevelt, will be explored in a two-hour documentary film for public television. Eleanor Roosevelt, to be broadcast as part of The American Experience during the 1999-2000 season, reveals the life and times of an extraordinary person, who made significant contributions to her husband's political career and presidency, New Deal initiatives, human rights and world peace, and African American and women's rights. Drawing upon outstanding new scholarship, archival film and photographs, and first-hand testimonies, the film provides a fresh examination of an American legend. The division also provided funds for films on other American figures, such as noted photographers Edward Curtis and Gordon Parks. Public radio listeners will have the opportunity to learn about key issues facing Islam around the world through Living Islam, a series to be broadcast on such programs as All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Fiscal year 1998 marks the completion of the Endowment's Special Initiative for Humanities Radio Programming, which will result in a wide array of humanities segments being aired as part of programs listened to by American audiences. Older Americans will explore themes important to the history, cultural traditions, and development of modern China and Russia through "The Peoples of Russia and China," supported by our Special Projects program. And young girls in six cities, primarily from low-income, minority families, will be engaged in "Girls Dig It: A Nationwide Archaeology Program for Girls, Ages 12-14." The project hopes eventually to reach 100,000 girls, helping them develop basic investigative and interpretive skills in hands-on archaeological projects with humanities scholars. Nancy Rogers Director Division of Public Programs Humanities Projects in Libraries and ArchivesGrants supported projects that enhance public appreciation and understanding of the humanities through the discovery, use, and interpretation of books and other resources in the collections of American libraries and archives.
American Library Association
American Library Association
Delaware Library Association
Human Pursuits: Western Humanities Concern
Library of America
National Video Resources
New England Foundation for the Humanities
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Vermont Council on the Humanities
Humanities Projects in MediaGrants supported the planning, writing, or production of television and radio programs in the humanities intended for general audiences.
Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority
Arcadia Pictures
Association of Independents in Radio
Camera News, Inc./Third World Newsreel
Catticus Corporation
City Lore: New York Center for Urban Folk Culture
Civil Rights Project, Inc.
Clarity Educational Productions, Inc.
ETV Endowment of South Carolina
Educational Broadcasting Corporation
Film Arts Foundation
Filmmakers Collaborative
Filmmakers Collaborative
Independent Broadcasting Associates, Inc.
Institute for Research on Social Problems
International Documentary Foundation
Maiden Voyage Productions
New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
New York State Historical Association
North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc.
Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute
Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Stone Lantern Films, Inc.
University of Wisconsin
WBEZ Alliance, Inc.
WGBH Educational Foundation
WGBH Educational Foundation
WGBH Educational Foundation
WHYY, Inc.
WHYY, Inc.
Western Public Radio
Humanities Projects in Museums and Historical OrganizationsGrants assisted museums, historical organizations, and other cultural institutions in the planning and implementation of exhibitions, publications, and other interpretive programs to convey the humanities to the public. Grants also supported projects for museum professionals to improve the interpretation of the humanities and self-study projects to develop long-range interpretive plans.
Art Institute of Chicago
Atlanta Historical Society
Brown University
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Denver Art Museum
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts
Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery
Harvard University
Heard Museum
High Desert Museum
Kona Historical Society
Maymont Foundation
Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts
National Afro-American Museum
Please Touch Museum
Pratt Museum
Rhode Island School of Design
SUNY Research Foundation/College at Oneonta
University of California
University of Florida
University of South Carolina
Utah Humanities Council
Walters Art Gallery
Yale University
Special ProjectsGrants support public programs in venues or formats that fall outside the other divisional categories. Special projects engage public audiences in learning about important topics in the humanities in a variety of settings and formats, including lectures, workshops, demonstrations, or other innovative presentations, and traveling exhibitions. Grants also support planning for the use of newer technologies, such as the Internet and CD-ROMs, to engage general audiences in the humanities.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Girls Incorporated
Great Plains Chautauqua Society, Inc.
Harvard University
Historical Society of Washington, DC
Maine Humanities Council
University of Saint Thomas
University of Virginia
The Jefferson LectureRepresentational costs associated with presenting the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities were supported by gifts from Sara Lee Corporation, Kenan Charitable Trust, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., the National Trust for the Humanities, and the Philip F. Schoch Trust.
Bernard Bailyn |