Florida Humanities is pleased to announce $41,000 in Community Project Grants to nine Florida organizations in support of vital humanities programming. In addition to this direct support, each organization presented a cash or in-kind match with their project, bringing an additional $144,924 to the table which will further support local communities.

Community Project Grants provide up to $5,000 in funding to nonprofits and public institutions across Florida to develop and implement humanities-rich public programs that meet the needs of local communities. At their core, these competitive grants seek to preserve Florida’s diverse history and heritage, promote civic engagement and community dialogue, and provide communities the opportunity to reflect on the future of the Sunshine State.

Florida Humanities, the statewide affiliate to the National Endowment for the Humanities, serves to preserve, promote and share the history, literature, culture and personal stories that offer Floridians a better understanding of themselves, their communities and their state.

The newly awarded grants are listed below, alphabetically by sponsoring organization:

Amelia Island Museum of History (Nassau)
“Seminole Canoe-Making Demonstration with Pedro Zepeda” – $3,500
Amelia Island Museum of History will host artist Pedro Zepeda for a one-week demonstration of Seminole canoe crafting with lectures and programming about Florida’s indigenous history and crafts.

Atlantic Center for the Arts (Volusia)
“Beginner’s Mind: Fresh Perspectives on Poetry” – $4,000
The Atlantic Center for the Arts will orchestrate an interactive poetry workshop video series with Poet M.B. McLatchey, made free for the public.

 Bartram Trail Society of Florida (Putnam)
“2020 St. Johns River Bartram Frolic” – $5,000
The Bartram Trail Society of Florida will support a speaker’s symposium as part of the 2020 St. Johns River Bartram Frolic, an annual event that features Bartram heritage, literature, living history, art, cultural activities, and humanities scholars.

Monticello Opera House (Jefferson)
“Escaping Slavery in Middle Florida: The Underground Railroad and Beyond” – $4,500
The Monticello Opera House will host several free public panel discussions that will focus on the history of the Underground Railroad and slavery in Florida.

Sacred Lands Preservation and Education (Pinellas)
“Interpreting Sites of Indigenous and Spanish Contact” – $5,000
Sacred Lands Preservation and Education will create two sets of educational and interpretive exhibits for the “archeologically pristine” Anderson-Narvaez Tocobaga Indian Site.

Silver River Museum (Marion)
“Expanding Online Virtual Humanities Content from the Silver Museum” – $4,000
Silver River Museum will expand their online virtual humanities content, including the redesign of their museum web page, purchase audio visual equipment, and bring humanities scholars to present virtual programs.

Stetson Kennedy Foundation (Saint Johns)
“The People’s Recorder: Using WPA stories to unlock creative responses to American life today” – $5,000
The Stetson Kennedy Foundation will partner with Spark Media to produce two Florida focused episodes on “The People’s Recorder,”  a podcast series that explores the stories first unearthed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) writers and artists in the 1930’s.

The Historical Society of Central Florida (Orange)
“Yesterday, This Was Home: The Ocoee Massacre of 1920” – $5,000
The Historical Society of Central Florida will host free public programs that include the participation of humanities scholars and focus on race, voting, oppression, and African American history in Central Florida and across the state.

University of Florida Center for the Humanities in the Public Sphere (Alachua)
“Conversations in the Neighborhood: Let’s Talk About Food” – $5,000
Center for the Humanities in the Public Sphere (part of University of Florida) will partner with the city of Gainesville equal opportunity office to host “Conversations in the Neighborhood: Let’s Talk about Food,” a public humanities series exploring how food shapes people’s socialization and connections to one another.

Want to make an impact in your local community? Apply for a Community Project Grant! Learn more at FloridaHumanities.org/grants. Please contact Lindsey Morrison, Grants Coordinator, at [email protected] for more information.

Upcoming 2019 Deadlines:

  • July 22, 2020 at 12:00 pm (noon)

Remaining 2020 Deadlines:

  • July 22, 2020 at 12:00 pm (noon)
  • October 14, 2020 at 12:00 pm (noon)

Please contact Lindsey Morrison, Grants Coordinator, at [email protected] for more information.