Virginia—Today, Virginia Humanities announced nineteen new grants totaling $204,827 to nonprofit organizations across the Commonwealth.
Since 1974, Virginia Humanities has been awarding grants to support projects that explore the stories of Virginia—its history, people, communities, and cultural traditions. “Each one of these projects contributes to our understanding of a different facet of Virginia’s story,” says Virginia Humanities’ executive director Matthew Gibson. “And they will help us better understand issues that impact the lives of Virginians in the present day. We’re proud to support these efforts.”
To learn more about Virginia Humanities’ grants program, visit VirginiaHumanities.org/grants.
The following organizations received grants from Virginia Humanities between January and March 2023:
Alexandria—Office of Historic Alexandria: $20,000
Douglass Cemetery Oral History Project: Preservation and documentation of the history of Alexandria’s African American community’s cemetery and the individuals buried there, using oral histories and a digital humanities platform.
Arlington—Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation: $16,622
Loud and Clear – Amplifying HERstory in the Classroom: Production of educator resources for grades 6-12 focused on telling underrepresented stories of military women’s roles in American history, using the archival collection of the Military Women’s Museum.
Berryville—Josephine School Community Museum: $5,000
Juneteenth Festival: A festival to educate and inform the public about the African American experience from 1865 to the present, through exhibits, videos, speakers, and performers.
Blacksburg—Blacksburg Museum & Cultural Foundation: $5,000
Queer Appalachia: LGBTQ Narratives of Southwest Virginia: An immersive history exhibition documenting the LGBTQ history of the region.
Chesapeake—Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways History Foundation: $4,690
Locks Opened Series: Community Connections: A seven-part series of performance and discussion programs using stories from the past including themes related to the Underground Railroad to initiate conversations about contemporary issues.
Goochland—Goochland County Historical Society: $2,290
Voices from 1965: An oral history project interviewing eight of the surviving students who integrated Goochland High School in 1965, and a public lecture on Virginia’s Freedom of Choice Program.
Irvington—Steamboat Era Museum: $5,000
A Child’s Life in the Steamboat Era: A new exhibit designed to showcase the lives of children during the Steamboat Era, building on existing work by adding children’s stories and expanding educational opportunities
Locust Grove—Germanna Foundation: $20,000
Discovering Catina: Co-curated scholarly research into the life of Catina, a Siouan-speaking woman enslaved by Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood during the early 18th century.
Newport News—CAN Foundation: $5,000
Reasonings of Resilience: A project working with youth to explore lived experiences with gun violence and promote well-being and healing.
Norfolk—Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc. (DBA WHRO): $5,000
Virginia Voices: Expansion of Virginia Voices into a monthly podcast and digitally published feature to increase its reach across specific news deserts in Virginia, building on a series first produced in 2020 to provide unique perspectives on Virginia’s news.
Norfolk—Virginia Opera Association, Inc.: $20,000
Loving v. Virginia Opera: Production of the first phase of an original documentary film that will expand on the operatic retelling of the Loving v. Virginia case, exploring its relevance to contemporary issues of race, identity, and social justice.
Palmyra—Fluvanna County Historical Society: $9,500
I Have a Name: Creation of a memorial for the enslaved individuals buried at Oak Hill Cemetery and a documentary that captures the work done to restore and preserve historic Black cemeteries in the region.
Richmond—Gallery 5: $5000
Six-month Poetry Night: A program exploring diverse voices in poetry and spoken word in the Richmond area, through poetry readings that subvert traditional historical narratives and uplift under-represented voices.
Richmond—Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden: $20,000
Women’s Work: An exhibition showcasing a unique botanical collection, largely created by Black women in the 1930s through a WPA-funded native flora conservation project.
Richmond—University of Richmond: $2,000
Framing Agnes: A public screening and discussion of the documentary “Framing Agnes,” which explores trans care and features conversations with trans scholars and cultural workers.
Richmond—Virginia Commonwealth University: $14,925
Loose Parts—Exploring the Public Humanities of Child-Directed Adventure Play: This project will explore the interdisciplinary area of adventure play studies and fund community conversations, screenings, and pop-up adventure play experiences to support the construction of a permanent, artist-activated adventure play space.
Roanoke—Taubman Museum of Art: $20,000
David Ramey – Perspectives on the Historic Vibrancy of Roanoke’s Gainsboro Neighborhood: A free public exhibition of illustrations by artist David Ramey Sr. depicting the historic Black Gainsboro community in downtown Roanoke, including related narratives and educational programming.
Salem—Roanoke College: $20,000
Fossil Tales—Connecting the Appalachian Mountains to Dragon Folklore: Production of a child-focused exhibit connecting the natural history of Appalachia to stories of other areas and cultures.
Staunton—American Frontier Culture Foundation: $4,800
2023 Annual Lecture Series: Six free public lectures on Indigenous, colonial, and early American history and culture, with talks by humanities scholars on topics including maps of early America, and migration and the making of the United States.
