New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Grants

NY Council for the Humanities Grant Deadline

by Leave a Comment

New York Council for the Humanities grants provide support for public programs presented by tax exempt organizations across New York State that bring humanities scholars and scholarship to a general public audience. The New York Council for the Humanities invites organizations from New York State to apply for a Council Major Grant (up to $20,000) by the September 15th post-marked deadline.

Applicants can apply for support of the implementation of a public project grounded in the humanities. Council grants have funded a variety of projects including the implementation of exhibitions, discussion programs, walking tours, and podcasts in communities across the state, from Buffalo to Fayetteville to Geneva to New York City.

For more information, visit nyhumanities.org/grants and review the list of past grantees along with brief descriptions of their awarded grant projects, or send an email to grants@nyhumanities.org.

The Council also has several other programs available, including Reading Between the Lines an adult reading discussion group, and Speakers in the Humanities an affordable speakers bureau with a variety of topics. For more information visit their website at www.nyhumanities.org.

Preserve New York Grants Deadline May 17

by Leave a Comment

Applications are now available to eligible municipalities and not-for-profit organizations to compete for funds through Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

A total of $109,149 is available for historic structure reports, historic landscape reports and cultural resource surveys. Grants are likely to range between $3,000 and $15,000 each. The application deadline is May 17, 2010.

Examples of eligible projects include: historic structure reports for public buildings or historic sites; historic landscape reports for municipal parks; and cultural resource surveys of downtowns and residential neighborhoods.

In 2010, the Preservation League especially encourages projects that advance the preservation of neighborhoods and downtowns that qualify for the NYS Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit; preserve architecture and landscapes of the recent past; and continue the use of historic public buildings.

For Preserve New York Grant Program guidelines, visit the League’s website at www.preservenys.org. Prospective applicants should contact the Preservation League to discuss their projects and to request an application form.

The Preservation League of New York State is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to protect and enhance the Empire State’s historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods. The New York State Council on the Arts is the state’s arts funding agency. The Preservation League and NYSCA have collaborated on this grant program annually since 1993.

NYC: Landmarks Conservancy Offers Preservation Grants

by Leave a Comment

The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and reusing architecturally and historically important buildings in New York City. Much of the Conservancy’s work takes place in low and moderate income neighborhoods, providing a positive effect of historic preservation on community development and revitalization. Through its Neighborhood Preservation Programs, the Conservancy has provided millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans, as well as countless hours of project management and technical assistance, to owners of all types of buildings.

There are funds available in our Neighborhood Preservation Programs to help finance exterior (and interior structural) capital work and related costs on older buildings. The properties need not be designated landmark buildings in all cases, as the funding programs have different guidelines. All of the programs are accompanied by project management assistance to foster landmark quality work and facilitate public approval processes. The Neighborhood Preservation Programs are:

1. Historic Properties Fund – a revolving loan fund for any type of property or owner. Low interest, collateralized loans for preservation work on buildings that are officially landmarks, within historic districts, or eligible for listing in the State or National Register of Historic Places. (Conservancy staff can help you to obtain this determination from the State Historic Preservation Office; it involves little further public regulation or compliance cost.) Loans range from $20,000 to approximately $300,000 per project.

2. City Ventures Fund – a grant program for nonprofit owners/developers of properties that serve lower income people. Although there is a priority for projects that provide affordable and special needs housing, properties that provide services to lower income people, such as employment training, socials services, and other educational purposes, are also eligible for funding. Capital grants of up to $30,000 are available for preservation work on older buildings that generally do not have any landmark status but have good architectural quality and integrity; consulting grants of up to $10,000 are available for professional services.

3. Emergency Preservation Grants – capitalized by The New York Community Trust, a grant program for nonprofit owners of historic properties for emergency repair work. Grants of up to $25,000 are available for immediate work that addresses public safety, water penetration, or other issues that threaten the preservation of the property.

In addition to the Neighborhood Preservation Programs, the Conservancy also provides city and statewide matching grants specifically for houses of worship. Visit their website at www.nylandmarks.org for more information about their programs.

[Put the end of your post here]

Mellon Fellowship at the New-York Historical Society

by Leave a Comment

The New-York Historical Society invites qualified applicants who are within 3-5 years of having received the Ph.D. to apply for one of two Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowships for research and writing in any field relevant to the Society’s library and museum collections. Awardees are expected to be in residence for the academic year commencing on September 1, 2010, and carry an academic year stipend of $60,000. The
deadline for applications is March 1, 2010, with decisions to be announced by April 23.

Applicants should send a cover letter, including date of PhD, current institutional affiliation and rank, mailing and e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and title of project; a two to three page description of project, including resources to be used; a curriculum vitae; and three letters of recommendation to Jean Ashton, Executive
Vice President and Library Director, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024. Postmark deadline is March 1, 2010; electronic applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. on that date.

Collection descriptions may be found on the New-York Historical Society website.

NY Council for the Humanities Grant Winners

by Leave a Comment

This past month, the New York Council for the Humanities awarded more than $300,000 in major grant funds to 22 organizations located in 14 counties in New York State. Awardees were selected from a pool of 60 applicants, a 35% increase from this time last year. Below is a complete list of awarded projects.

The Adirondack Museum
Blue Mountain Lake, Hamilton County
Awarded $20,000 for Let’s Eat!: Adirondack Food Traditions
An exhibition exploring the development of Adirondack food traditions from the 19th to the 20th centuries with a focus on the local environment.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Albany Institute of History and Art
Albany, Albany County
Awarded $2,500 for 2010 Hudson River Lecture Series
A series of four illustrated lectures about different aspects of the cultural and social significance of the Hudson River.
Awarded January 11, 2010

Brooklyn College, Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music
Brooklyn, Kings County
Awarded $8,800 for Black Brooklyn Renaissance Conference
A day-long event celebrating Brooklyn’s role as a major center of Black American music and culture.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Chemung County Historical Society
Elmira, Chemung County
Awarded $8,181 for Mark Twain in Elmira
An exhibition celebrating Mark Twain’s ties to the community of Elmira on the occasion of the anniversary of his birth.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Community Works
New York, New York County
Awarded $11,050 for Harlem’s Black Arts Movement: Its Past, Its Present and Its Future
Three interactive dialogues with key figures in the Black Arts Movement.
Awarded January 15, 2010

CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
New York, New York County
Awarded $16,250 for Justice and Injustice in America: the 1950s
A series of lectures focused on the 1950’s and 1960’s in America featuring preeminent scholars of jurisprudence and U.S. History.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Eldridge Street Project
New York, New York County
Awarded $12,982 for Ways We Worship: Jewish Practice & Beyond
A new public tour and related lecture series exploring the history of Judaism in America.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Epic Theatre Center
New York, New York County
Awarded $11,300 for Epic Forum Series 2010: Doubt and Certainty
A series of over 100 post-performance scholar-led discussions related to the theme of “Doubt and Certainty.”
Awarded January 15, 2010

Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse, Onondaga County
Awarded $20,000 for Heartland Passage: the Oral History of the Erie Canal
An on-line oral history exhibition about people involved with the Erie Canal.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Geneva Historical Society
Geneva, Ontario County
Awarded $10,310 for Geneva’s Changing Landscape
Development of a permanent exhibition about the history of Geneva from the 1700s to the present, using the lens of environmental history.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Historic Cherry Hill
Albany, Albany County
Awarded $2,250 for Program Planning: Class and Power in 18th Century Albany
A planning grant for a program exploring class and power in 18th century Albany.
Awarded January 26, 2010

Imagining America
Syracuse, Onondaga County
Awarded $18,000 for Revitalizing Downtown Syracuse: Local Culture, Trans-Local Knowledge
A performance and four public discussions exploring issues of culture and community revitalization.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
New York, New York County
Awarded $15,000 for Access Restricted: Nomadic Lecture Series Exploring Lower Manhattan
A free nomadic lecture series that opens to the public rarely visited or inaccessible spaces in Lower Manhattan. This year’s session will focus on the topics of jurisprudence and ethics.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Morrisville State College, Science, Technology & Society Program
Morrisville, Madison County
Awarded $5,850 for Agricultural Acts: On the Futures of Farming and Food
A two-day program of events about the future of food production.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden
New York City, New York County
Awarded $2,095 for A Feminine Palette, Women Artists of the 19th and Early 20th Century
A panel discussion exploring the work and lives of three lesser-known women artists from the 19th and early 20th century.
Awarded January 26, 2010

National Jazz Museum in Harlem
New York, New York County
Awarded $20,000 for Jazz for Curious Listeners
A year-long series of weekly dialogues about jazz and culture.
Awarded January 15, 2010

New Rochelle Council on the Arts
New Rochelle, Westchester County
Awarded $6,000 for Sounds Shore Shakespeare Festival
A Westchester county-wide celebration of Shakespearian works.
Awarded January 15, 2010

New York Library Association
Guilderland, Albany County
Awarded $7,500 for The Empire State Book Festival
A two-day celebration of reading held in the Empire State Plaza
Awarded January 15, 2010

Old Fort Niagara Association
Youngstown, Niagara County
Awarded $11,370 for Anglo-Native Relations on the Niagara Frontier, 1759-1764
A combination of special lectures and daily programs designed to examine the cross-cultural interactions at the fort between Iroquois people and Europeans.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Radio Diaries, Inc.
New York, New York County
Awarded $20,000 for America’s Lost Stories
A series of radio documentaries uncovering little-known chapters of 20th century American history to be broadcast on National Public Radio.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Slate Valley Museum Foundation
Granville, Washington County
Awarded $13,845 for Cultural Expressions in the Slate Valley
A series of six programs exploring the impact of various immigrant groups who came to the Slate Valley region between 1850 and 1930.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Southampton Historical Museum
Southampton, Suffolk County
Awarded $2,150 for Southampton Women Who Made a Difference
An exhibition exploring the influence of the Southampton women and their work from different historical periods and cultures.
Awarded January 9, 2010

SUNY Oswego, School of Communication, Media and the Arts
Oswego, Oswego County
Awarded $7,884 for From Global to Local: Diaspora, the Arts and Community
Weekly radio programs over a two-month period exploring issues of immigration and globalization as it relates to Central New York.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Three Village Historical Society
Saint James, Suffolk County
Awarded $20,000 for General Washington’s Spies: How a Group of Long Islanders Helped Win the Revolution
A permanent exhibition for children about a Long Island-based spy-ring during the Revolutionary War.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY)
Canton, Saint Lawrence County
Awarded $20,000 for Kindred Pursuits: Folk Art in North Country Life
An exhibition of contemporary and historic folk art from the North Country, exploring its relation to the region’s culture and history.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region
Troy, Albany County
Awarded $19,686 for Gender, Class, Race and Ethnicity in Abolitionism, on the Underground Railroad, and in the Struggle Since
Three days of programming related to the history of the Underground Railroad in New York State and beyond and its contemporary implications.
Awarded January 15, 2010

Weeksville Heritage Center
Brroklyn, Kings County
Awarded $2,500 for Planning Weeksville’s Orientation Exhibition: Defining a Sense of Place
Planning for an interactive orientation exhibition for the historic Weeksville community.
Awarded January 1, 2010

Marcus Garvey Foundation Offers Research Grants

by Leave a Comment

The non-profit Marcus Garvey Memorial Foundation, established in 1961 in New York City, and whose work is informed by the educational philosophy and ideals of Marcus Garvey, is offering two research fellowships on topics related to Africa and the African diaspora, and those related to the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the African Communities League, and/or Marcus Garvey’s organizational activities.

Proposals are welcome on a wide variety of research topics (and in a wide variety of disciplines), but will be evaluated based on their relevance to key questions in the field of African and African diaspora studies and on the basis of their unique contribution to scholarship.

Marcus Garvey Foundation Research Fellowship:

This fellowship – named in honor of the Marcus Garvey Foundation – looks to support doctoral candidates doing primary research in the humanities and social sciences on topics related to Africa and the African diaspora. Those doctoral candidates using archival collections and/or conducting oral histories are especially encouraged to apply. Research fellows receive grants of $500 to help defray research expenses.

2) Jean Harvey Slappy Research Fellowship:

This fellowship – named in honor of Jean Harvey Slappy, a long-time board member of the Marcus Garvey Foundation – looks to support doctoral candidates working on aspects of the history of the U.N.I.A. (Universal Negro Improvement Association), the A.C.L. (African Communities League), and/or Marcus Garvey’s organizational activities, and who wish to use the recently deposited papers of Thomas W. Harvey, located at Emory University’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. Research fellows receive grants of $500 to help defray expenses associated with travel to and use of the archival collection.

APPLYING FOR THE FELLOWSHIPS:

All applications & attachments must be received by March 17, 2010. Decisions will be announced on May 1, 2010. Required application materials:

A 2-page summary of the larger research project

A 1-page description of the specific project with a line-item budget (for up to $500.00) and timeline for the specific research to be carried out with the grant

CV (no longer than 2 pages)

One recommendation from an advising professor

For more information, contact the Garvey Foundation at GarveyFoundation(at)gmail.com; or at:

Marcus Garvey Foundation
P.O. Box 42379
Philadelphia, PA 19101

The Lost World of Early America with John Demos

by Leave a Comment

This summer, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Summer Seminars will offer The Lost World of Early America, a two-week NEH Summer Institute led by historian John Demos at Yale University. Teachers invited to participate will travel back to the Colonial Era in order to explore the lives of early Americans—and, in turn, gain a richer understanding of the changes that resulted from both the American Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in the American experience.

All K-12 history, social studies, and English teachers, including those who attended a Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminar in 2009, are now eligible to apply to this NEH Summer Institute.

John Demos is the Samuel Knight Professor of History at Yale University, where he has specialized in teaching early American history since 1986. His most recent work, The The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-hunting in the Western World (Viking, 2008), culminates a half-century of intense study of witch-hunting incidents in Europe and America.

This is a unique opportunity for Summer Seminar alumni who typically have to alternate years for their application.

Selected participants will receive fellowships to offset travel costs to the Institute, July 18-31, 2010—and be eligible to apply to and attend the full-range of Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars in 2010 and the future.

Application deadline: March 2, 2010; seminar space is limited.

For further details about this NEH Summer Institute visit:
www.gilderlehrman.org/education/seminar_NEH.php, email seminars@gilderlehrman.org or call 646-366-9666.

Early American Industries Grants Program

by Leave a Comment

The Early American Industries Association (EAIA) has announced a $6,000 Research Grants Program to provide grants to individuals or institutions engaged in research projects that relate to historic trades, crafts, and tools and their impact on our lives. The numbers and amount of each grant is to be given at the discretion of a committee, with no one grant to exceed $2,000.

The 2009 grant supported a project on 18th and 19th century coopering in Virginia and New England. Previous grants have supported a wide variety of projects, and normally three or more grants are made each year. A complete list may be found on the EAIA web site.

The Early American Industries Association, established in 1933, preserves and presents historic trades, crafts and tools and interprets their impact on our lives. The Association comprises collectors, curators, historians, antiquarians, librarians, material culturists, and anyone who shares our interests.

The Application deadline for 2010 is March 15. For further information on the EAIA and the Research Grants Program, and to print the four-page application visit their web site, www.EAIAinfo.org or contact Ms. Justine Clerc, Lorleton Assisted Living, 22 West 14th Street, Apt. 129, Wilmington, DE 19805 (302) 652-7297.

Send all inquiries to Research Grants Program c/o Ms. Justine Clerc.

Hodson-Brown Fellowship:Literature, History, Culture, Art Before 1820

by Leave a Comment

The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the John Carter Brown Library invite applications for the Hodson Trust-John Carter Brown Fellowship, a unique research and writing fellowship.

The Hodson-Brown Fellowship supports work by academics, independent scholars and writers working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas before 1830. Candidates with a U.S. history topic are strongly encouraged to concentrate on the period prior to 1801. The fellowship is also open to
filmmakers, novelists, creative and performing artists, and others working on projects that draw on this period of history.

The fellowship award supports two months of research (conducted at the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, R.I.) and two months of writing (at Washington College in Chestertown, Md). Housing and university privileges will be provided. The fellowship includes a stipend of $5,000 per month for a total of $20,000.

Deadline for applications for the 2010-11 fellowship year is March 15, 2010.

For more information and application instructions, please visit the Starr Center’s website at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

US Cultural History Fellowships Announced

by Leave a Comment

The Library Company of Philadelphia and Historical Society of Pennsylvania have announced research fellowships in Colonial and U.S. History and Culture for 2010-2011. The fellowships, outlined below, include generally orientated one-month visiting fellowships, and long term dissertation fellowships, and a dissertation fellowship for the study of Early American Literature and Material Texts.

One-Month Visiting Research Fellowships

These two independent research libraries will jointly award approximately thirty one-month fellowships for research in residence in either or both collections during 2010-2011. The two institutions, adjacent to each other in Center City Philadelphia, have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. For information on the collections, visit www.hsp.org and www.librarycompany.org.

One-month fellowships carry a stipend of $2,000 and are tenable for any one-month period between June 2010-May 2011. Two Barra Foundation International Fellowships, each for $2,500 plus a travel allowance, are reserved for foreign national scholars resident outside the U. S. Some of the short-term fellowships provide for study in specific fields, such as ethnic and immigrant history; history of the book; African American History; visual culture; and economic history (through the Library Company’s Program in Early American Economy and Society). For more detailed information about all of these fellowships, go to www.librarycompany.org/fellowships. We invite inquiries about the appropriateness of proposed topics to jgreen@librarycompany.org. The Library Company’s Cassatt House fellows’ residence offers rooms at reasonable rates.

The deadline for receipt of one-month fellowship applications is March 1, 2010, with a decision to be made by April 15. To apply, visit www.librarycompany.org/fellowships, fill out an electronic cover sheet, and submit one portable document format (PDF) containing a résumé and a 2-4 page description of the proposed research. One letter of recommendation should arrive under separate cover in PDF format as well. Please email materials to fellowships@librarycompany.org. If you wish you apply for more than one fellowship, simply check more than one box on your electronic cover sheet.

Library Company Long-term Dissertation Fellowships

The Library Company also supports dissertation research in residence through the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Fellowship (on any subject relevant to its collections) and the Program in Early American Economy and Society Fellowship (for research in economic history). The term of these fellowships is from September 2010 to May 2011, with a stipend of $20,000. The awards may be divided between two applicants, each of whom would spend a semester in residence. The application deadline and procedures are the same as for the one-month fellowships as described above, with the addition of a second letter of reference and a writing sample of about 25 pages.

Dissertation Fellowships in Early American Literature and Material Texts

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies, in collaboration with the Library Company, offers two dissertation fellowships in early American literature and material texts, supported by a new grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Fellows will be in residence from July 2010 through July 2011. The stipend for a 13-month term will be at least $28,000. To apply go to www.mceas.org. Deadline, March 1, 2010.