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Restore History, Educate, and Honor Humanity

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#MiddletownCT

Witness Stones Project Receives Two Grants from CT Humanities

WSP · Mar 25, 2022 ·

Connecticut Humanities

In the Guilford Courier on March 24, 2022

Connecticut Humanities, the statewide nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has awarded the Witness Stones Project, Inc., a $7,800 CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant and a $10,000 SHARP Capacity Grant.

The mission of the Witness Stones Project (WSP) is to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. This work is accomplished through teacher workshops, engagement with students and the larger community, and, finally, memorializing enslaved individuals through the installation of Witness Stones. The CT Humanities grants will support staff development, allowing WSP to broaden and diversify the student audience served. Continue reading.

Witness Stones Project Among Guilford Recipients of Humanities Grants

WSP · Jan 12, 2022 ·

By Ellyn Santiago in the Guilford Patch on January 12, 2022

GUILFORD, CT — Guilford’s arts community will soon be enriched with the announcement Wednesday by state Sen. Christine Cohen about a quarter million in state arts grants.

The funds were awarded to nearly two-dozen shoreline arts and humanities organizations to “help them financially survive during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Cohen said.

The local grants are part of 624 statewide grants to different non-profit museums and cultural, humanities, and arts organizations totaling $16 million, and they are part of the $30.7 million in grants allocated by the state legislature to CT Humanities over the next two years. Continue reading.

The Witness Stones Project Receives CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities

WSP · Dec 22, 2021 ·

Connecticut Humanities, the statewide, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has awarded The Witness Stones Project a $7,800 CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant (CTCFOSG). The grant will be used to diversify and enlarge the Project’s student audience.

The Witness Stones Project was one of 624 organizations in Connecticut that was awarded CT Cultural Fund support totaling $16M from CT Humanities. The CTCFOSG are part of $30.7M of support allocated to arts, humanities, and cultural nonprofits through CTH over the next two years by the CT General Assembly and approved by Governor Ned Lamont. The CTCFOSG will assist organizations as they recover from the pandemic and maintain and grow their ability to serve their community and the public.

This grant was administered by CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.

The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is the state agency charged with fostering the health of Connecticut’s creative economy. Part of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, the COA is funded by the State of Connecticut as well as the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Witness Stones Project Receives Connecticut Humanities “American Rescue Plan” COVID Relief Funding

WSP · Dec 22, 2021 ·

Connecticut Humanities, the statewide, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has awarded the Witness Stones Project a $10,000 CTH SHARP Capacity Grant to support staff development that would allow the Project to broaden and diversity the student audience it serves.

The Project provide research assistance, specialized curriculum, and professional teacher development to bring the history of slavery in Connecticut into middle and high school classes. Since 2017, the Project has grown from serving one school in Guilford, Connecticut, to serving more than thirty schools across the state. With support from Connecticut Humanities, the Witness Stones Project can bring the curriculum to more teachers and students.

The NEH received $135 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, which was approved by Congress this past spring. The state humanities councils, including CT Humanities, each received a portion of the NEH award to support museums, archives, historic sites, and other humanities-focused nonprofits. The Witness Stones Project was one of 69 organizations in Connecticut that was awarded ARP funding totaling $640,192 from CT Humanities. CTH SHARP Capacity Grants provide organizations funding for projects including building their information technology infrastructure, making their collections more accessible, conducting strategic planning, and undertaking inclusivity, diversity, equity, and access work.

“Our cultural nonprofits enrich lives, and it is important that they remain viable and accessible to all residents,” said Dr. Jason Mancini, executive director at CT Humanities.

Support for this project is provided to the Witness Stones Project by CT Humanities (CTH), through the Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this announcement do not necessarily represent those of CT Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.

Witness Stones Project Takes Root In West Hartford

Dennis Culliton · Sep 26, 2018 ·

The Witness Stones Project was present for another milestone today when the Witness Stones West Hartford Project a committee of the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society along with West Hartford Public Schools held their first installation ceremony honoring George and Jude.

Thank you to Tracey Wilson and Liz Devine for shepherding this project, teacher Sean O’Connor inspiring his AP U.S. History class, and most importantly for the students at Conard High School for doing the heavy lifting it takes to: “Restore the history and honor the humanity and contributions of the enslaved individuals, George and Jude, who helped build our communities.”

Thank you to Connecticut Humanities for sponsoring the growth of this project within Connecticut!

Witness Stones Holds First Summer Workshop

Dennis Culliton · Aug 6, 2018 ·

Witness Stones Summer Workshop on the Guilford, CT Green

Last week, the Witness Stones Project conducted its first Teachers’ Workshop inviting educators from West Hartford, Middletown, and Guilford. At the workshop they learned, shared, and discover the project whose aim is to: Restore the History and Honor the Humanity and Contributions of the Enslaved Individuals Who Helped Build Our Communities.

We spoke about Bristow, Mimbo, and Joachim, three of the enslaved persons that our communities have remembered or will remember through the Witness Stones Project. We also spoke of the issues of memory and failing to come to terms with our past. We looked at the documents that uncover the lost history and return the color to the fabric of our community’s history.

Thank you to Connecticut Humanities for funding the workshop with a Quick Grant, the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society for hosting day two of the workshop, and the Middlesex County Historical Society for hosting day three! The expertise of historians and educators from all three communities provided a framework to continue the project in each community.

Especial thanks to Anne Farrow, Debby Shapiro, Tracey Wilson, Liz Devine, Lauren Gullette, Sally Nyhan, Doug Nygren, and Tom Bushnell for leading the discussions. Thank you to our friends at Guilford, Connecticut Park and Rec Department for hosting day one. And an ongoing thank you to the Guilford Preservation Alliance and the Guilford Foundation for their continued support.

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