The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities is pleased to announce $9,383 in mini grant awards from the November 2022 application cycle to support to support public humanities projects. Read on for more details.
Awards to Individuals
Michael Simpson, $2,000 to On This Day Rhode Island
Supports archival research for On This Day Rhode Island, Twitter and TikTok accounts that post Rhode Island history facts. The research for the posts comes from newspaper archives, online databases, primary sources, and works of history.
Awards to Organizations
Friends of Linden Place, $1,514 to Joseph Banigan, Samuel Pomeroy Colt, and the United States Rubber Company
Supports a lecture and Q&A by author and historian Dr. Scott Molloy on Joseph Banigan, Samuel Pomeroy Colt, the United States Rubber Company, and Irish immigrants in Rhode Island. As part of the lecture, Dr. Molloy will discuss immigration, the Industrial Revolution, and the labor unrest and strikes at the National India Rubber Company of Bristol in 1920. The public presentation will also include a visual display of Bristol’s relationship with the rubber industry from partner organization Bristol Historical and Preservation Society.
Rhode Island Center for the Book, $2,000 to Rhody Radio
Supports episode partner stipends, transcription services, and marketing for Rhody Radio: RI Library Radio Online, an internet radio and podcast channel produced by RI library staff and their communities. Rhody Radio provides listeners with access to library programs, lectures, reading recommendations, and library staff insights.
GEAR Productions, $2,000 to We Go Way, Way Back (working title)
Supports research on the history of work and play in South Kingstown in celebration of the Tricentennial of the town. The research will inform a musical theatre production for 3rd and 4th graders in the South Kingstown School District as well as a series of informational placards. Research topics include the history of farming, fishing, and textile making from the pre-contact era to the present.
Providence College, $1,869 to Rhode Island and the Politics of Slavery: The 1836 Debate Over the Gag Rule
Supports research on the 1835-1836 antislavery gag rule debates in the Rhode Island General Assembly. The research will culminate in a publicly available teaching article that will be shared on CommonPlace and the Dorr Rebellion Project website. The Dorr Rebellion Project website will include additional resources for teachers and students in grades 9-12, including a research bibliography.
