GRANTS IN PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Division of Public Programs
Announced: June 2003

HUMANITIES PROJECTS IN MEDIA

PLANNING GRANTS

Louisa May Alcott
Nancy Porter, Project Director
Filmmakers Collaborative
Waltham, MA
AWARD: $30,000
To support the planning of a 60-minute documentary film on the life of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women.

Serge Koussevitzky
Tom Godell, Project Director
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Carbondale, IL
AWARD: $29,996
Planning for a two-hour television documentary about Serge Koussevitzky, legendary conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including his work in Russia, Europe, and the U.S. and his influence on 20th-century classical music.

American Voices: From the Federal Writers' Project
Andrea Kalin, Project Director
Spark Media, Inc.
Washington, DC
AWARD: $30,000
Planning of a two-hour documentary film about the Federal Writers' Project and its place in American culture.

It'll Be Me: The Creation of African American Theater
Madison Lacy, Project Director
New York Foundation for the Arts
New York, NY
AWARD: $29,949
Planning of a four-part documentary film series about the history of African American theater from the mid-19th century to the present.

Native Nations Along the Lewis and Clark Trail
Rose High Bear, Project Director
Wisdom of the Elders, Inc.
Portland, OR
AWARD: $30,000
Planning for two series of 13, nine-minute audio documentary segments on Native Americans along the Lewis and Clark trail and production of one pilot segment for each series.

SCRIPTING GRANTS

Odyssey
Gretchen Helfrich, Project Director
WBEZ Alliance, Inc.
Chicago, IL
AWARD: $60,000
Scripting of up to 30 programs of "Odyssey," a daily one-hour interdisciplinary radio talk show of ideas that engages humanities scholars and listeners.

Uncle Sam Wants You...Too
Ruth Pollak, Project Director
Educational Film Center
Annandale, VA
AWARD: $70,000
Scripting of a two-hour documentary film about the nearly 400,000 women who served in the armed forces during World War II.

The Great Democratic Revolution
James Davison Hunter, Project Director
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
AWARD: $85,000
Scripting of a three-part television series that explores the meaning of democracy in the United States and abroad through a re-examination of the questions raised in Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America.

One Nation Under Law: The Story of the U.S. Supreme Court
Jody Sheff, Project Director
Educational Broadcasting Corporation
New York, NY
AWARD: $60,000
Scripting of Episode One of a four-part documentary television series on the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ernest Hemingway: After the Storm
Susan Lacy, Project Director
Educational Broadcasting Corporation
New York, NY
AWARD: $60,000
Scripting of a 90-minute documentary film on the American author, Ernest Hemingway.

Annie Oakley: Woman, Myth and Symbol
Riva Freifeld, Project Director
Film/Video Arts, Inc.
New York, NY
AWARD: $59,987
Scripting of a 90-minute historical documentary film on the life of Annie Oakley as a real person, as a myth and symbol, and as a window into America in the late Victorian age.

Billy Strayhorn: Out of the Shadows, Into the Spotlight
Robert Levi, Project Director
New York Foundation for the Arts, Inc.
New York, NY
AWARD: $60,000
Scripting of a 90-minute film about musician Billy Strayhorn, who worked as Duke Ellington's co-composer and arranger for 29 years.

Benjamin Henry Latrobe: Architect of the New Republic
Nancy Davis, Project Director
Maryland Historical Society
Baltimore, MD
AWARD: $78,845
Scripting of a two-hour documentary film on the life of Benjamin Henry Latrobe and his contribution to the architecture of the new American republic (1764-1820).

The Storm That Swept Mexico: The Mexican Revolution
Sylvia Komatsu, Project Director
North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc.
Dallas, TX
AWARD: $90,000
Scripting for a three-hour television documentary series about the Mexican Revolution, its influence on world politics, and the shaping of Mexican history in the 20th century.

PRODUCTION GRANTS

The Rape of Europa
Bonni Cohen, Project Director
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Portland, OR
AWARD: $600,000
Production of a two-hour documentary television program about the systematic theft, deliberate destruction, and survival of Europe's art treasures during the Third Reich and World War II.

The Percy Julian Biography Project
Paula Apsell, Project Director
WGBH Educational Foundation
Boston, MA
AWARD: $400,000
Production of a two-hour television documentary on Percy Julian, a prominent chemist, entrepreneur, Civil Rights activist, and the first African American elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

American Routes Humanities Features: Songs and Stories from Downhome to Uptown
Nicholas Spitzer, Project Director
University of New Orleans Foundation
New Orleans, LA
AWARD: $200,000
Production of 26 documentary features that explore humanities issues within a radio series that presents and interprets vernacular American music and culture.

Orozco, Man of Fire: Biography of a Mexican Muralist
Rick Tejada-Flores, Project Director
Paradigm Productions, Inc.
Berkeley, CA
AWARD: $370,000
Production of a one-hour biographical documentary film about the life and work of Mexican muralist Jose Clement Orozco (1883-1949).

Thurgood Marshall Before the Court
Enrique Olivarez, Project Director
Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, MN
AWARD: $90,000
To produce a one-hour documentary program for radio, a series of short segments for radio magazine programs, and a website chronicling the legal career of Thurgood Marshall before he was appointed to the United States Supreme Court.

John and Abigail Adams
John Willis, Project Director
WGBH Educational Foundation
Boston, MA
AWARD: $700,000
Production of a three-hour, two-part television series on the lives of John and Abigail Adams.

The Time Warp Trio Multi-Media Project
Carol Greenwald, Project Director
WGBH Educational Foundation
Boston, MA
AWARD: $500,000
Production of an animated television series of 26 half-hour episodes and an interactive website that introduces children ages six to eleven to historical adventures.

Up From Slavery: The Life and Times of Booker T. Washington
Avon Kirkland, Project Director
New Images Productions, Inc.
Berkeley, CA
AWARD: $500,000
Production of a 90-minute television documentary on the life and times of Booker T. Washington that examines his rise from slavery to national prominence as a black leader and spokesman.

HUMANITIES PROJECTS IN LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES

The following libraries received $1,000 to participate in the national tour of the traveling exhibition Elizabeth I: Ruler and Legend.

University of Alabama Libraries
Tuscaloosa, AL

City of Scottsdale Public Library System
Scottsdale, AZ

Benicia Public Library
Benicia, CA

Humboldt County Library
Eureka, CA

University of Colorado Library
Boulder, CO

Montrose District Library
Montrose, CO

Orange County Library System
Orlando, FL

West Georgia Regional Library
Carrollton, GA

Wayne County Library
Jesup, GA

Council Bluffs Public Library
Council Bluffs, IA

Eastern Illinois University Library
Charleston, IL

Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library-West Wyandotte Branch
Kansas City, KS

University of Louisville Library
Louisville, KY

Vermilion Parish Library
Abbeville, LA

Nicholls State University Library
Thibodaux, LA

Mount Wachusett Community College Library
Gardner, MA

Livonia Public Library
Livonia, MI

St. Cloud State University Library
St. Cloud, MN

University of Missouri Library
Columbia, MO

Henderson County Public Library
Hendersonville, NC

Cameron Village Regional Library
Raleigh, NC

University of Nebraska Library
Lincoln, NE

Omaho Public Library-W. Dale Clark Library
Omaha, NE

McGuire Air Force Library
McGuire AFB, NJ

Western New Mexico University Library
Silver City, NM

Lehman College Library
Bronx, NY

Tiffin-Seneca Public Library
Tiffin, OH

John Carroll University Library
Cleveland, OH

Roger Williams University Library
Bristol, RI

Columbia College Library
Columbia, SC

Greenville County Library
Greenville, SC

Knox County Public Library
Knoxville, TN

Grand Prairie Public Library System
Grand Prairie, TX

Harris County Public Library/Atascocita Branch
Houston, TX

Salt Lake City Public Library
Salt Lake City, UT

Central Rappahannock Regional Library
Fredericksbrg, VA

The Library of Virginia
Richmond, VA

Yakima Valley Regional Library, Summitview Branch
Yakima, WA

Teton County Library
Jackson, WY

Park County Library System, Powell Branch
Powell, WY