Projects:Our Stories, Our Future Grants Awarded


Arden Theatre Company hosted a series of discussions in conjunction with its production Caroline, or Change, which explored Jewish and African American relations. Credit: John Flak.
Highlights of 2007

  • Caroline Conversations: Jewish and African American Relations
    Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia held a series of discussions as part of its production Caroline, Or Change, which raised important questions about civil rights, the Jewish and African American experience, race relations and the role of women in society. One event featured a performance of Let Us Remember, a cantata by Langston Hughes and David Amran, with a discussion between composer Amram and historian Diane Turner.

  • Requiem: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina
    Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science & Art in Scranton exhibited photographs by 135 photojournalists who were killed during the course of the Indochina and Vietnam Wars. Events included a panel discussion with combat photographers, a film series on the Vietnam War, a writing workshop for veterans, and a community day presenting interactive activities connecting participants to memories and history.

  • If That Building Could Talk: The Willson Project
    The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading presented an original production by local storyteller and artist Mary Wright on the people who worked at the Willson Safety Products Company, whose abandoned factory became the home of the arts center. The company was first in America to manufacture glass spectacles and safety products for workers. The performance featured stories, images and artifacts collected from former employees.
Other award recipients:
  • Abington Art Center, for "The Lost Meeting," an art installation and series of programs addressing 19th-century Quaker history, society and culture that took place in an abandoned Quaker meetinghouse on the Center's grounds.

  • Atwater Kent Museum, for "Have You Eaten Yet? The Chinese Restaurant in America," an exhibition on loan from the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York.

  • Centre County Historical Society, for "Centre County & the Civil War," an exhibition on the polarizing viewpoints of the Civil War in Central Pennsylvania, the region that included opposition to the abolition of slavery and support of Lincoln by resident and Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin.

  • Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia, for "Faith and Freedom: Black Churches and the Development of the African American Community," a series of historical dramatizations at historic black churches in Philadelphia, focusing on the contributions made by these churches in the progressive development of the African American community locally and nationally.

  • Erie Art Museum, for planning "American Mystic: The Magical Life of Harry Kellar," a series of programs—traveling exhibition, documentary and website.

  • Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design, for "Lewis and Clark Territory: Contemporary Artists Revisit Place, Race and Memory," an exhibition and discussions on relationships between land and culture in the American West.

  • Hershey Museum, for "Hersheypark: A Century of Family Fun," an exhibition on the evolution of the park from a free community-based park to a gated theme park of today.

  • Historic Philadelphia, Inc., for "Once Upon a Nation—Storytelling Expansion Program," focusing on lesser-known tales of Philadelphia's diverse early residents.

  • The Hoyt Institute for the Fine Arts, for "Harlem Renaissance," a two-part exhibition and speaker series on Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.

  • Ligonier Valley Historical Society, for "Abraham Lincoln: Part of a Civil War Lecture Series," a first-person presentation of Abraham Lincoln by James Getty.

  • National Constitution Center, for "Civil War Family Jamboree," a day-long event in conjunction with a new exhibit on Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War recreating the 1864 "Sanitary Fair," which was held in Philadelphia to raise money for Union troops' medical supplies.

  • Pennsbury Society and the Rural History Confederation, for "Interpreting Native Americans Workshop" for historical interpreters across the Commonwealth, featuring a lecture by award-winning historian James Merrell.

  • Pioneer Historical Society of Bedford County, for "Juneteenth Celebration" on the Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania and the significance of this day to the African American community.

  • Relâche, Inc., for "In Search of a Better World," a premiere musical performance and discussion that explored a paradox in Benjamin Franklin's life—that he was a slave owner and freedom fighter.

  • Roaring Creek & Catawissa Valley Historical Study Group, for "A Field of Our Own," a community project on the importance of baseball parks in American rural life.

  • Robert Morris University, for "Nate Smith Video Project," the research and development of a half-hour film about a Pittsburgh native who is considered the father of the black labor movement.

  • Schuylkill County Council for the Arts, for "John O'Hara 100th Anniversary Celebration," a series of theatrical and film performances and panel discussions.

  • Shaler Area Middle School Library, for "Pathfinders to the Eastern Frontier: Resources for Teaching about the French and Indian War," a workshop for librarians on available resources with information to share with classroom teachers.

  • Springfield Township Library, for "Let Freedom Ring!: A Program Series Celebrating Freedom for People of All Ages," for lectures and performances in conjunction with We the People Freedom Bookshelf from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

  • StorySwap, for "Voices of Dissent," a series of library programs in Southwest Pennsylvania exploring the role of protest in American democracy.

  • Susquehanna Folk Music Society, for "Voices of the People of the Southern Appalachian Mountains," featuring storyteller and musician David Holt at a school residency and public performance.

  • Warren County Historical Society, for "The Sugar Grove Convention," a historical festival featuring presentations by interpreters of American social and political movements like anti-slavery, women's rights and temperance.

  • West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, for lectures and music demonstrations "Celebrating Francis Johnson," an African American Philadelphia-based composer and bandleader from the early nineteenth century.

  • Westmoreland Museum of American Art, for two photojournalism exhibitions—Walker Evans and James Agee: "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and Charlee Brodsky: "A Town without Steel, Envisioning Homestead."

  • Windber Area Visioning Experience, for "Kerouac Fest," a four-day event exploring Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road.
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