Funded Grants

Funded projects 2012 | download

Funded projects 2011 | download

Funded projects 2010 | download

Featured Community Grants

Major Grants
 

Voices of the First Coast (Duval)
• Grant recipient: WJCT-FM Radio
• Award amount/year: $15,000, 2010
WJCT and the Jacksonville Public Library (JPL) collaborated to collect stories from citizens across the First Coast area. Modeled after the nationwide story collecting initiative, StoryCorps, the station and JPL organized a series of recording sessions at various library branches. The collected stories have been archived in the library's permanent collection as well as with the Jacksonville Historical Society. The stories can be accessed on WJCT's and JPL's websites or by becoming a "Fan" of the Voices of the First Coast Facebook page. www.wjct.org/voicesofthefirstcoast

Waterfront Centennial Discussion Series (Pinellas)
• Grant recipient: St. Petersburg Preservation
• Award amount/year: $6,986, 2009
St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront park system celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010. To mark the occasion, St. Petersburg Preservation held a series of multi-disciplinary community discussions and performances designed to help the public understand the significant role the waterfront park system played in the city's past and what the future may hold for the waterfront. Sessions were held in a variety of downtown locations and included the participation of historians, civic leaders, academics, architecture/planning professionals, and historic re-enactors.  www.stpetepreservation.org

Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage Website (Manatee)
• Grant recipient: Trial of Florida's Indian Heritage
• Award amount/year: $8,500, 2010
Grant provided funds for updating a multimedia website featuring information about 50 plus archaeological sites around the state that explore Florida's rich Indian history. Highlights of the site include a fully interactive map, an audio history of Florida archaeology with former state archaeologist Jim Miller, and links to other important archaeological organizations. www.trailoffloridasindianheritage.org

 

Ax Handle Saturday (Duval)
• Grant recipient: Jacksonville Historical Society
• Award amount/year: $9,465, 2009
This 30-minute documentary, Ax Handle Saturday: 50 Years Later, is based on an oral history project of the Jacksonville Historical Society and the Ritz Theater and Museum in partnership with WJCT.  The film contains witness interviews from people who played a part in the lunch counter sit-in demonstrations and the violent reaction to them that occurred on August 27, 1960 in Jacksonville.  The film has since received recognition as the 2011 Best Public Affairs Program in Florida by the Florida Society of Professional Journalists, the 2011 Hampton Dunn Broadcasting Award for outstanding television production promoting Florida history, and a 2011 Jacksonville Historical Preservation Commission award. To obtain a copy of the DVD contact the Jacksonville Historical Society at 904-665-0064 or info@jaxhistory.com.

Mini Grants
 

Traces of Our Past: Florida's History through Archaeology (Sarasota)
• Grant recipient: Time Sifters Archaeology Society
• Award amount/year: $2,000, 2010
Time Sifters Archaeological Society partnered with the New College Public Archaeology Lab to host a series of five lectures on a variety of archaeological and anthropological issues. Attendees included the general public, K-12 teachers, and students and faculty from New College. The series concluded with a public "Archaeology Day" that included lectures, exhibits, and videos. www.timesifters.org

Celebrating Native Americans in Florida (Lee)
• Grant recipient: Peace River Center for Writers
• Award amount/year: $2,000, 2010
Peace River Center for Writers at Edison State College presented two public programs facilitated by scholar Carol Mahler. The first was held at the Visual Arts Center and coordinated with an exhibition of the work of Guy LaBree, a Florida artist whose paintings depict Seminole history and traditions. The second program was held in the College auditorium during Poetry Month and featured Elgin Jumper, a Seminole Tribe member who shared his poetry and short stories while a public discussion was moderated by Mahler. www.peaceriverwriters.org

Moon or Mars? How the Past Informs the Future (Brevard)
• Grant recipient: Brevard Community College
• Award amount/year: $1,482, 2010
Pat Duggins, former NPR broadcaster, and John Longsdon, Chair in Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, each presented a lecture on the impact of the Space Program on Florida, past and present. They also led discussions about how current changes in the Space Program will affect Brevard's economy. The programs attracted a mix of public school and college students, the general public, college staff and faculty, as well as local employees of the aerospace industry. Both lectures were recorded and posted on YouTube. www.brevardcc.edu

Decades of Change: Black and White Residents of Avon Park Remember the Mid-20th Century (Highlands)
• Grant recipient: The Depot Museum and Historical Society of Avon Park
• Award amount/year: $2,000, 2008
Under the direction of Dr. James Denham (Florida Southern College), oral histories were collected from Avon Park residents who recounted life and racial integration in the area in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. The oral histories were transcribed into a book which is accessible to the general public at both the Depot Museum and South Florida Community College. Other grant products included a public panel discussion with the interviewees and a multi-media exhibit featuring historic photos of the time period and interview excerpts. www.hsaponline.org

Partnership Grants
 

Weaving the Fabric of Life in Florida through Literature (Polk)
• Grant recipient: Lake Wales Library Association
• Award year: 2009
The public was invited to participate in a four part series of scholarly-led book discussions that focused on autobiographical works by Zora Neale Hurston, Edward Bok, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Virgil Suarez and their connections to Florida. To complement the book discussions, programming also included a nature walk, two Chautauqua performances, and two author talks. www.cityoflakewales.com/library

WWII in Florida and Venice (Sarasota)
• Grant recipient: Venice Area Historical Society
• Award year: 2009
Annual programs focused on the impacts of WWII on Florida and the Venice, Florida area. In addition to scholar lectures and a screening of a film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the Historical Society partnered with the Venice Archives to stage an exhibit about the WWII Venice Army Air Base. www.venicehistory.com

African American Heritage Society Annual Lecture Series (Escambia)
• Grant recipient: African American Heritage Society
• Award year: 2009
The lecture series featured presentations by Chautauquan Ersula Know Odom as Mary McLeod Bethune; Dr. Jerrilyn McGregor presenting "Land was our Religion" recalling the history of Panhandle landowners; and Dr. Maxine Jones discussing the history of the predominantly black community of Rosewood.  In addition to a local PBS television feature on one of the presenters, public programs were complemented by the staging of a concurrent exhibition, "Rosewood: The Beginning that Never Ends".