NORTHAMPTON — A local nonprofit has received a $700,000 grant that will be used to promote the stories of people of color in the state.
“It’s the largest grant in our history,” said Mass Humanities Executive Director Brian Boyles.
The two-year grant from the Barr Foundation will help fund Mass Humanities’ Expand Massachusetts Stories initiative and help elevate the visibility of the stories shared in the initiative. Mass Humanities is a Northampton-based nonprofit that provides support to humanities projects across the state. Founded in 1974, it is the Massachusetts affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“The support from Barr allows us to get more of those stories out there,” Boyles said.
The Expand Massachusetts Stories was started in 2021 as a three-year project. Twenty-two stories were funded in the first year.
Boyles said that a dive into the archives, oral history and digital media projects are all things that can be funded. To receive a grant, one must be a nonprofit. The grants can be for up to $20,000.
“We really believe that this is a redistribution of power in some ways in the humanities,” Boyles said. “People’s experiences and the ways they understand Massachusetts history is vital.”
The Barr Foundation funding will allow for up to 20 additional grants to be issued in 2022 and 2023 for stories focused on the history and experiences of people of color in Massachusetts.
And while the additional funding is for stories from people of color, any Massachusetts nonprofit can apply for Mass Humanities grant funding from the initiative to tell Massachusetts stories.
“Massachusetts is home to many diverse communities,” SueEllen Kroll, the Barr Foundation’s senior program officer in arts and creativity, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Mass Humanities to center the voices, stories and experiences of our BIPOC communities through its Expand Massachusetts Stories grant-making program. These important grants will help fund the collection and amplification of more stories from communities and storytellers of color — and ensure that these histories and voices are preserved and part of our public conversation.”
In an interview, Kroll said she is familiar with humanities councils, having once worked for the one in Rhode Island.
“They didn’t have enough money to fund all the worthy applications that came in,” she said of Mass Humanities’ situation with the Expand Massachusetts Stories initiative. “We’re just excited for more of theses stories to get out to the wider community.”
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.