The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities has awarded 39 Rebirth Grants and Rebirth Festival Grants to organizations statewide, and several Acadiana groups were winners.
The recipients included museums, archives, festivals, universities and other non-profit organizations, in support of humanities programs. With a total of $256,304 awarded, the projects are based in 15 different parishes, and several programs have a statewide focus.
Now in its eighth year, the Rebirth Grants program supports projects that provide access to the humanities to Louisiana residents. Eligible projects include public humanities programs; documentary photography, radio and digital humanities projects and humanities-based educational initiatives. In October, thanks to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities made available through the American Rescue Plan Act and the NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative, the LEH awarded 30 Rebirth Grants in 13 parishes for a combined total of $194,254.
“Louisiana’s humanities institutions and programs are absolutely vital to our unique way of life. With these grants, our communities will have critical support to continue to preserve and present our culture locally, nationally and globally.” said Miranda Restovic, the LEH’s president and executive director.
This year, the LEH was also able to award an additional 9 Rebirth Festival Grants in support of Louisiana’s nonprofit festival organizations whose programming includes a humanities focus. Made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities, festivals in 8 parishes received Rebirth Festival Grants totaling $62,050.
The LEH received 67 applications for the 2021 Rebirth and Rebirth Festival Grant opportunities, and two review committees of scholars, public humanities professionals, LEH board members and staff selected the 39 projects and organizations for support. The types of funded projects include digital humanities and oral history initiatives, symposia, podcasts, festivals, exhibitions, publications and more, exploring topics as varied as Native American basketry, the Philippine experience in Louisiana and Shreveport’s early Jewish history.
“We are tremendously excited to help support our partners across the state deliver a diverse, thought-provoking lineup of humanities programs to their communities,” said Chris Robert, director of grants and assistant media editor at the LEH.
Here's the full list of recipients, with Acadiana recipients in bold.
2021 Rebirth Grants
Acadiana Center for the Arts
Community Engagement for Eugene J. Martin: Heterochronic Collages Exhibition
Lafayette Parish
$7,000
Amistad Research Center at Tulane University
Liberation, Reconciliation, and Healing: A Multidisciplinary Project by New Orleans Airlift, Amistad Research Center, Third Eye Theater, and Titos Sompa
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Biedenharn Museum and Gardens
Louisiana-Based Film Digitization Project
Ouachita Parish
$7,000
Center for Louisiana Studies, UL Lafayette
GIS Mapping for Center for Louisiana Studies Archival Holdings
Lafayette Parish
$6,850
The Ethel and Herman Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies, University of New Orleans
A Conversation with Historian and Activist Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, PhD
Orleans Parish
$6,000
Friends of Beauregard-Keyes House
Beauregard-Keyes House Research Initiative
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Grambling State University
Voices of Grambling: GSU’s 125th Anniversary Podcast
Lincoln Parish
$4,000
The Iberia African American Historical Society
Queen Mother Moore Legacy Symposium Celebration
Iberia Parish
$6,921
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, Inc.
Full Steam Ahead: James Rumsey: Man and Myths
St. Tammany Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Art & Science Museum
Our Louisiana: 60 Years of Collecting at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum Exhibition Catalog
East Baton Rouge Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Association of Museums
LAMcon 2022 Speaker Series
East Baton Rouge Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Folklore Society
Bayou Culture Collaborative Gathering Series
Lafayette Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Library and Book Festival Foundation
Louisiana Book Festival Lecture Series
East Baton Rouge Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum/Louisiana Museum Foundation
Heisman Memorial Trophy Exhibition
Natchitoches Parish
$7,000
The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola Museum
In Pursuit of Equal Justice: Race and Criminal Justice in Louisiana Exhibition Development and Lecture Series
West Feliciana Parish
$7,000
Louisiana State University
Louisiana French Oral Histories: témoignages du passé, tremplins vers l’avenir
East Baton Rouge Parish
$7,000
Louisiana Trans Advocates
Mapping Trans Joy Oral History and Collaborative Mapping Project
East Baton Rouge Parish
$6,432
LSU Alexandria
Spreading the Leaves: Publication of Central Louisiana’s First Undergraduate Research Journal
Rapides Parish
$1,875
LSU Shreveport Foundation
Religious Dimensions: Jewish History of Early Shreveport Exhibition and Programming
Caddo Parish
$5,000
Newcomb Art Museum
Core Memory: Louisiana Native American Basketry Exhibition Brochure
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Nous Foundation, Inc.
Le Louisianais Exhibition
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Old State Capitol Foundation
Manufacturing Victory: The Arsenal of Democracy Exhibition
East Baton Rouge Parish
$4,050
One Book One New Orleans
2022 Book Distribution and Community Programming
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Operation Restoration
Louisiana Women’s Incarceration History Project
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Southern Food and Beverage Museum
The Philippine Experience in Louisiana Exhibition
Orleans Parish
$7,000
West Baton Rouge Historical Association dba West Baton Rouge Museum
The Trahan Gallery Exhibition
West Baton Rouge Parish
$7,000
Whitney Plantation
Tilling the Soil: Creating a Memorial to Our Ancestors Podcast
St. John the Baptist Parish
$6,400
The Woman’s Exchange d/b/a Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses
Gallier Gatherings Lecture Series
Orleans Parish
$6,746
WWNO New Orleans Public Radio
The Reading Life with Susan Larson, 2021–2022, on WWNO and WRKF
Orleans Parish
$7,000
Xavier University of Louisiana
African American Mardi Gras Maskers’ COVID Pandemic Experiences and Ideas about “the Good Life” Oral History, Public Program, and Digital Humanities Initiative
Orleans Parish
$6,980
2021 Rebirth Festival Grants
Baton Rouge Blues Festival and Foundation
Backstage at the Blues Fest
East Baton Rouge Parish
$6,500
Friends of A Studio in the Woods
Humanities Programming at the 2021 and 2022 FORESTival: A Celebration of Art and Nature at A Studio in the Woods
Orleans Parish
$3,900
HARK
Vibrantly Marked: Clementine Hunter’s World
Caddo Parish
$7,500
Iberia Cultural Resources Association
Books Along the Teche Literary Festival
Iberia Parish
$4,500
Louisiana Military Museum
Louisiana Military Museum Veteran Heritage Festival
Vermilion Parish
$8,000
Rayne Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture
Rayne Frog Festival, 50th Anniversary
Acadia Parish
$10,500
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
Orleans Parish
$7,500
Vermilionville Living History Museum Foundation Inc
Culture Days at Vermilionville
Lafayette Parish
$5,650
West Baton Rouge Historical Association (dba West Baton Rouge Museum)
SugarFest 2022
West Baton Rouge Parish
$8,000
