SC Humanities Awards Over $43,000 in Major Grants

The awards were selected through a competitive application and review process and are made possible by SC Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Funded projects include a traveling exhibit about the history and legacy of Rosenwald Schools in South Carolina, a documentary about the historic Pickens-Salley House located in Aiken, and a podcast about the Battle of Camden during the Revolutionary War that will be made available to all visitors of the historic battlefield.

Sponsoring Organization: The Art Center, Pickens County
Project Title: Enslaved Persons' Contributions to Backcountry South Carolina Indigo
Project Director: Andrea Feeser
Awarded: $4,863; cost-share: $5,150
The Arts Center of Pickens County requests funds for an interdisciplinary project exploring the indigo plant, its role in the development of the upstate region, and how African-American slaves contributed to indigo culture. The project will include the creation of a working indigo vat and nineteenth-century slave dress to be displayed as exhibit pieces at Woodburn Plantation, three free lectures, and two workshops with hands-on activities on indigo-dyeing.

Sponsoring Organization: The Citadel School of the Humanities
Project Title: WWII Oral History Project
Project Director: Kerry Taylor
Awarded: $5,000; cost-share: $40,571
The Citadel Oral History Program plans to transcribe 25 oral history interviews with alumni-veterans of World War II and make them accessible to a diverse audience through two public programs and an interactive Web site.

Sponsoring Organization: Columbia Museum of Art
Project Title: Humanities American Lecture Series
Project Director: Leslie Pierce
Awarded: $8,000; cost-share: $23,792
The Columbia Museum of Art plans a year-long humanities lecture series on American art and art history to coincide with the Museum’s “Year of American Art,” during which all traveling and permanent exhibits will highlight American art. The lecture series will go from July 2009 – May 2010 and will involve a variety of topics and lecturers, from Dr. James D. Burke of the St. Louis Art Museum speaking on American art to Mr. Julian Cox from the High Museum of Art speaking on Ansel Adams.

Sponsoring Organization: Southern Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Project Title: South Carolina Rosenwald Schools Traveling Exhibit
Project Director: Tracy Hayes
Awarded: $8,000; cost-share: $19,000
The Southern Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation plans to create a traveling exhibit about the history and legacy of Rosenwald Schools in South Carolina. When completed, the exhibit will have a statewide itinerary and will travel to several small and rural communities, such as McClellanville and Newberry.

Sponsoring Organization: Gibbes Museum of Art
Project Title: Alfredy Hutty: A Reassessment
Project Director: Sara Arnold
Awarded: $2,000; cost-share: $10,229
Gibbes Museum of Art requests funds for the second phase of project planning for a major traveling exhibit on Alfred Hutty, considered to be one of the leading artists of the Charleston Renaissance. The exhibit, titled Alfred Hutty: A Reassessment is planned to debut at the Gibbes Museum in January 2012.

Sponsoring Organization: Palmetto Conservation Foundation
Project Title: Battle of Camden Podcast
Project Director: Nancy Stone-Collum
Awarded:  $7,400; cost-share: $8,729
The Palmetto Conservation Foundation seeks funds to create a podcast tour for the Battle of Camden historic site which will allow both visitors to the park and in fact any person with internet access to download and hear the historical story of the Battle of Camden. The podcast will be finished by fall of 2009, at which point there will be a kickoff event at the battlefield.

Sponsoring Organization: Aiken Partnership at USC Aiken
Project Title: The Documentary Edgewood: Stage of Southern History
Project Director: Deidre Martin
Awarded: $8,000; cost-share: $55,892
The Aiken Partnership at USC Aiken requests grant funds for a two-part documentary film about the historic Pickens-Salley House, formerly known as Edgewood. The documentary will investigate the two famous women who lived in the home, Lucy Pickens and Eulalie Salley, and will present the history of the house from pre-Civil War to the Civil Rights era. The documentary will premiere at the 2010 Pickens-Salley Symposium on Southern Women at USC Aiken.

The next major grant application deadline is in August 2009 for preliminary drafts. For more information about the projects listed above or on upcoming grant opportunities, please contact T.J. Wallace at 803-771-2477.