Idaho Humanities Council Awards $74,837 in Grants in Winter 2024
March 14, 2024: The Idaho Humanities Council (IHC) recently awarded $74,837 in grants to organizations and individuals. Thirty-six awards include sixteen Major Grants for public humanities programs, seven Opportunity Grants, eleven K-12 grants, and two Humanities for All grants. The grants were supported in part by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Idaho Humanities Council’s Endowment for Humanities Education. IHC's Board of Directors selected Major Grants recipients in their February meeting, while staff select other grant categories on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Major Grants:($56,843)
Preservation Idaho, Boise, received $2,000 for their project Songs of Buildings Podcast.
Arlie Sommer, in collaboration with Preservation Idaho, will produce a series of podcast episodes focused on the built environment of Boise. Each story will incorporate interviews with historians and architects, photos and audio footage of the site, historic media from the Idaho State Archives and the Boise State Special Collections and Archives, and a narrative by Arlie Sommer.
Lewis-Clark State College Native American Club, Lewiston, received $3,000 for their project LCSC Native American Awareness Week 2024.
The event will consist of multiple events throughout the week. Special focus will be brought to the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the act.
Boise Philharmonic Association, Boise, received $2,000 for their project Boise Philharmonic Musicology Program.
Boise Philharmonic will develop notes and pre-concert talks tied to orchestra performances. These notes and talks will provide historical context behind the original composers and the meaning of the pieces.
Warhawk Air Museum, Nampa, received $2,000 for their project Post 9/11 Global War on Terror Display.
The Warhawk Air Museum will develop and install a new Post-9/11 Global War on Terror exhibit. IHC funds will specifically support the 9/11 entry point exhibit.
TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO), Moscow, received $6,000 for their project Digging for the Untold Story in the Tragedy at Bunker Hill: Archive Organization and Preparation.
TIFO will develop an archive/collection focused on the Bunker Hill mining site. TIFO is consulting with the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives. The archive will consist of records from Dr. Ian von Lindern and will be digitally hosted at the University of Idaho.
Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, Moscow, received $4,000 for their project Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre: Second Annual Silent Film Festival.
The Kenworthy sought funding for the second silent film festival. Each film will be accompanied by live music and a presentation to contextualize the film for the audience. A lobby exhibit exploring the history of the theater will accompany the festival.
Golden Eagle Audubon, Boise, received $5,000 for their project 2025 "Interdisciplinary Explorations: Idea of Nature" Public Lecture series.
Golden Eagle Audubon, in partnership with Boise State University, will bring Christian Cooper to Boise for the 2025 Idea of Nature series.
City of Dover, Dover, received $2,000 for their project Dover Display.
The City of Dover will purchase a display case to showcase local historical artifacts significant to Dover. Artifacts will be crowdsourced from the Dover community and rotated throughout the year.
Prairie River Library District, Lapwai, received $3,000 for their project Everybody Reads 2024.
Prairie River Library District, in collaboration with an assortment of other organizations, will continue its annual one-book reading program. The selected book is This America of Ours by Nate Schweber. The author will also come visit communities in person for events.
Malad Valley Welsh Foundation, Malad City, received $1,200 for their project Presenters, Poetry Judges, and Signs for Wagon Routes for 18th Malad Valley Welsh Festival.
Malad Valley Welsh Foundation will continue its yearly festival. Aspects include a poetry competition, guided wagon tours, a photo exhibit, and more.
Sun Valley Playwright's Residency, Hailey, received $3,000 for their project Community Dialogues with Pulitzer Finalist and two-time Obie Award Winning Playwright Rajiv Joseph.
Sun Valley Playwright's Residency will use funding to bring in Rajiv Joeseph for an hour-long Q&A and a performance followed by an additional Q&A.
Boise State University, Boise, received $4,673 for their project What Makes a Nation? A Conference for Idaho Social Studies Teachers.
Boise State University will host a two-day conference for Idaho social studies teachers focused on the concepts of nations and nationalism.
Basque Museum & Cultural Center, Boise, received $4,970 for their project Printing of Oñati-Boise Exhibit.
The Basque Museum will develop an exhibit about the 50th anniversary of the Boise-Oñati Exchange program in collaboration with the exchange program. The exhibit will be localized with relevant information and in both English and Euskara. There will be an opening presentation with alumni of the program.
Friends of Minidoka, Twin Falls, received $5,000 for their project Minidoka Memories: Stories that Connect and Heal.
Friends of Minidoka has received funding for an oral history project. The focus is on those with ties to Minidoka but not incarcerated there, such as the White community. In addition to this oral history project, Friends of Mindoka will also publish and present The Relocation Diary by Arthur Kleinkopf, Superintendent of Education at Minidoka.
Center for Independent Documentary, Newton, received $4,000 for their project Taking the Reins.
The Center for Independent Documentary will create a documentary examining the history, culture, lore, and symbolism of the cowboy in American culture. While this organization is out of state, an Idaho scholar is co-producing the film.
The Frank Church Institute, Boise, received $5,000 for their project Frank Church at 100: Honoring the Senator's Legacy through Traveling Exhibits and k12 Curriculum.
The Frank Church Institute received funding to support the creation of a pop-up exhibit celebrating Frank Church's 100th birthday. The goals of the exhibit are to bridge divides and reintroduce Frank Church to communities across Idaho. The exhibit will also have educational components for Idaho teachers.
ACTION: ($6,774.33)
Coeur d'Alene Public Library Foundation, Coeur d'Alene, received $1,000 for their project Pageturner's Book Club.
Pageturners Book Club is a program in the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. This program is intended to provide participants with a scholarly discussion of a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction literature. Books are selected by a committee of the book club or through participation in programs such as the Idaho Commission for Libraries/Idaho Humanities Council's "Let's Talk About It" book discussion series. Discussions are open to any adult reader and there is no charge.
Friends of The Bishops' House, Boise, received $1,000 for their project 135th Anniversary of The Bishops' House.
Friends of The Bishops’ House will host an event celebrating the 135-year-old historic home that will highlight the history and architectural beauty of the house. This will include at least one event with Emily Fritchman-Mahaney as the key speaker. Additionally, the creation of a timeline of the house will occur, beginning with the history of the Episcopal Church and the life of the first Bishop who lived there continuing up to Idaho’s first senior center.
The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls, received $1,000 for their project The Art Museum 2024 Lecture Series.
The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, in partnership with the College of Eastern Idaho, will host monthly lectures focused on various aspects of art. Topics will include: an experience at an artist residency in Mexico City, the history of branding requirements in royal portrait painting throughout European art through previous centuries, and the use of body fluids in art and how the medium plays into concepts of abjection and base materialism.
Basque Museum & Cultural Center, Boise, received $1,000 for their project Boyhood Among the Woolies: Richard Etulain Book Tour.
The Basque Museum will be bringing Mr. Etulain to the Treasure Valley for a series of presentations and book signings for his latest book Boyhood Among the Woolies: Growing up on a Basque Sheep Ranch. Locations include Boise, Homedale, Mountain Home, Nampa, Ontario, Pocatello, and Gooding.
McCall Arts & Humanities Council, McCall, received $999.33 for their project Idaho Talks 2024.
McCall Arts and Humanities Council will be hosting a 2024 Idaho Talks series. These discussions will occur at the Central Idaho Historical Museum's Carpenter Shop. Topics include Finnish migration to Idaho, the family history of a family who settled on the South Fork of the Salmon River, the history of people of Chinese Heritage in our area, and a presentation from Dr. Angel Sobotta, who has written and produced Nez Perce legends and original stories with Niimíipuu youth since 1997. She also wrote “Walking on Sacred Ground: The Nez Perce Lolo Trail” and “Surviving Lewis and Clark: The Niimíipuu Story”.
Lewis-Clark State College Native American Club, Lewiston, received $945 for their project Lewis-Clark State College Nimiipuutimt - Nez Perce Language Signage Project.
This project seeks to display the Nez Perce language (Nimiipuutimt) throughout the campus of LCSC, helping all who learn, work, and visit the campus to learn place names in the language of the Nimiipuu, the original caretakers of the land since time immemorial.
Idaho Trails Association, Boise, received $800 for their project Idaho Trails Association History on the Trail Series.
ITA, in partnership with the Payette National Forest Heritage Program staff, will host two history talks on trail projects organized by ITA.
K-12: ($9,950)
The Idaho Humanities Council awarded $9,950 across 11 different projects to support humanities education in K-12 classrooms across Idaho.
HUMANITIES FOR ALL: ($1,630.63)
Museum of Idaho (MOI), Idaho Falls, received $1,000 for their project Translation Project to Increase Accessibility.
MOI will use funding to continue their work to translate their permanent Way Out West Idaho Exhibit to increase accessibility for MOI’s Spanish speaking guests and neighbors
Nez Perce County Historical Society (NPCHS), Lewiston, received $630.63 for their project Hells Canyon Homesteaders, Ranchers, & Mailboat Captains: Oral Histories Digitization.
NPCHS will professionally digitize 20 to 22 tapes focusing on the homesteading and ranching era in Hells Canyon of Snake River.