Total Awards: 21 grants, $194,512.24

Bristol

Bristol Center for Arts & Culture/New England Carousel Museum, $2,500

The Bristol Center for Arts & Culture:  The Future

The Bristol Center for Arts & Culture was awarded $2,500 in technical assistance to revisit and restructure the organization's strategic plan to reflect changing goals and objectives for its role in the community.

Chester

Chester Historical Society, $5,000

Panning Storage Facilities for the Collection of The Chester Historical Society

The Chester Historical Society received $5,000 to hire two consultants to help plan storage facilities for a new museum on Chester history, and to redesign their current facilities in the basement of the 1795 Chester Meeting House, a National Register property.

Cornwall

Cornwall Historical Society, $3,300

St. Bridget's Church

The Cornwall Historical Society was awarded $3,300 to begin documenting the history of a parish that served Irish Catholic immigrants and their descendants working in the iron industry of northwest Connecticut. Funds will be used to hire a historian to train volunteers from three historical societies and members of St. Bridget’s in conducting oral history interviews. The resulting information will form the contextual background for a planned traveling exhibit and pamphlet about the parish, timed to coincide with its 125th anniversary.

Cos Cob (Greenwich)

Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, $5,000

Cherishing Our Past:  Preserving Greenwich History

The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich received a $5,000 grant to plan an exhibit and related rogramming focused on its own history as a collecting institution. CHC funds will be used to engage a guest curator and exhibit designer.

Darien

YWCA Darien-Norwalk, $10,250

4th Annual Festival of Words - A Multicultural Celebration of Books, Stories, Poetry and Song for Adults and Children of All Ages

The YWCA of Darien & Norwalk received a $10,250 grant for the 4th annual Festival of  Words,  a full schedule of author appearances, workshops, book signings, and other activities held at Norwalk Community College. This year, the festival will also serve as the launch event for the "BIG READ" collaboration among Shelton, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford promoting the classic To Kill a Mockingbird.  This is the third year of CHC support for the festival.

East Haddam

East Haddam Historical Society, $3,000

Planning for the Installation of Heinz Warneke's Work

The East Haddam Historical Society received $3,000 in CHDF support to hire a consultant to help research and write the interpretation and plan public programs to celebrate the installation of sculptor Heinz Wareneke’s Last Supper model in the society’s new museum wing.

Hamden

Connecticut League of History Organizations, $15,548

Professional Basics 2007, New Solutions for Old Problems

The Connecticut League of History Organizations was awarded $15,548 in CHDF Professional Development support to organize and host a three-part series of technical assistance workshops focusing on fresh approaches to long-standing issues facing history museums. Funds will also be used to publish four articles highlighting best practices for the CLHO Bulletin.

Lebanon

Lebanon Historical Society, $1,505

Revisiting Mission, Vision and Planning:  A Lebanon Historical Society Board Retreat

The Lebanon Historical Society was awarded $1,505 in funding to hold a one-day board retreat to revisit and revise its vision, mission and strategic plan. The tangible result of the retreat, a document articulating vision, mission and "next steps" for the Society, will be incorporated into the LHS's monthly "dashboard" so that progress can be tracked on a regular basis.

Litchfield

Litchfield Historical Society, $25,000

Litchfield County Furniture - Planning

The Litchfield Historical Society was awarded $25,000 to plan a significant new exhibition on Litchfield County furniture as well as ancillary public programs and publications.

Litchfield Historical Society, $4,989

Inventing Our Past:  What, How and Why We Remember

Litchfield Historical Society received a $4,989 grant to host a one-day professional development symposium for history scholars, museum staff and the general public on the influence of historical myth and memory on the ways in which we perceive and interpret history.

Mystic

Mystic & Noank Library, $4,250

Digitization of Historic Newspapers Presently on Microfilm

The Mystic & Noank Library, in collaboration with the Mystic River Historical Society, received a $4,250 technical assistance grant to convert 36 rolls of microfilm containing Mystic newspapers and other historic documents to digital format.

New Britain

New Britain Museum of American Art, $10,000

What's American in American Art? -- Humanities Outreach Pilot Program

New Britain Museum of American Art received a $10,000 grant for the third phase of its pilot project to reinterpret the Thomas Hart Benton mural cycle, The Arts of Life in America.  CHC funds will be used to produce the prototype of a humanities-centered interpretation of the murals on the Web and in a computer kiosk on site. In addition, the Museum will conduct a series of three related lectures as well as eight concerts.

New Haven

Peabody Museum of Natural History, $2,500

Storytelling at the Yale Peabody Museum's Martin Luther King, Jr. Festival for

Environmental Justice

Yale University's Peabody Museum was awarded $2,500 to organize and host a weekend celebration of Martin Luther King's legacy featuring storytelling, video documentaries, performances and music.

New London

Lyman Allyn Art Museum, $54,265

At Home and Abroad:  The Transcendental Landscapes of Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813-1892)

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London received $54,265 in CHDF support to install an exhibition featuring the works of American artist and Transcendentalist Christopher Cranch, along with an exhibition catalogue and attendant programs. This follows a $23,209 CHC planning grant awarded last fall. The show is slated to open in New London in November of 2007 before traveling to Concord, Massachusetts and other New England or New York venues.

Old Lyme

Old Lyme Historical Society, $2,041

Articulating a Vision of the Future for the Old Lyme Historical Society

The Old Lyme Historical Society, Inc. received $2,041 to conduct three facilitated meetings to determine a vision for the organization. With the help of community stakeholders, the meetings will enable the board to assess its current situation, determine how it can best fit into the community landscape and articulate a vision for the future.

Old Mystic

Indian & Colonial Research Center, $4,000

To Create an On-Line Catalog of Archival Items and Library Books for Public Use Through the Internet

The Indian and Colonial Research Center in Old Mystic was awarded $4,000 in

technical support to create an on-line catalogue of research materials and books available at the Center, which will aide researchers from around the world.

Rockfall

Connecticut Forest & Park Association, $25,000

Thunder in the Mountains, A Staged Dramatic Reading Between Gifford Pinchot and John Muir

The Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) received $25,000 in CHDF

planning support to bring to life two historic figures in the American conservation movement: Connecticut born Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. CFPA plans a well-crafted  staged dramatic reading and subsequent video and study guide that will reach both local and national audiences over time. Funds are sought for a playwright to research and prepare the script.

Scotland

Governor Samuel Huntington Trust, Inc., $4,995

Interpretive Planning/Phase One

The Governor Samuel Huntington Trust was awarded $4,995 to develop a programming plan for the historic Huntington Homestead, the birthplace and childhood home of Connecticut Governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence Samuel Huntington.

Sharon

Sharon Historical Society, $4,934

Visions of Iron:  Phase II

The Sharon Historical Society received $4,934 to compete a short interpretive documentary  on the history of the iron industry in northwest Connecticut.

South Windsor

Wood Memorial Library, $868.24

Colonial America's Greatest Intellect - A South Windsor Native Son - The Life and Times of Philosopher/Thelogian Jonathan Edwards

Wood Memorial Library was awarded $868.24 to host a two-part lecture series on Jonathan Edwards, the leading intellect of the Great Awakening in Connecticut and beyond.

Storrs

Association for the Study of Connecticut History, $4,817

Journal Publication, Connecticut History

The Association for the Study of Connecticut History was awarded $4,817 to publish its fall, 2006 edition of Connecticut History, the state's only scholarly academic journal on topics in state history.