Lowey Announces More Than $69K in Federal Grants for Cultural Projects in Westchester County

From the office of Representative Nita Lowey:

White Plains, NY – Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (Westchester/Rockland), the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, today announced two National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants totaling more than $69,000 for the Jacob Burns Film Center, Inc. and for Historic Hudson Valley in Westchester County.

“Preserving our shared histories and culture is crucial for future generations,” said Lowey. “I’m proud these two grants will help the Jacob Burns Film Center and Historic Hudson Valley maintain important aspects of our community’s history for years to come. I will continue working as the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee to protect federal investments in critical cultural and arts programs that provide educational opportunities for Lower Hudson Valley residents.”

Emily Keating, Director of Education at the Jacob Burns Film Center, said, “Funding from NEH will create a curriculum in collaboration with the Brooklyn Historical Society to help 8th grade students connect the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to the current struggle for civil rights through the study of primary source materials and media-making. We’ll be using the Stanley Nelson film called “Freedom Riders” to study techniques as a way to develop the students’ skills, giving them an opportunity to create their own short documentaries.”

Keating said the $39,759 grant for the Jacob Burns Film Center, Inc. in Pleasantville is “terrific.” She added that the Brooklyn Historical Society brings primary source documents from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Brooklyn Chapter, which was instrumental in some accomplishments in housing and education issues. The Jacob Burns Film Center is a nonprofit educational and cultural organization aimed at developing and implementing programs that provide instruction and inspiration in media-making and communication for a visually, digitally, and globally connected world.

The $30,000 grant for Historic Hudson Valley in Pocantico Hills will support “Historic Hudson Valley: Washington Irving and the Art of Storytelling,” and fund research, concept design, audience evaluation, and design workshops exploring the stories and life of renowned author Washington Irving. Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit education organization that interprets, preserves, and celebrates historic landmarks of national significance in the Hudson Valley for the benefit and enjoyment of the public.

“We are thrilled that the NEH is providing this research grant. Washington Irving was America’s first storyteller. We want to use Sunnyside as a place to explore storytelling, how Washington Irving stories stand the test of time and the influence they had on American storytellers ever since,” said Michael A. Lord, Director, Content Development at Historic Hudson Valley. “We are bringing together a group of scholars this summer to better understand the way we can tell these stories to visitors.”

The NEH is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States, and it serves and strengthens our country by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes its mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers.