Learn more about the Bay State Legacy Award here.
Mass Humanities is honored to award the 2023 Mass History Commendation to The History Project. The award recognizes excellence by a Mass Humanities grantee. The following is taken from The History Project’s website, where you can find out more about their mission and activities:
The History Project is focused exlusively on documenting and preserving the history of New England’s LGBTQ communities and sharing that history with LGBTQ individuals, organizations, allies, and the public. They maintain one of the largest independent LGBTQ archives in the nation, which includes more than 250 collections from organizations and individuals encompassing more than one million documents. Collections range from the records of early Gay Liberation organizations and photographs of pre-Stonewall Boston to objects such as T-shirts and buttons and materials documenting the marriage equality movement. These documents and artifacts are processed and made available to researchers by a dedicated group of volunteers from the community who donate hundreds of hours of time annually to the organization.
Their achievements include the exhibit Public Faces/Private Lives, which became the bestselling book, Improper Bostonians, as well as exhibitions focused on LGBTQ photojournalism, Provincetown’s White Party, the history of Boston Pride, and the LGBTQ community’s response to HIV/AIDS.
THP’s many outreach activities include Out of the Archives, a series of public talks focused on our archival collections; the HistoryMaker Awards, which honor established and emerging activists; Into the Streets, their walking tours program; and events such as film screenings and exhibitions developed in partnership with other organizations. They also offer engagement opportunities for groups of students, colleagues, and anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history.
The former Baystate Historical League’s Local History Hero award was resurrected by the Massachusetts History Alliance in 2021 as the MHA Star Awards. With this award, we honor members of the history field who have demonstrated long term commitment, outstanding work with concrete results, exemplary innovation, local leadership for change, or contributions to equity and justice. MHA Star Awards are granted to Massachusetts people who have made outstanding contributions to the research and interpretation of the history of their communities. We call them our local history heroes. The winners of this year’s MHA STAR Awards are:
- Debra Charpentier, The Millicent Library
- Dr. Joe Cronin, Fitchburg Historical Society
- Nicholas J. and Cynthia Costello, Maudslay Arts Center
- Jazz Dottin, “Black Gems Unearthed”
- David Guss, Somerville Museum
- William Klauer, Acton Historical Society and Acton Historical Commission
- Ellen Knight, Town of Winchester Archival Center
- Catherine Matthews, Old North Illuminated
- Olga Weiss, Lenox Historical Commission
Congratulations to all of our 2023 Award Winners!
Plan to join us on Monday, June 5, 2023 to celebrate Marty Blatt, The History Project, all of our STAR Award honorees, and their dedication to preserving and interpreting Massachusetts history. Register today!