HUMANITIES TENNESSEE
807 MAIN ST NO B, NASHVILLE, TN 37206 www.humanitiestennessee.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: HUMANITIES TENNESSEE'S MISSION IS TO FOSTER COMMUNITY AND CIVILITY IN TENNESSEE THROUGH PUBLIC PROGRAMS THAT EXAMINE AND REFLECT UPON IDEAS, STORIES, HISTORY, ARTS AND CULTURE.

HUMANITIES TENNESSEE CONDUCTS AND SUPPORTS PUBLIC HUMANITIES PROGRAMMING ACROSS THE STATE TO FOSTER COMMUNITY AND CIVILITY. PROGRAMS INCLUDE THE SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS, NEIGHBORHOOD STORY PROJECT, STUDENT READER DAY, TRAVELING EXHIBITIS, AND MANY MORE.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATUREYOUNG WRITERS' WORKSHOPS - THE GOAL OF BOTH THE TENNESSEE YOUNG WRITERS' WORKSHOP AND THE APPALACHIAN YOUNG WRITERS' WORKSHOP (AND, IN 2020, THE WORLD WIDE WEB WORKSHOP) IS TO PROVIDE STUDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THEIR WRITING PASSION, THEIR CURIOSITY ABOUT LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, AND HONE THEIR CRAFT AMONG PEERS AND UNDER THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF PROFESSIONAL, PUBLISHED WRITERS IN A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY. THE 2020 WORKSHOPS WERE COMBINED AND HELD ONLINE. MORE THAN 40 STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE STATE PARTICIPATED. SINCE 1989, THE SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS: A CELEBRATION OF THE WRITTEN WORD HAS WELCOMED AUTHORS AND READERS TO DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE FOR A WEEKEND OF READINGS, SIGNINGS, PERFORMANCES, AND CELEBRATION. THE MISSION OF THE FESTIVAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO PROVIDE A FREE, EASILY ACCESSIBLE EVENT THAT PROVIDES ACCESS TO ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN READING IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS RICH IN CULTURE IN CONVERSATION, INCLUSIVE, RESPECTFUL, AND ENCOURAGING OF LIFELONG LEARNING. THE 31ST ANNUAL SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS WAS HELD OCTOBER 11-13, 2019, AND WELCOMED 228 AUTHORS, INCLUDING HANIF ABDURRAQIB, TARA CONKLIN, ANN PATCHETT, SAMANTHA POWER, TAYLOR JENKINS REID, AND MANY MORE. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY'S ROBERT PENN WARREN CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES, THE FESTIVAL OFFERED THE THEMED TRACK "BORDERS AND BELONGING," EXPLORING GEOGRAPHIC, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC BORDERS. IN RESPONSE TO THE LOSS OF BOOK COVERAGE IN NEWSPAPERS AROUND THE STATE, HUMANITIES TENNESSEE FOUNDED CHAPTER19.ORG IN 2009 TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF LITERARY NEWS AND EVENTS IN TENNESSEE. EACH WEEKDAY THE SITE POSTS FRESH CONTENT THAT FOCUSES ON AUTHOR EVENTS ACROSS THE STATE AND NEW RELEASES FROM TENNESSEE AUTHORS. IN ADDITION, CHAPTER 16 MAINTAINS PARTNERSHIPS WITH NEWSPAPERS IN EACH MAJOR MEDIA MARKET STATEWIDE, AND OUR CONTENT APPEARS IN PRINT EACH WEEK THROUGH THE MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL, THE NASHVILLE SCENE, AND THE KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL. THROUGH THE SITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, AND OUR NEWSPAPER PARTNERSHIPS, CHAPTER 16 REACHES MORE THAN HALF A MILLION READERS ON A GOOD WEEK. THE OUTCOME IS THE ONGOING VISIBILITY OF THE TENNESSEE LITERARY COMMUNITY IN NEWSPAPERS STATEWIDE, THE SUPPORT TO TENNESSEE WRITERS AND INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES VIA PROMOTION OF BOOKS AND EVENTS, AND AN EVER-GROWING ARCHIVE OF ORIGINAL CONTENT.STUDENT READER DAY - STUDENT READER DAY BRINGS AN AUTHOR TO A SCHOOL, FREE OF CHARGE, FOR A PRESENTATION/DISCUSSION AND BOOK SIGNING. THE GOAL IS TO GET BOOKS INTO THE HANDS OF STUDENTS AND PROVIDE AN EXPERIENCE TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH A LIVING AUTHOR. IN FY20, EVENTS WERE HELD WITH AUTHORS TED CHIANG, SHANNONG GREENLAND, KRISTIN TUBB, RUTA SEPETYS, AND ANDREW MARANISS, REACHING MORE THAN 3,015 STUDENTS IN 6 COUNTIES. SALON@615 SALON@615 IS A YEAR-ROUND AUTHOR EVENT SERIES FOR BESTSELLING AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED WRITERS, PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARNASSUS BOOKS, NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY, NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION, AND BOOKPAGE. THE SERIES WAS FOUNDED BY HUMANITIES TENNESSEE AND NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN 2011 AFTER THE CLOSING OF INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAVIS-KIDD, WHICH HOSTED MOST OF THE AUTHOR EVENTS IN THE CITY. WE FELT A CONCERN FOR KEEPING THE CITY ON AUTHOR TOUR SCHEDULES, AND FOR CONTINUING TO KEEP THESE FREE EVENTS, OFTEN RICH IN HUMANITIES CONTENT, AVAILABLE TO THE COMMUNITY. FY20 SALON EVENTS FEATURED JACQUELINE WOODSON, CYNTHOIA BROWN, GLORIA STEINEM, TA-NEHISI COATES, AND OTHERS. THE SPRING PROGRAM WAS PUT ON HOLD DUE TO COVID. NASHVILLE READS - FOUNDED IN 2012, NASHVILLE READS IS A CITYWIDE BOOK PROGRAM THAT INCLUDES MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMING AND AN APPEARANCE BY THE BOOK'S AUTHOR TO EITHER LAUNCH OR CONCLUDE THE PROGRAM. THE 2020 PROGRAM WAS DEFERRED TO 2021 DUE TO COVID.

GRANTS AND AWARDSHUMANITIES TENNESSEE MAKES FUNDING INVESTMENTS IN ALL THREE GRAND DIVISIONS OF THE STATE TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING PUBLIC HUMANITIES PROGRAMS. IN FY20, WE AWARDED ASSISTANCE TO HUMANITIES ORGANIZATIONS IN TENNESSEE AS PART OF THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (CARES ACT) PASSED BY CONGRESS IN MARCH. GRANTS TOTALING $550,000 AWARDED TO 98 CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDED GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT DURING THIS PERIOD OF FINANCIAL HARDSHIP CAUSED BY THE CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC. NONPROFIT GRANTEES REPRESENT ALL NINE TENNESSEE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS IN URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES. FY20 GENERAL GRANT RECIPIENTS INCLUDED THE NASHVILLE ZOO, EAST TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, CONSERVANCY FOR CENTENNIAL PARK/PARTHENON, MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART, METRO HISTORICAL COMMISSION FOUNDATION, AND KNOXVILLE HISTORY PROJECT. OPPORTUNITY GRANTS AND SPONSORSHIPS SUPPORTED PROJECTS BY PLENTY INTERNATIONAL, MORGAN CO. GENEALOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY, TENNESSEE GEOGRAPHIC ALLIANCE, COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP OF ENGLEWOOD, TOM & OE STIGALL ETHNIC LIBRARY & MUSEUM, PARIS-HENRY CO. HERITAGE CENTER, CARENET, GILLIAM FOUNDATION, TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, CHICK HISTORY, INC., EAST NASHVILLE HOPE EXCHANGE, EAST TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND SOUTHERN WORD. TOTAL OUTRIGHT GRANT SUPPORT AWARDED IN FY20 WAS JUST UNDER $114,600.

COMMUNITY HISTORYNEIGHBORHOOD STORY PROJECT - THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORY PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER A DOZEN RESIDENTS WEEKLY FOR THREE MONTHS TO RESEARCH, DOCUMENT AND SHARE THE STORIES OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, YIELDING INCREASED KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, STRENGTHENED CONNECTIONS TO PLACE AND EACH OTHER, AND MORE MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CIVIC LIFE. A COHORT OF 5 SITES ON BOARD FOR TRAINING IN MARCH 2020, WHICH WAS POSTPONED DUE TO COVID, WILL RESUME IN 2021/22. TRAVLING EXHIBITS - EXHIBITS INCLUDE THOSE FROM THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION'S MUSEUM ON MAIN STREET (MOMS) PROGRAM, A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE SMITHSONIAN'S TRAVELING EXHIBIT SERVICE (SITES) AND STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS. WE ALSO PROVIDE SMALLER SCALE TRAVELING EXHIBITS PRODUCED IN-HOUSE OR IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS. OUR EXHIBITS TRAVEL TO SMALL, MOSTLY VOLUNTEER-RUN MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS. MAJOR GOALS ARE TO 1) PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY HUMANITIES PROGRAMMING TO UNDERSERVED ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR AUDIENCES, AND 2) USE THESE EXHIBITS AS CATALYSTS TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, HIGH QUALITY PUBLIC PROGRAMS, AND RESOURCES FOR SMALL MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS. WE COMPLETED OUR TENTH MOMS TOUR (CROSSROADS: CHANGE IN RURAL AMERICA) AND OUR SECOND ORIGINAL EXHIBIT (TENNESSEE WATERS) IN 2020, WITH EXHIBIT STOPS IN 12 COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE. TENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIPS - HUMANITIES TENNESSEE OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE TENNESSEE ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS' (TAM) ANNUAL TWO-DAY CONFERENCE HELD EVERY MARCH. THE SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE TO VOLUNTEERS WITHOUT MUSEUM-RELATED BACKGROUNDS WORKING FOR A NONPROFIT MUSEUM OR ORGANIZATION STARTING A MUSEUM THAT HAS NO PAID PROFESSIONAL STAFF. EACH SCHOLARSHIP PROVIDES LODGING AND CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES FOR UP TO TWO PEOPLE FROM EACH APPLICANT ORGANIZATION. THE 2020 CONFERENCE WAS CANCELED DUE TO COVID.

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