No News is Bad News
On November 17, 2007, seven big-time editors and reports, one celebrated blogger, and a former presidential press secretary met to consider the latest puzzles and threats facing the mainstream media. (full article)
No News is Bad News
Excerpt from the article (above) written for Boston College Magazine as published in Mass Humanities.
Our American Cousin
A contemporary opera about the night of Lincoln's death will be performed in Northampton in June, a liberty and justice for all grant funded project.
A Double Take on Clemente
Lyda Kuth and Julia Legas share a passion for Clemente. Lyda recently attended a Clemente class taught by Julia, and they have inspired each other to continue supporting the program in their own ways.
Traces of the Trade
An Interview with filmmaker Katrina Browne
Katrina Browne and nine other descendants of the DeWolf family, a Bristol, RI, slave trading empire, trace their ancestors' activities both before and after the slave trade was abolished in 1808 in the film Traces of the Trade.

Mothering Heights
An interview with Joyce Antler, the author of a cultural history of Jewish mothers.

Literature & Medicine at Year 5
Reflections and evaluation results on the Literature and Medicine program.

Some Reflections on Literature & Medicine
Reflections by a seminar facilitator.

Massachusetts Clemente Course Graduates 40
Read the words of the recent graduates from the three Massachusetts Clemente sites.

Talking Turkey
A conversation with the author of Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick.

Teaching Law Where it's Practiced
Theatre Espresso's interactive play about the history of the Boston Massacre.

The Least Dangerous Branch?
A sampler of the public symposium held on October 21, 2006.

Fifteen Years of Changing Lives Through Literature
An interview with Bob Waxler and Jean Trounstine, co-directors of Changing Lives Through Literature, a program that brings the humanities into the criminal justice system.

Humanities on the Inside-Out
A mixed community course on the prison memoir.

Mass Memories Road Show
MFH joins forces with the Massachusetts Studies Project to support the next phase of Mass Memories Road Show.

Voting Rights and Voting Wrongs:
An Interview with Lani Guinier
Martin Newhouse, MFH board member interviews Lani Guinier and discuss the framers of the Constitution, proportional representation vs. our districting system and other topics.

Retracing the Struggle
A look back at the trio of events that took place at the end of October 2005.

Foundation News
Various news items including an update on Clemente, the Meaning of Service program, "Still Present Past" exhibit and Mass Moments.

The Right to Vote: An Interview with Historian Alex Keyssar
Alex Keyssar, an historian by training, has specialized in the examination of issues that have contemporary policy impliations.

Forgotten Salem: The Pequot Mill Strike
An MFH funded exhibition "Stopping the Clock: A Time to Remember Salem's Pequot Mill Strike of 1933" is surprising viewers with a slice of labor history.

Surfing the Humanities
Several recent Massachusetts humanities projects have utilized the Internet to bring to light some of the stories we didn't learn in history class.

Beyond the Hyphen: A Conversation with Ilan Stavans
An interview with the 2005 Commonwealth Humanities Lecturer, Ilan Stavans, the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.
Scenes from a Parish
An MFH funded documentary film exploring two years in the life of St. Patrick's Church in South Lawrence, a traditionally Irish-American parish undergoing huge changes that reflect dramatic demographic and economic shifts in the city.
Presidential Reputations Reconsidered
On Saturday, November 20th, the Foundation celebrated its 30th birthday with an afternoon symposium called U.S. Presidents in Perspective:
The Shifting Fortunes of Presidential Reputations.

Refreshing Our Historical Memory:
Is Iraq "Another Vietnam?"
An interview with David Halberstam, journalist, historian, and biographer, is one of this country's most distinguished social and political commentators.
Are We Still a Commonwealth?
Markets, Morals, and Civic Life
The 2004 Commonwealth Humanities Lecturer was Michael J. Sandel, Ann T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University. His lecture is reprinted here.
Bringing Mass Moments to Life
A radio and internet "almanac" on Massachusetts history launches in January 2005.
The Political Dr. Seuss
An MFH funded 90-minute documentary by filmmaker Ron Lamothe.

Humanities in the Hospital
Participants reflect on Literature & Medicine, a hospital-based program consisting of six monthly discussions.

Still Present Pasts
An MFH funded exhibit exploring the legacies of the Korean War.

A Message from the Executive Director
"With the Foundation marking its 30th anniversary, I find myself drawn to a new way of looking at the work we have been doing all these years..."

Foundation News
New board members elected, departing board member, Primary Source awarded NEH Grant, Bay State Historical League Received Award of Merit, New Director of Development.
MFH in the 1970s
1970s A Noble Enterprise by Robert Collen, former Chairman from 1980 to 1982.
MFH in the 1980s
1980s Shifting Gears by Stephen Nissenbaum, former Chairman from 1987 to 1989.
MFH in the 1990s
1990s Facing Challenges by David Lionel Smith, former Chairman from 1998-2000.
MFH in the 21st Century
Envisioning the Future by Ellen Dunlap, has served as chair since 2002.

Understanding Islam
An Interview with Historian of Islam Keith Lewinstein.

Understanding Islam:
Scholars Share their Experiences
Five scholars speak up about their experiences leading discussions in the reading and discussion program.

Meeting the Mummy
Springfield Museums Showcase Ancient Egypt.

We the People
National Endowment for the Humanities' new initiative.

Taking the Past into the Future
An Interview with Tim Neumann, Executive Director of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.
Reconstruction
A review of a Foundation funded film by Irene Lusztig
Dreams of Gold
Featured grant: Fitchburg State College's Center for Italian Culture documents the Italian-American experience in the communities of Leominster and Fitchburg.
Clemente Grads
Graduates from the three Bard College Clemente Courses speak for the humanities and for themselves.

A Writer's Progress
Associate Professor Anna Klobucka interviews Nobel Prize-Winning Portuguese Novelist Jose Saramago.

Promises Premieres in Paradise City
Six hundred people turned out at the Academy of Music in Northampton to view the critically acclaimed feature-length documentary, Promises.

Imagining Robert
A look at the making of the documentary about Jay and Robert Neugeboren and the subsequent project of screenings and civic dialogues.

Premiere of Downside Up at MassMoCA
The hour-long documentary that examines the impact of Mass MoCA on the economy and culture of North Adams premiered at Mass MoCA.

MYTOWN: Leaders of the Future Learning the Lessons of the Past
MFH Development Officer/Program Officer Amy Hoffman interviews Karilyn Crockett, founder and directorof MYTOWN Inc - the Multicultural Youth Tour Of What's Now.

Julie Mallozzi's Monkey Dance
A look at the ideas behind and the process of filming a documentary focusing on the lives of three teenaged Cambodian American dancers.

Holyoke Clemente Course Holds Graduation

Clemente Course in the Humanities to expand to Boston and Worcester

The Magnificent Seven: An Interview with Historian Joseph J. Ellis
MFH Executive Director David Tebaldi interviews Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers, The Revolutionary Generation.

Unfinished Symphony
A look at the ideas behind Unfinished Symphony, a documentary about the 1971 antiwar protest in Lexington led by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War written and directed by Bestor Cram of Northern Light Productions.

Playing for Keeps: A Conversation with Betsy Shure Gross
MFH Associate Director Ellen K. Rothman interviews Betsy Shure Gross, Special Assistant for Community Preservation with the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.

Encounter with Cuba
MFH Board member, Lisbeth Tarlow, relates her experiences with the Foundation's traveling seminar to Cuba.

Fruitlands: Landscape as Lens on the Past
The history of the site of the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard and its new interpretive focus, the New England landscape.