Local groups receive share of Indiana Humanities grants

Several area groups received funds from the Indiana Humanities organization this year to help encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk through cultural programming.

The statewide nonprofit organization issued an annual report showing that it provided more than $317,000 in grants and fellowships this year in almost 60 communities across the state, including Columbus, Nashville and Franklin.

According to organizers, a $2,600 Historic Preservation Education Grant went to the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives for a four-part series on “The Secret Lives of Buildings (and Their Lovers)” Researcher Jim Nickoll highlighted downtown Columbus buildings built in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, focusing on Washington Street,

The Brown County Public Library and the Johnson County Public Library both received a One State / One Story Community Read grant. This year’s book was Tiya Miles’s “All That She Carried.”

Next year, the organization plans to issue about $300,000 in grants for public programs including funds to help Hoosiers celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, coming in 2026.