Committee Receives Mass Humanities Grant for Walking Tour Project

The Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee has received an Engaging New Audiences grant from Mass Humanities for a second year.  It  funds a project in partnership with Commonwealth Academy in Springfield, MA. which will bring 75 students and their teachers on a walking tour of the African American Heritage Trail in Florence, MA, sharing the history and legacy of abolitionism in Florence, with young members of the local community.

This partnership between Mass Humanities and Commonwealth Academy affords our students the opportunity to engage firsthand with their local history on an academic and personal level,” said Marcus Ware, Dean of Students for Academics at Commonwealth Academy.

The grant will also fund the Sojourner Truth Committee's efforts to improve its educational materials and online interactive walking tour, allowing the committee to more deeply engage with a larger audience.

This is the second grant that the Sojourner Truth Committee has received from Mass Humanities, an organization that supports programs that use the humanities to “enhance and improve civic life in Massachusetts.” Mass Humanities' Engaging New Audiences grants fund projects that extend access to the humanities to underserved communities in Massachusetts. In 2013, the committee partnered with the New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, MA, on a walking tour project.

The Committee is honored to receive another generous grant from Mass Humanities,” said Terry O'Toole, chair of the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee. “We're eager to partner with the students and faculty of Commonwealth Academy, and to continue to share the history of Sojourner Truth and her role in the dynamic community of 19th century Florence.”

Commonwealth Academy is an independent coeducational college preparatory academy in downtown Springfield enrolling 75 students in grades 3-10, with 13 faculty members. In the coming years, the school will expand to grades K-12. All 75 students will participate in the project.

The entirely volunteer-driven Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee supports educational programming and outreach activities about Sojourner Truth's contributions to the social justice movement. The committee also grants two social justice scholarships each year to local high school students.