The National Endowment for the Humanities announced Wednesday $43.1 million for 218 projects across the country, including several with ties to public media.
For the first time, the endowment is providing infrastructure and capacity-building challenge grants. WGBH will receive a $750,000 matching grant to develop a digital asset management system, improve a website providing access to the public and digitize some 83,000 audiovisual recordings.
Grants also included:
Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn. — $500,000 for Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie Legend, a documentary chronicling the life, work and cultural impact of the author.
The Filmmakers Collaborative — $500,000 for Cartooning America: The Fleischer Brothers Story, a 60-minute film about a family of animators who created iconic characters including Popeye and Betty Boop. The collaborative supports independent documentaries that air on PBS.
Public Radio International — $301,331 for LBJ’s Great Society & Richard Nixon’s War, an oral-history project of two radio documentaries and 12 podcasts covering the era from 1963 to mid-1975.
The Center for Independent Documentary — $75,000 for Ruth and Margaret, a feature-length film biography of anthropologists Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. CID-backed films have aired as part of American Masters, American Experience, Independent Lens and POV.
WNET, New York City — $75,000 for the Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands, an American Masters episode about the life of the popular singer.
Futuro Media Group, New York City — $75,000 to develop Unladylike, a series of short video documentaries about the accomplishments of women during the Progressive Era of 1890 to 1920.
WQED, Pittsburgh — $49,987 for script development on Shanghailanders, a documentary about the cultural and political legacies of European Jews in Shanghai during the late 1930s.
Initiatives getting support “strengthen and sustain the cultural life of our nation and its citizens,” NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede said in an announcement.