Mass Humanities Announces 2025 Funding Opportunities

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NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Mass Humanities has announced its 2025 funding opportunities through its Expand Massachusetts Stories (EMS) initiative.
 
This year, the EMS initiative features:
  • Promises of the Revolution: Organizations are invited to explore how people, past and present, responded to the promises of the American Revolution in preparation for the country's 250th anniversary in 2026.
  • Story Forward: Organizations that have received funding from Mass Humanities in the past can advance their storytelling to reach new audiences or build on previous work.
Reading Frederick Douglass Together grants are currently open, with applications accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
 
Application materials for EMS grants are available on the Mass Humanities website. Letters of Inquiry are due June 9.
 
Mass Humanities has set aside $600,000 to fund projects in the Promises of the Revolution track.
 
Mass Humanities launched the EMS initiative in 2021 with the support of Mass Cultural Council and the Barr Foundation.
 
In 2024, Mass Humanities awarded $1.2 million in EMS grants to 64 cultural nonprofit organizations.
 
Eligibility requirements and grant guidelines can be viewed on the Mass Humanities grants website.
 
 
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Girls Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes 2025 Class

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – When seven former players were enshrined in the Berkshire County High School Girls Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, their numerous accomplishments were chronicled.
 
Not surprisingly, some of their crowning achievements – 1,000th career points, Berkshire County MVPs and all-Western Massachusetts recognitions – came in their junior and senior years of high school.
 
Then, there was Pittsfield High graduate Dasen Woitkowski.
 
“Desan played varsity her freshman and sophomore years, missing all of her junior year and half of her senior year with an ACL injury” Hall of Fame Board member John Vosburgh related. “Going through her bio, if she hadn’t gotten hurt, her statistics would have been off the charts.”
 
Instead, Woitkowski showed off the charts resilience and dedication to the sport.
 
Overcoming her high school setbacks, Woitkowski went on to score more than 1,000 career points at Smith College, where she was a two-sport athlete and was named the school’s Athlete of the year in 2003 and ‘04 before playing semi-pro basketball in Denmark.
 
“Today, we celebrate not just an athlete but a testament to what it means to persevere, to rise after fall and to never let adversity define your story,” Woitkowski’s sister Jaclyn said of Desan. “Grit, resilience, perseverance and humility explain, perfectly, Desan Woitkowski. They are the foundation of her journey.
 
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