Mass Humanities Application To Host a Douglass Reading in 2025

04:13PM / Thursday, December 19, 2024Print Story | Email Story

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. — Mass Humanities, the Commonwealth's leading funder of humanities programs, has opened the application window for its signature Reading Frederick Douglass Together (RFDT) program.

Applications open on Dec. 16, and the first submission deadline is Jan. 3, 2025.

Going into its 16th year, the RFDT program provides $2,000 grants to local communities to host a public reading of the orator's noted speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Applications are awarded on a rolling basis throughout the year.

In 2024, a total of 60 communities throughout the commonwealth hosted readings. Nonprofits, cultural centers, libraries, towns, and more are free to design a public program that appeals to local residents. In the past, grantees have featured spoken word artists, discussion groups, musical performances, and other activities intended to help communities reflect deeply on the continuing relevance of Douglass' words.

"For 2025, Mass Humanities is encouraging communities to use the speech as the foundation to host deeper, continuous conversations about freedom, acknowledgment, repair, and reconciliation," said Latoya Bosworth, Ph.D., program officer at Mass Humanities. "We are asking ourselves and our host sites: what do we do after we read Frederick Douglass Together? How do we keep the momentum?"

Communities interested in hosting a reading can visit the Reading Frederick Douglass Together grant page on the Mass Humanities website for guidelines and an application, in both English and Spanish. A complete schedule of submission deadlines is available as well.

The most celebrated orator of his day, Douglass' denunciations of slavery and forceful examination of the Constitution challenge us to think about the stories we tell and do not tell, the ideas that they teach or do not teach, and the gaps between our actions and aspirations. To quote Douglass: "We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the future."

For more information, contact Wes DeShano, communications manager, at wdeshano@masshumanities.org or by phone at 413-203-6241, ext. 102.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Holiday Inn Closure Continues; Layoffs Reported

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:24AM / Thursday, October 29, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — More than a month after the Holiday Inn & Suites abruptly closed its doors, reports have emerged of employee layoffs.

The hotel has been closed since Sept. 25, when the last of its three elevators broke down. The 101 Restaurant & Bar, located inside the hotel, has also been a casualty of the closure, temporarily shutting its doors while repairs are underway.

Now, The Berkshire Eagle reports that 20 hotel employees across all departments have been laid off and it remains unknown when the hotel will reopen amidst ongoing issues with the building. The Holiday Inn & Suites declined to comment to iBerkshires' inquiries.

According to The Eagle, hotel facilities manager Pete Leidt said approximately five employees remain on staff and expressed hope that those who were laid off could return when the hotel reopens.

When the elevator stopped working, emergency medical technicians and firefighters assisted more than half a dozen people with mobility disabilities down the stairs, Building Commissioner Rian Dowd previously told iBerkshires.

"So with the no working elevators, we shut the building down," she said.

The central downtown, 12-story hotel has nearly 180 guest rooms. Massachusetts requires public multi-level buildings and facilities to have elevator access.

View Full Story