The Georgia Regents University Libraries have been selected to receive a competitive Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA).
As one of 203 grant recipients selected from across the country, only three of which are in Georgia, the Georgia Regents University (GRU) Libraries will receive a cash grant of $10,000 to hold public programming about Latino history and culture., such as public film screenings, discussion groups, oral history initiatives, local history exhibitions, and multi-media projects or performances.
The GRU Libraries will also receive the six-part, NEH-supported documentary film Latino Americans, created for PBS in 2013 by the WETA public television station. The award-winning series chronicles the history of Latinos in the United States from the 16th century to present day. (Learn more about the series at www.pbs.org/latino-americans/en/.)
The Libraries’ planned programs include screenings and discussions of episodes of the Latino Americans documentary series led by project scholars and GRU faculty members Dr. Heather Abdelnur, Associate Professor of History, and Dr. Christopher Botero, Assistant Professor of Spanish. Planned programs also include a robust schedule of events that complement the film and discussion series. These events will focus on the history and lived experiences of Latinos in the Augusta area and in the southeastern United States.
“Latinos were a part of this country since before it was even a country, and today, Latinos make up the largest minority group in the nation. Locally, Latinos have been a part of this community for generations, and their numbers have seen explosive growth in more recent years,” said Erin Prentiss, GRU Libraries’ Latino Americans Project Director and Reference/Instruction Librarian. “With the Latino Americans series, the GRU Libraries look forward to exploring the rich history of Latinos with the entire Augusta community.”
For more information about the series, please visit guides.gru.edu/latino or contact Erin Prentiss at eprentiss@gru.edu or 706-667-4912.
The Latino Americans: 500 Years of History grantees represent 42 states and the District of Columbia, and include 78 public libraries, 68 college/university libraries and organizations, 19 community college libraries, 10 state humanities councils, 12 museums and a range of other nonprofit organizations. View a full list of the recipients.
Latino Americans: 500 Years of History is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.
About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 58,000 members in academic, public, school, government and special libraries. The mission of the American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.
