NEH grants support projects which will promote education and research in the humanities. Although OurStoryBridge has participated in NEH grants awarded to other organizations, for example the Museum Association of New York and Igiugig Tribal Council, this is the first grant directly awarded to OurStoryBridge, written only two and a half years after incorporation as a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

With the funds provided by the NEH grant, OurStoryBridge will implement a project titled “Interpretive Capacity Building for Short-Form Oral Histories with OurStoryBridge Inc.” which will focus on identifying new and effective ways of using and distributing the over 1,000 stories that have been collected. This will include a collections review, audience research and building a strategic plan to identify public programming opportunities for the stories.

“As a new, small nonprofit, OurStoryBridge, founded in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, is honored that the National Endowment for the Humanities has recognized the potential we have to capture America’s past and present through online short-form oral histories, especially the value of using them in public programming,” said Jery Huntley, MLS, Founder and President of OurStoryBridge Inc.

OurStoryBridge Inc. has supported 42 Partner Projects in 16 states, helping them collect oral histories and make them available to the public in the form of three-to-five-minute audio files accompanied by related images, posted freely accessible online. In addition, OurStoryBridge also produces a Teacher’s Guide, recently updated, which contains stories from Partner Projects to aid educators in use of stories.

“At Keene Central School we have used Adirondack Community stories in the classroom to enhance our lessons with this amazing collection and to provide students with firsthand historical knowledge, including models of local civic engagement,” social studies teacher Brad Hurlburt said.

Eighteen advisers from across the country will be working with OurStoryBridge on this project, experts in library and museum education, cultural heritage management, education, folklore, tribal libraries and museums, and digital preservation, plus individuals leading their communities’ OurStoryBridge Partner Projects. Led and managed by OurStoryBridge, these experts and knowledge bearers will together evaluate the OurStoryBridge collection with the goal of drafting a strategic plan for future development and implementation of interpretive public programming opportunities.

For more information on OurStoryBridge Inc., visit ourstorybridge.org, email createyourstoryproject@gmail.com, or call 410-353-6372.