2023 Impact Report

IMPACT FULL

I have a confession to make. I’m the leader of our state’s humanities council, and I didn’t really know what the humanities were until three years ago.

While this shocking confession is true in a literal sense, I have had a deep relationship with the humanities since my earliest moments in this world. But I only recently found the language to describe it that way.

As a child, I developed a deep appreciation for reading, museums, newspapers, geography, and nature. I visited my local bookstore every few days, diving into stories that transported me to another place and time. I discovered a passion for art history in college, and spent a few years working in museums and, eventually, in fundraising—not a field anyone had ever told me was a career prospect with a humanities degree.

But the humanities aren’t just a list of subjects and majors. They are our north star. For me, no light has shown brighter as I navigate my way through life.

I am also keenly aware of the many ways that the humanities are under attack in American institutions today and the debate over the value of the humanities in response to reports of dwindling enrollment in college-level humanities courses around the U.S.

At Ohio Humanities, we seek to offer a fresh perspective on how to approach the humanities—and we see the ways in which the humanities are thriving in the public sphere. From celebrating Superman in Cleveland, to promoting Holocaust education, to providing opportunities to view and discuss documentary films, our partners share meaningful stories that strengthen communities.

In 2023, we doubled down on impact-oriented grantmaking. We updated our grant program to allow for larger grants and more opportunities to apply, and we zeroed in on making maximum-impact investments. We have redefined how we talk about the humanities, centering people and their stories over disciplines. Our funded projects supported programs that serve all 88 counties in Ohio with in-person and digital programming, reaching a total of 285,000 Ohioans.

All of us at Ohio Humanities are honored to be engaged in work that meaningful, that critical.

I am so proud of our team for the effort and thought they put into awarding these grants. And I am grateful to you—our partners and supporters—for making our work possible.

Here’s to the continued cultivation of and appreciation for all that it means to be human.

Rebecca Brown Asmo Executive Director Ohio Humanities

488,858

DOLLARS AWARDED

ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED

14

54 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS DIRECTLY FUNDED

285,000 OHIOANS REACHED

2023 GRANTS AWARDED

In 2023, Ohio Humanities awarded $488,858 in grants, ranging from $800 to $25,000, to 54 different organizations in 20 counties across the state.

PROJECT GRANTS

Chagrin Documentary Film Festival Chagrin Falls $25,000 for Chagrin Documentary Film Festival

Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission Columbus $25,000 for women’s suffrage monument at Ohio Statehouse

WVIZ/Ideastream Cleveland $25,000 for The Ohio Newsroom

Books by the Banks

Cincinnati $20,000 for Books by the Banks festival

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green $20,000 for Eclipsing History podcast and exhibit

Decorative Arts Center of Ohio Lancaster $20,000 for It’s An Honor to be Here exhibition

LADD Cincinnati $20,000 for Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival

Springfield Museum of Art Springfield $20,000 for The Chronicles Project exhibition

ThinkTV Network Dayton $20,000 for “Bing Davis (w.t.)” multi-platform documentary

The Great Circle Alliance Columbus $19,789 for Mounds, Moon and Stars: The Legacy of Ohio’s Magnificent Earthworks touring exhibition

Lesbians Benefitting the Arts

Columbus $19,970 for “Free Beer Tomorrow” documentary film project

King Studios

Cincinnati $17,500 for Recording Music and Recording History intergenerational project

National First Ladies’ Library Education and Research Center Canton $17,500 for The Untold Story of Ida Saxton McKinley’s Soft Power project

The Teaching Cleveland Foundation Chagrin Falls $16,600 for Teaching Cleveland Student Challenge annual research competition

Ursuline College Pepper Pike $15,301 for Superman’s Cleveland city-wide celebration

Mandel Jewish Community Center Beachwood $15,000 for Cleveland Jewish Book Festival

Ohioana Library Association Columbus $15,000 for 2023 Ohioana Book Festival

Zygote Press Cleveland $15,000 for Pressing Matters afterschool program

The LGBT Legacy Project Cleveland $12,000 for “From Where We Stood: AIDS and the Culture Wars” documentary

Opera Project Columbus Columbus $11,000 for “I, Too, Sing America” video series

Columbus Metropolitan Library Main Branch Columbus $10,000 for Columbus Book Festival

Ashland Main Street Ashland $5,000 for History’s Real Action Figures historical portrayals

Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio Columbus $5,000 for Bhutan Memory podcast

Canton Museum of Art Canton $5,000 for Amy Pleasant exhibition free community programming

The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio Columbus $5,000 for “The Last Truck” film and public discussion

Fort Recovery Historical Society Fort Recovery $5,000 for Beyond the Battlefield: Interpreting St. Clair’s Defeat through the Eyes of Tribal Citizens event

Lesbians Benefitting the Arts Columbus $5,000 for Every Night is Ladies Night: Stories from Summit Station, Ohio’s Longest Running Lesbian Bar event

THE MARCH CONTINUES

THE LINCOLN SCHOOL STORY

Ohio Humanities continued efforts to amplify the story of the Lincoln School Marchers, a group of Black mothers and children from Hillsboro, Ohio, who heroically fought for school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954. For years, their story went largely untold. We’re proud to have continued sharing it in 2023 through various programs and partnerships. We teamed up with Daydreamers Press on a children’s book titled Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice.

Written by New York Times bestselling author Debbie

Rigaud and Daydreamers Press Founder Carlotta Penn and illustrated by Nysha Lilly, the book tells the Marchers’ story from the perspective of 12-year-old Joyce Clemons, now 81, who marched for integration as a child. We also funded a broadcast-length version of the documentary “The Lincoln School Story,” which premiered on PBS-affiliate WOSU in February 2024. And we’ve championed the story through news outlets across the state, including The Columbus Dispatch, The Highland County Press, NBC Columbus, CBS Columbus, and Spectrum News.

DOCUMENTARY LOVE

FILMS, FESTS, & MORE

Documentary film remains integral to Ohio Humanities’ past, present, and future. We supported multiple meaningful projects and funded two film festivals in 2023: the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival. We also supported the Cleveland International Film Festival’s FilmSlam ® Road Trip, which hosted screenings and facilitated discussions of “Olympic Oaks: Continuing Jesse Owens’ Legacy” at several schools and public libraries. This also marked the second year of our film fellowship, a partnership with The Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts that supports up to five fellows each year. A special congratulations to “Wildlife Photographer: The Life of Karl Maslowski,” a film we funded in 2021, for its first-place win in the TV/Video/Webcast, Outdoor Adventure Category and the Overall President’s Choice Award at the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America Conference.

Lincoln Theatre Association

Columbus $5,000 for Equity in the Arts; Preservation of Nostalgia and Articulating Arts Innovation community discussion

Literary Cleveland Cleveland $5,000 for Inkubator Conference humanities panel discussions

Lorain Historical Society Lorain $5,000 for On-Erie Beach: Discovering Black History on Lorain’s Lakeshore virtual reality tour

Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware $5,000 for 2023 Melvin Van Peebles Symposium

Otterbein University

Westerville $5,000 for Life Is a Dream Is a Game early prototyping

Scioto Literary

Portsmouth $5,000 for Lost Portsmouth anthology

United Plant Savers

Athens $5,000 for “Rooted Traditions” short documentary film

Media Heritage

West Chester $4,996 for Dorothy Fuldheim documentary

University of Akron Institute for Human Science and Culture

Akron $4,756 for public humanities community lecture and workshop

University of Toledo Toledo $4,500 for Glass House magazine produced across prison walls

National Veterans Memorial and Museum Columbus $4,390 for Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour event

Bedford Historical Society

Bedford $3,600 for 2024 speaker series

Akron-Summit County Public Library

Akron $3,500 for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lecture featuring Dr. Michael Eric Dyson

Bluffton University Bluffton $3,500 for Tempest: Poetry & Music for a Regenerative Earth performance

Cleveland International Film Festival Cleveland $3,500 for FilmSlam Road Trip: Extending the Legacy of Jesse Owens events

PRESSING MATTERS AFTERSCHOOL

PRINTMAKING

Zygote Press, a nonprofit community printmaking studio in Cleveland, launched a new and improved iteration of an afterschool program for teens with a grant from Ohio Humanities. Pressing Matters teaches historical approaches to printmaking and printmaking techniques to help young adults from under-resourced communities express their ideas and beliefs effectively. The 22-week program meets once per week, guiding participants through discussing opposing viewpoints, ways to share ideas respectfully, and how to better understand one another.

CLEVELAND’S HERO CELEBRATING SUPERMAN

Comics fans, history buffs, scholars, and more gathered in Cleveland this year to celebrate the Man of Steel. Superman’s Cleveland, a city-wide celebration supported by Ohio Humanities, honored the world’s first comic book superhero invented in 1938 in Glenville by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two sons of Jewish immigrants. Hosted by the Rust Belt Humanities Lab at Ursuline College and the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library, Superman’s Cleveland featured book discussions, comics-making workshops, live interviews with creators, and a rich lineup of programs exploring the lineage and legacy of Superman and Cleveland.

Gammon House Springfield $3,500 for “Information Wanted: Reuniting a Family Separated by Slavery in the Antebellum South” documentary

Lit Youngstown Youngstown $3,500 for Fall Literary Festival

Ohio Museums Association Columbus $3,495 for 2023 annual conference

Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society Oberlin $3,357 for Planning Together: Bringing a Black abolitionist’s house back to life in Oberlin

Massillon Museum Massillon $3,204 for Conversations with Documentary Filmmaker Byron Hurt event

Shaker Historical Society and Museum Shaker Heights $3,200 for Manifestation of Light: Exploring the Shakers’ Celestial Inspiration exhibition

Holocaust & Genocide Education Network of Ohio Cleveland $3,000 for All-Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Conference for educators

Voyageur Media Group Cincinnati $3,000 for “The Big Picture: A History of Photography in Greater Cincinnati” documentary series

Warren County Historical Society Lebanon $3,000 for sponsorship of the Museum Explorer Club sessions

Ohio Local History Alliance

Columbus $2,500 for 2023 annual meeting keynote speaker

Ohio Classical Conference

Ashland $2,000 for annual meeting

Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association

Columbus $1,900 for Stained Glass: The Language of Light program

Wood County Museum

Bowling Green $800 for 2023 Tea & Talk Series

HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE

RAISING AWARENESS

Ohio Humanities partnered with the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission (OHGMEC) to distribute $100,000 in grant funding to 16 organizations raising awareness of issues relating to the Holocaust and other genocides. This inaugural grant program welcomed new initiatives and existing programs, and recipients include the following organizations, among others:

The Maltz Museum in Beachwood for exhibition support of “The Girl in the Diary: Searching for Rywka from the Lodz Ghetto,” featuring the diary of Polish teen Rywka Lipszyc written during her internment at the Lodz Ghetto.

The Augusta Chiwy Foundation for research for “A Train Near Magdeburg,” a film mini-series detailing the liberation by American troops of a train transporting Holocaust victims across Germany to a death camp.

The Decorative Arts Center of Ohio to host the photo exhibit “From Struggle to Strength: Inspiring Journeys of Central Ohio’s Refugee Community,” with photos by Somali-Ohioan photographer Tariq Taray of refugees who survived genocide in their home countries.

Why We Give

“My husband, Phil, and I are proud supporters. When Ohio Humanities offered to help the Highland County Historical Society expand the Lincoln School Story documentary film and project, it was a dream come true. We knew we had an important civil rights story to tell, but we had no idea who would help us tell it. Ohio Humanities not only gave us a planning grant, but they gave us support, encouragement, a wonderful scholar, and the grant that enabled us to tell this story. Now, the Marchers have been inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame, and over the last five years, a group of Marchers have been all over Ohio sharing the film, telling their story, and sparking wonderful conversations. We encourage people to give to the humanities so more stories like this one can be told.”

—Kati and Phil Burwinkel

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Ohio Humanities is powered in part by the generous contributions of donors who invest in the mission to share stories, spark conversation, and inspire ideas. Thank you for supporting Ohio’s storytellers with your financial gifts.

P atrons $25,000+

Anonymous*

C hampions $10,000-$24,999

David Descutner and DeLysa Burnier*

Advocates $1,000-$9,999

Arthur and Kathleen Bauer*

Annie and Tim Bezbatchenko

Douglas and Marisa Brown

Kati and Phil Burwinkel

Kathleen L. Endres*

Katherine Fell

Jane Gerhardt*

Gjestvang Applegate Fund of the Columbus Foundation

Rustom and Mary Khouri

Tom and Kathryn Law*

Kevin and Carla Miller

Dan Moder

Mary Jane and Jim Pajk

Doreen Uhas Sauer and John Sauer

Susan Ferraro Smith

Thomas Van Nortwick* InmemoryofDavidKyvig

*DenotesLuminary—adonorfor5consecutiveyearsoramonthlydonor

$500-$999

Deena Mirow Epstein*

Jay and Sue Giles*

Philip Kuceyeski

Kenneth F. Ledford and Susan Holderness*

Carey R. Schmitt

Sarah Sisser*

Allan Winkler and Sara Penhale*

$250-$499

Rebecca Brown Asmo

Kathy Sue Barker

Richard Benedum and Julane Rodgers*

Judith Bryan

Brodi and Andrea Conover*

Samuel and Susan Crowl

Josephine B. Dluzynski

Henry C. Doll*

Laura and Pat Ecklar

Shellee Fisher

Ivy Freeman

Meg Galipault*

Lance and Dianne Grahn*

John E. Hancock

Jerry G. Holt

John and Carolyn Kellis

Catherine and Steve Kennedy

Vicki Knauff

Stacia L. Kuceyeski*

Marilyn Sanders Mobley

Dennis and Karen Moriarty*

Heather and Gary Ness

Frances Penn

Gale E. Peterson*

Katerina and Roger Ray*

Chris Rebman

Kevin Rose and Marta Wojcik*

Barbara and John Schubert

Faye Sholiton *

Bob and Hope Taft

Amy Grace Ulman

Paul E. Watkins

$100-$249

Anonymous*

Jane and Stanford M. Ackley*

James D. Aldridge*

Fred Andrle

Mark and Sandra Auburn*

Suzanne Blaser

Gwen Brubaker*

Becky Cornett

Jeff Darbee and Nancy Recchie

Joseph Dehner and Noel Jules-Dehner

David Dettwiler

Patricia A. Diller

Christine F. Donaldson*

Samuel N. Dorf and Masha Kisel

Robert W. Dorsey*

Todd Ehninger

John and Barbara Fleming

Marvin E. Fletcher*

Ashley and Barbara Ford*

*DenotesLuminary—adonorfor5consecutiveyearsoramonthlydonor

Why I Give

“I give to Ohio Humanities because I really believe in its mission, and I’m really drawn to the effort to work with communities to tell compelling stories. I feel that’s important for us as a society overall, but also just as individuals, because it helps us become better people, and it helps us understand who we are. One program I’ve found compelling and interesting was knowing that Ohio Humanities had partnered with WYSO Public Radio [on a forthcoming podcast called “The Ohio Country”]. I have a real interest in the Northwest Ordinance, and I want to know more about it because we only know, I think, one part of that story. This is a great example of how Ohio Humanities provides extra resources. That’s a big thing I enjoy about being a donor.”

—Lisa Lopez Snyder

Why I Give

“When I learned about Ohio Humanities’ mission— the idea of stories having power and the stories of Ohioans having power within the larger framework of the U.S. and the globe—I thought that I wanted to be engaged and deeply involved. I am a natural storyteller. I’ve been one since I was a child, and I’m super interested in hearing about those in my community. I would like to help to uplift people as they tell their stories and help to amplify those stories.

When I think about the Lincoln School Marchers, I just thought that it was wonderful to hear that there were women in Ohio who were so interested in making sure that their children got a quality and equal education and were willing to put what, frankly, could be their lives on the line. The fact that Ohio Humanities was able to preserve and share out their story, I just found that to be really inspiring.”

—Ivy Freeman

CONVERSATION STARTERS

(continued)

$100-$249

Barbara Galantowicz

Richard and Barbara Gebhardt*

Gay Marie Goden*

David and Patricia Gynn

Peter and Lee Haas

Court Hall*

Marilyn Harshman

Earnest and Nancy Hatfield*

Ann Heffernan

Herman R. and Judy L. Hoerig*

Ted Inbusch

Richard C. Irwin

Kristen Jemmott*

Marie S. Keister

Eleanor Kingsbury*

Judith Kitchen*

Emil and Jean Kmetec

Phyllis Knepper

Christine Knisely and David McCoy*

Vladimir Kogan

Donald Lateiner*

Louis and Rene Levy

Kelly Mezurek

Andrea Benza Morwood and Robert F. Morwood*

William and Linda Muthig

Harold and Suzanne Niehaus

Charles B. Nuckolls

Margaret Piatt and James White*

Scarlett Rebman

Page Sampson

Tony Sanfilippo*

Ann M. Schenking

Robert Seeman and Karin Jacobson*

Carey Snyder and Mark Barsamian

Lisa Lopez Snyder*

Maria Stockard

Saul and Karla Strieb

Jeremy Taylor

Susan Thompson

William and Susan Trollinger

Andreá N. Williams

Patricia N. Williamsen*

John Winnenberg and Cindy Hartman

In honor of Sandra Landis

Megan Wood

$50-99

Anonymous

Mary Ann and Michael Abrams

Davida Arnold

Anna Auteri

Carrie Ayers

Jerolyn Barbee

Fred and Joy Bartenstein*

Bill Behrendt

Crystal Bell

Jennifer Berwanger

Shamekia Bowen-Brady

Jacqueline Boyd

Kathleen and Jack Burgess

Alexander Butler

*DenotesLuminary—adonorfor5consecutiveyearsoramonthlydonor

Cbus Libraries

Donna Collins

Marian Conn*

Richard R. and Maryann Cook

Michael Cox

Jason and Melanie Crabill

Sonja Cropper

Mary and Robert Daley

Deborah Ellis

Peggy Erskine

Cailynn Fox

James L. Hart*

Amanda E. Hayes

Marilyn M. and Michael A. Hedges

Betsy Hedler

Faye A. Heston

Bethany Hobbs

Richard and Alice Hoover

Janyce C. Katz and Mark Glazman

In honor of Pat Williamsen

Claire Kelley

Starr Keyes

Karen King-Cavin

Rebecka Lash

Raymond and Allyson Leisy

Edward R. Lentz

Dana and Spencer Love

Kevin Lydy

Luis Macias

Amanda Manahan and Joseph Cross

Donna and Jeremiah Marbury

Eleonora D. Marovitz

Wanda Mays

David Merkowitz*

Timothy Murnen

Allen and Sue Musheno*

Kristen Oeth

Lauren O’Meally

Tyler Pajk

Kevin Palmore

Edward and Merrelyn Powers

Emily Prieto*

Linda Rathbone

Renee Rebman

Morgan Ricketts

Donna Roachford

Lisa Curtis Rolark

Debra Russell

Laura Russell

Patricia Scharer

Susan Schueller

Matthew Schott

Charles I. Terbille*

Andrea Torrice

Thomas M. Way

Catherine and Nick Wilson

In honor of Kenton Kirschner

Deborah A. Witte

Alan and Ann Woods

Sheila Yamartino

Joan Zajack

Vicki Zust

*DenotesLuminary—adonorfor5consecutiveyearsoramonthlydonor

FOUNDATION + CORPORATE SUPPORTERS

OHIO HUMANITIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sarah M. Sisser

Executive Director & CEO, CreativeOhio Findlay, OH

Annie Bezbatchenko, PhD

Senior Program Officer, The Teagle Foundation Bexley, OH

Brodi Conover, JD Partner, Bricker Graydon LLP Lebanon, OH

David Descutner, PhD

Retired Dean & Associate Provost, Ohio University

Athens, OH

Deena Epstein

Retired Senior Program Officer, The George Gund Foundation Chagrin Falls, OH

Katherine Fell, PhD

President, University of Findlay Findlay, OH

Ivy Freeman

Executive Director, Product Management –Finance Transformation, JPMorgan Chase

Columbus, OH

Lance Grahn, PhD

Retired Dean & Chief Administrative Officer and Professor of History, Kent State University-Trumbull Cortland, OH

Vladimir Kogan, PhD

Associate Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH

Stacia Kuceyeski Chief Operating Officer, Ohio History Connection Columbus, OH

Kevin Scott Miller, EdD

Superintendent, Licking Heights Local School District New Albany, OH

Marilyn Sanders Mobley, PhD

Emerita Professor of English and Africana Studies, Case Western Reserve University Beachwood, OH

Dan Moder

Executive Director, Explore Licking County Newark, OH

Harold Niehaus, PhD

Career Connections Director, Preble County Educational Service Center Eaton, OH

Mary Jane Pajk

Corporate Communications Executive Dublin, OH

Emily Prieto Case Manager, CareSource Columbus, OH

Kevin Rose Executive Director, Hartman Rock Garden

Springfield, OH

Tony Sanfilippo Director, Ohio State University Press Bexley, OH

Susan Ferraro Smith, JD Writer and Speaker Cleveland, OH

Carey Snyder, PhD

Professor of English, Ohio University

Athens, OH

Jeremy Taylor, PhD

Vice President for Enrollment Management and Professor of History, Defiance College Defiance, OH

Thom Way

Executive Director, Urban Frontier Organization

Steubenville, OH

“The humanities awaken us. They stir us to know ourselves. They empower us to use our unique gifts for the benefit of a greater good; they foster within us a desire for understanding and connection with others. The stories Ohio Humanities shares provoke us to consider who we really are as human beings, to find unity in the midst of our diversity. Consequently, I am very happy to support the work of Ohio Humanities as it unveils new possibilities and fosters relationships of a kinder and more gracious nature.”

—Susan Ferraro Smith, Board Member and Donor