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ATLANTA—A Georgia State University faculty member has been named as one of seven humanities fellows by the Whiting Public Engagement Program (WPEP), a national grant program with a mission to support humanities scholars.
Harcourt Fuller, an associate professor of History, will receive $50,000 to support expansion of the Black Money Exhibit, which uses paper money as a lens to examine 10,000 years of Black history and culture across the globe.
“I appreciate the confidence that the Whiting Foundation has shown the project by awarding us this prestigious fellowship,” Fuller said. “I’m truly excitied about sharing this project with the public. We think we’re showing money in a different light. It’s actually history in your pocket.”
Founded in 2016, the WPEP has given $2.4 million to launch and expand projects in the U.S. and abroad. Winners are selected through a competitive process beginning with nomination by a university, scholarly society or state humanities council and proceeding through two further stages of peer review by expert public humanists
Fuller conceived the Black Money Exhibit as a way to expose audiences to the importance of money as a visual source of knowledge about world histories and cultures. A 1,000 Dinars Algerian banknote, for example, has images of prehistoric rock art and shows thriving African civilizations in a fertile Sahara Desert. The oldest banknotes in the exhibit were issued by U.S. southern states in the 1850’s before the Confederacy. Most recently, a $10 bill issued by the Bank of Canada in 2018 features a successful Black businessperson and civil rights activist as the first Canadian woman to appear on a regularly circulating bank note.
The exhibit was originally presented at the Auburn Avenue Research Library in Atlanta from November 2018 through February 2019. The exhibit features more than 300 pieces — some rare and some still circulating — and representing more than 80 countries and territories.
The Black Money Exhibit was registered in 2019 as part of the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent, which runs through 2024 as a commitment to the global fight against racism. Fuller and the exhibition team plan to use the WPEP funds to prepare the exhibit to tour nationally and internationally starting in 2022. In the meantime, a portion of the exhibit is available online as a virtual experience.
Sara Rosen, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Georgia State, said Fuller’s work takes a unique angle on studying culture.
“I am happy and proud that the Whiting Public Engagement Program has recognized the importance of Dr. Fuller’s work,” Rosen said. “His use of currency as a way to explore Black history is truly groundbreaking.”
Across the U.S., WPEP announced seven $50,000 fellowships and five $10,000 seed grants. Descriptions of the new Fellows and Seed Grantees and their projects, as well as past recipients, are available at the Whiting website.
Featured Researcher
Harcourt Fuller
Associate Professor
History
Harcourt Fuller is a Fulbright Global Scholar who has conducted research, given invited lectures and presented conference papers in Africa, Europe, North and South America, and the Caribbean. Professor Fuller’s multidisciplinary research and teaching expertise include the socio-political, cultural and economic history of West Africa, and the African Diaspora in the Americas, from the early modern period to the present.