The Idaho Humanities Council recently awarded $57,481 in grants to organizations and individuals throughout the state.

The nonprofit humanities council is devoted to enhancing public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the humanities in Idaho.

The grants were supported in part by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Idaho Humanities Council's Endowment for Humanities Education.

The following projects were funded in Kootenai and Shoshone counties:

* The Human Rights Education Institute, Coeur d'Alene, received $4,000 to support a program offering three traveling exhibits complemented by a film and book series, workshops and presentations designed to educate the public about human rights and diversity issues of the 20th century. Exhibits will specifically address the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the history of the Japanese internment during World War II and the 1960s Civil Rights movement. The project director is Lisa Manning.

* The Wallace District Mining Museum, Wallace, received $3,000 to help support its ongoing program of digitizing records related to the mining history of the Silver Valley. The museum has been working on this project for many years, digitizing documents and photographing artifacts from the mines themselves, to the businesses in the community, to the saloons and the brothels. Jim McReynolds is the project director.

Teacher Incentive Grants:

* Blair Williams, Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts & Humanities, Coeur d'Alene, was awarded $1,000 to help publish accumulated student writings into a bound book at the end of the school year. The students contribute writing to a school magazine, "The Observer: A Literary Magazine," throughout the year. The book will be distributed to students, faculty, local libraries, bookstores, and other schools.

* Fonda Mondoux-Stewart, John Brown Elementary, Rathdrum, was awarded $500 for support of the fourth-grade Rendezvous ending the school-year's study of Idaho history. The students will participate in hands-on experiences with skilled historian artisans, trappers, traders and Native Americans to help them gain a better understanding of the people and the experiences they shared that built Idaho.