diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/JSONServlet.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/JSONServlet.java
index e250fece0..85d1ff5e5 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/JSONServlet.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/JSONServlet.java
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public class JSONServlet extends VitroHttpServlet {
                 log.debug("parameter vclassId URI parameter expected ");
                 throw new Exception("parameter vclassId URI parameter expected ");
             }
-            rObj = getLuceneIndividualsByVClass(vclass.getURI(),req,resp,getServletContext());
+            rObj = getLuceneIndividualsByVClass(vclass.getURI(),req, getServletContext());
         }catch(Exception ex){
             errorMessage = ex.toString();
             log.error(ex,ex);
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public class JSONServlet extends VitroHttpServlet {
         
     }
     
-    protected static JSONObject getLuceneIndividualsByVClass(String vclassURI, HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp, ServletContext context) throws Exception {
+    public static JSONObject getLuceneIndividualsByVClass(String vclassURI, HttpServletRequest req, ServletContext context) throws Exception {
         
         VitroRequest vreq = new VitroRequest(req);        
         VClass vclass=null;
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/JSONtoFmModel.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/JSONtoFmModel.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..707138fcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/utils/JSONtoFmModel.java
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils;
+
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2010 Alfresco Software Limited.
+ *
+ * This file is part of Alfresco
+ *
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.SortedMap;
+import java.util.TreeMap;
+//import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import org.json.JSONArray;
+import org.json.JSONException;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
+import org.json.JSONTokener;
+//import org.springframework.extensions.surf.util.ISO8601DateFormat;
+
+/**
+ * Utility to convert JSON to Freemarker-compatible data model
+ * 
+ * @author janv
+ */
+public final class JSONtoFmModel
+{
+    public static String ROOT_ARRAY = "root";
+    
+    // note: current format is dependent on ISO8601DateFormat.parser, eg. YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.sssTZD
+//    private static String REGEXP_ISO8061 = "^([0-9]{4})-([0-9]{2})-([0-9]{2})T([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2})(.([0-9]){3})?(Z|[\\+\\-]([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2}))$";
+//    private static Pattern matcherISO8601 = Pattern.compile(REGEXP_ISO8061);
+//    
+//    public static boolean autoConvertISO8601 = true;
+    
+    /**
+     * Convert JSON Object string to Freemarker-compatible data model
+     * 
+     * @param jsonString
+     * @return model
+     * @throws JSONException
+     */
+    public static Map<String, Object> convertJSONObjectToMap(String jsonString) throws JSONException
+    {
+        JSONObject jo = new JSONObject(new JSONTokener(jsonString));
+        return convertJSONObjectToMap(jo);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * JSONObject is an unordered collection of name/value pairs -> convert to Map (equivalent to Freemarker "hash")
+     */
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    public static Map<String, Object> convertJSONObjectToMap(JSONObject jo) throws JSONException
+    {
+        Map<String, Object> model = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+        
+        Iterator<String> itr = (Iterator<String>)jo.keys();
+        while (itr.hasNext())
+        {
+            String key = (String)itr.next();
+            
+            Object o = jo.get(key);
+            if (o instanceof JSONObject)
+            {
+                model.put(key, convertJSONObjectToMap((JSONObject)o));
+            }
+            else if (o instanceof JSONArray)
+            {
+                model.put(key, convertJSONArrayToList((JSONArray)o));
+            }
+            else if (o == JSONObject.NULL)
+            {
+                model.put(key, null); // note: http://freemarker.org/docs/dgui_template_exp.html#dgui_template_exp_missing
+            }
+            else
+            {
+//                if ((o instanceof String) && autoConvertISO8601 && (matcherISO8601.matcher((String)o).matches()))
+//                {
+//                    o = ISO8601DateFormat.parse((String)o);
+//                }
+                
+                model.put(key, o);
+            }
+        }
+       
+        return model;
+    }
+   
+    /**
+     * Convert JSON Array string to Freemarker-compatible data model
+     * 
+     * @param jsonString
+     * @return model
+     * @throws JSONException
+     */
+    public static Map<String, Object> convertJSONArrayToMap(String jsonString) throws JSONException
+    {
+        Map<String, Object> model = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+        JSONArray ja = new JSONArray(new JSONTokener(jsonString));
+        model.put(ROOT_ARRAY, convertJSONArrayToList(ja));
+        return model;
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * JSONArray is an ordered sequence of values -> convert to List (equivalent to Freemarker "sequence")
+     */
+    public static List<Object> convertJSONArrayToList(JSONArray ja) throws JSONException
+    {
+        List<Object> model = new ArrayList<Object>();
+       
+        for (int i = 0; i < ja.length(); i++)
+        {
+            Object o = ja.get(i);
+            
+            if (o instanceof JSONArray)
+            {
+                model.add(convertJSONArrayToList((JSONArray)o));
+            }
+            else if (o instanceof JSONObject)
+            {
+                model.add(convertJSONObjectToMap((JSONObject)o));
+            }
+            else if (o == JSONObject.NULL)
+            {
+                model.add(null);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+//                if ((o instanceof String) && autoConvertISO8601 && (matcherISO8601.matcher((String)o).matches()))
+//                {
+//                    o = ISO8601DateFormat.parse((String)o);
+//                }
+                
+                model.add(o);
+            }
+        }
+       
+        return model;
+    }
+   
+    // for debugging only
+    public static String toString(Map<String, Object> map)
+    {
+        return JSONtoFmModel.toStringBuffer(map, 0).toString();
+    }
+    
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    private static StringBuffer toStringBuffer(Map<String, Object> unsortedMap, int indent)
+    {      
+        StringBuffer tabs = new StringBuffer();
+        for (int i = 0; i < indent; i++)
+        {
+            tabs.append("\t");
+        }
+        
+        StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
+        
+        SortedMap<String, Object> map = new TreeMap<String, Object>();
+        map.putAll(unsortedMap);
+        
+        for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : map.entrySet())
+        {
+            if (entry.getValue() instanceof Map)
+            {
+                sb.append(tabs).append(entry.getKey()).append(":").append(entry.getValue().getClass()).append("\n");
+                sb.append(JSONtoFmModel.toStringBuffer((Map<String, Object>)entry.getValue(), indent+1));
+            }
+            else if (entry.getValue() instanceof List)
+            {
+                sb.append(tabs).append("[\n");
+                List l = (List)entry.getValue();
+                for (int i = 0; i < l.size(); i++)
+                {
+                    sb.append(tabs).append(l.get(i)).append(":").append((l.get(i) != null) ? l.get(i).getClass() : "null").append("\n");
+                }
+                sb.append(tabs).append("]\n");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                sb.append(tabs).append(entry.getKey()).append(":").append(entry.getValue()).append(":").append((entry.getValue() != null ? entry.getValue().getClass() : "null")).append("\n");         
+            }
+        }
+        
+        return sb;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/web/widgets/BrowseWidget.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/web/widgets/BrowseWidget.java
index bbadada9f..2d9153087 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/web/widgets/BrowseWidget.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/web/widgets/BrowseWidget.java
@@ -13,13 +13,17 @@ import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
+import org.json.JSONArray;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
 
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Individual;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.VClass;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.VClassGroup;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.JSONServlet;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.VitroRequest;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker.FreemarkerHttpServlet;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.dao.jena.VClassGroupCache;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.utils.JSONtoFmModel;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.web.templatemodels.VClassGroupTemplateModel;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.web.templatemodels.VClassTemplateModel;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.web.templatemodels.individual.ListedIndividualTemplateModel;
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@ public class BrowseWidget extends Widget {
     protected WidgetTemplateValues process(Environment env, Map params,
             HttpServletRequest request, ServletContext context) throws Exception 
     {
+        try{
         Mode mode = getMode( request, params );
         switch( mode ){          
             case VCLASS_ALPHA:
@@ -53,15 +58,42 @@ public class BrowseWidget extends Widget {
             default:
                 return doAllClassGroupsDisplay(env, params, request, context);
         }
+        }catch(Throwable th){
+            log.error(th,th);
+            //should we return an error here?
+            return null;
+        }
     }
     
     private WidgetTemplateValues doClassAlphaDisplay(Environment env,
-            Map params, HttpServletRequest request, ServletContext context) {
-        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
+            Map params, HttpServletRequest request, ServletContext context) throws Exception {
+        Map<String,Object> body = new HashMap<String,Object>();
+        body.putAll(getCommonValues(env,context));
+        body.putAll(getClassAlphaValues(env,params,request,context));
         
-        return null;
+        String macroName = Mode.VCLASS_ALPHA.macroName;
+        return new WidgetTemplateValues(macroName, body);
     }
 
+    private Map<String,Object> getClassAlphaValues(Environment env, Map params, HttpServletRequest request, ServletContext context) throws Exception{
+        Map<String,Object> map= new HashMap<String,Object>();
+        
+        String classUri = getParam(Mode.VCLASS, request, params);
+        VitroRequest vreq = new VitroRequest(request);
+        VClass vclass = vreq.getWebappDaoFactory().getVClassDao().getVClassByURI(classUri);
+        map.put("class", new VClassTemplateModel(vclass));
+        
+        JSONObject vclassRes = JSONServlet.getLuceneIndividualsByVClass(vclass.getURI(), request, context);
+        map.put("vclass", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONObjectToMap( (JSONObject) vclassRes.get("vclass") ));
+        map.put("totalCount", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONObjectToMap( (String) vclassRes.get("totalCount") ));
+        map.put("alpha", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONObjectToMap( (String) vclassRes.get("alpha") ));
+        map.put("individuals", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONArrayToList( (JSONArray) vclassRes.get("individuals") ));
+        map.put("pages", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONArrayToList( (JSONArray) vclassRes.get("pages") ));
+        map.put("letters", JSONtoFmModel.convertJSONArrayToList( (JSONArray) vclassRes.get("letters") ));
+        
+        return map;
+    }
+    
     private Map<String,Object> getCommonValues(Environment env, ServletContext context){
         Map<String,Object> values = new HashMap<String,Object>();
         values.putAll(FreemarkerHttpServlet.getDirectives());