The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), a national umbrella organization supporting the humanities, responds to a letter from NPR
A document obtained byNPR states that a grant no longer applies to the agency and that it is subject to revocation. The letter continues, “Your grant’s immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities.”
The official said the agency awarded the funds through a competitive process and covered grants from fiscal years 2021-2025. There will be no awards in fiscal year 2025.
The New York Times reports that the National Endowment for the Humanities was told a number of employees would be laid off and that grant programs would be cut.
According to The New York Times, DOGE told NEH that it would lay off a large amount of employees and cut its grant programs.
Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.
The humanities are about helping “preserve community history and identity,” said Stephen Kidd, executive director of the National Humanities Alliance, a national umbrella organization supporting the humanities. Several recipients of Humanities grants told Kidd that they received the letter late last night.
The Executive Director of Nevada Humanities stated that the loss of funding from the NEH will not only hinder the work of the organization, it will also reduce the economic activity that arts and culture programming brings to the state of Nevada.
Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance and a former NPR senior editor who left the organization in 2016, confirmed receiving the letter. He said the Alliance, which serves roughly a quarter million Alabamians, was granted $1.2 million in federal funds for fiscal year 2024. While it varies from year to year, Holmes said federal dollars represent roughly 65% of its overall budget. State government funding and private sources make up most of the rest.
State humanities council regrant NEH money to local organizations.
DOGE, the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Museum and Library Services: The impact of federal funding on our nation’s arts and humanities systems
Holmes said, since January, he and his staff have been “worried about what might happen given what has happened at the Kennedy Center and [Institute of Museum and Library Services] and word got out that a DOGE team was at the NEH.”
President Trump fired the Kennedy Center’s president and board chair as well as Democratic appointees to the board and eliminated its social impact division. The entire IMLS staff was placed on administrative leave.
Without federal funding, we’ll have to make drastic cuts to our programs, and we have reserve funds that will help us with that.
“Recent economic figures from the NEA highlight the significance of these institutions, which contribute $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy and support 5.4 million jobs,” writes Harkey. “Eliminating federal support for arts and humanities agencies will harm American families, weaken local economies, and undermine our nation’s competitive edge.”
“This will mean the erasure of our ability to preserve and share our history,” Lowery told NPR. “We have broad bipartisan support for our work. This is not a partisan issue. The funds were already signed into law by people who would represent us.
Caroline Lowery, executive director of the Oklahoma Humanities Council, said the impact will be “devastating.” Among the projects it supports are oral histories from survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and archiving material from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
An announcement by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that their grants for humanities are being terminated as a consequence of their administrative leave
Staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) were told by email late Thursday night that they were being placed on paid administrative leave effective immediately. 55 state and jurisdiction humanities councils received a letter on Wednesday that their NEH grants were being terminated.