Today is Humanities Advocacy Day

You may never have thought much about these two agencies, but you’ve seen the power of their backing, providing access to the nation’s newspapers or to papers of the National Founders. 

Over the past decade, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission both have generously supported the Native Northeast Research Collaborative/the Yale Indian Papers Project.

The NEH provides direct grants to museums, universities, archives, libraries, tribes and tribal organizations in support of research, education, and preservation. The agency also provides annual grants to state humanities councils in every state and U.S. territory.  (The Chair for the NEH is currently Shelly Lowe (Navajo), a person familiar to many in New England’s Indigenous Country.)  The NHPRC, a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), supports a wide range of activities to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, created in every medium ranging from quill pen to computer, relating to the history of the United States.  Both agencies are funded by the U.S. Congress. 

In an initiative from The National Humanities Alliance, advocates from all 50 states and Washington D.C. met virtually today with their Members of Congress and congressional staff to discuss federal funding for the humanities, thanking them for the funding in the American Rescue Plan and pushing for increased funding for a wide range of humanities programs in FY 2023. Some advocates will meet representatives in weeks to come.

Help bolster our efforts by writing to your Members of Congress and adding your voice for the great work the NEH and the NHPRC do!

Image of U.S. Capitol by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash.