04/07/2025
The West Virginia Humanities Council is sorry to report that, due to federally mandated cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), our statewide grantmaking is suspended immediately.
The West Virginia Humanities Council relies upon federal support from the NEH, our primary partner, to operate our grants program and to pay out the grants we award. Our grantmaking is contingent upon that federal support, which was secured for us in 2025, as it has been since 1974, through regular Congressional appropriations.
In early April, the West Virginia Humanities Council and every other state humanities council received a Notice of Grant Termination from the NEH, which cancelled our federal funds effective immediately, under the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). No further federal funds are expected for the remainder of 2025.
With no further federal funds expected, and no indication whether any federal support for our work will be restored in the future, we must pause our grants program indefinitely, until Congressionally appropriated funding is again made available to us.
We are deeply aware of the immediate negative impact this will have on West Virginia’s cultural life and economy. As the NEH’s official state affiliate since 1974, the West Virginia Humanities Council provides over $1 million every year to the statewide network of cultural organizations, local historical societies, schools, museums, libraries, community centers, and individuals who work to preserve, document, and celebrate the Mountain State’s rich history and cultural heritage.
For 50 years we have worked to support and sustain one of the most vigorous, committed, and cost-effective statewide cultural networks in the nation. We remain committed to our mission, and will do everything possible to continue to be a resource for West Virginia’s cultural institutions, so that our history, culture, and living traditions may be preserved for our state, our nation, and West Virginia’s future generations.
Please visit our website to see how you can make a difference: https://wvhumanities.org/save-the-neh/
