West Virginia Humanities Council grantmaking suspended
PRESS RELEASE
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.
Make your voice heard!
Please use this tool to communicate with your Congressional representative. There is space for you to add what the West Virginia Humanities Council has meant to you, your community, and your own organizations. We encourage you to use that space to tell your own story about how our programs, grants, or fellowships have impacted you. If you need help, here’s a script you can copy/paste into the message field.
Continue supporting our work!
Many of you have been great financial supporters of our mission. And for that, we are grateful. In our 50 years as your state humanities council, we have faced past funding cuts and crises. Your support sustained us through those times, and now we need your help again.
If you are able, we ask that you make a gift, even if it is small, even if you have already given this year. We need your help now and will continue to need your support in the coming weeks and months, as we see what the future holds for NEH, our federal funding, and for you, the people we serve.
Thank you for taking this moment to sustain our current work and support the future of the humanities in the Mountain State.
With gratitude,
Eric Waggoner, Executive Director, West Virginia Humanities Council
