Federal Funding Update

A message from Julie Mulvihill, HK Executive Director:

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which has supported Humanities Kansas's history presentations, book discussions, community oral history projects, Smithsonian exhibition tours, veterans initiatives, and other one-of-a-kind grassroots projects in Kansas for 53 years, has been suspended at the recommendation of DOGE under the direction of President Trump. At least 600 previously awarded grants, including statutory state council operating support -- like the one HK receives -- are being terminated and suspended. 

What does this mean for Kansas? The cuts will bring the momentum of HK's Movement of Ideas to a standstill. The impact will be felt by HK, along with the partners, grantees, and Kansans who turn to the humanities to connect with stories, ideas, and one another. The impacts will be swift and severe:

• HK will be forced to significantly scale back or cut grants, programs, and operations. 
• Kansas cultural organizations will lose access to free humanities resources and grant opportunities. This will significantly impact small nonprofits, local museums, public libraries, and senior centers in communities of all sizes, but especially rural communities where 62% of all HK events take place.
• Veterans inititatives that preserve stories of service and sacrifice will be scaled back. 
• Free community history resources for the Kansas communities to participate in the upcoming milestone anniversaries, including the 250th anniversary of the country's founding, will be distrupted or discontinued.
• Opportunities for community members to experience social connection through free history and literature events will be reduced. Participation in these events has been shown to alleviate social isolation and loneliness. 

Humanities Kansas is the only statewide provider of humanities resources in Kansas. Last year, HK supported 488 events in 126 communities. More than 607,000 Kansans engaged with thoughtful and important programming exploring Kansas stories. That's nearly 1 in 5 Kansans in communities large and small connecting over stories of our state at libraries, museums, senior centers, community halls and church basements. "For a small nonprofit to be able to participate is a true blessing and increases our knowledge of history," shared one project director. Who else provides opportunities like these? If we don't do it, who will? 

Here's what you can do

• Contact your local members of Congress to demand restored funding for the humanities. You can use this customizable email form, use your member of Congress's webform, or make a call to your representative and senators.
• Share this call to action with your networks. Information about the ways HK and NEH support Kansas communities can be found on HK's Impact page. 
• Submit stories of how HK or NEH funding has impacted you and your community to Tracy Quillin, Associate Director, at tracy@humanitieskansas.org.
• Share this press release with your local media and add information about ways that this funding loss impacts your community. 
• Continue to support the preservation of our state and nation’s history and culture with a private donation to Humanities Kansas. Donate here.  

Kansans love the humanities and we’re doing our best to weather the storm, but we need your help. We’re at our most effective when we work together to get through hard times. Thank you for being a part of the Movement of Ideas and helping to keep to keep it going now and into the future.

Ad Astra Per Aspera