After the administration of US President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) cancelled around $65m in grants made by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) last month, the Mellon Foundation has stepped in to provide $15m in emergency funding for humanities councils in all 50 states and six US territories.
The foundation’s announcement on Tuesday (29 April) came four weeks after NEH grantees were first informed that their grants had been cancelled so funds could be rerouted “in a new direction in furtherance of the president’s agenda”. It subsequently emerged that one agenda item receiving priority is a Trump pet project to build a patriotic sculpture park with monuments to 250 famous people, the so-called “National Garden of American Heroes”.
“At stake are both the operational integrity of organisations like museums, libraries, historical societies in every single state, as well as the mechanisms to participate in the cultural dynamism and exchange that is a fundamental part of American civic life,” Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Mellon Foundation, said in a statement. “While Mellon’s grantmaking will not cover the entirety of these cuts, we stand side by side with the 56 humanities councils across the United States and remain deeply committed to the work they lead on behalf of us all.”
The emergency funds will ensure that state humanities councils and their counterparts in six US territories (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC) can remain in operation and continue supporting local organisations. On average, according to the Mellon Foundation, the state humanities councils in turn distribute funding to more than 6,600 local groups each year.
“This is more than a grant—it’s a lifeline for communities across the country who rely on their humanities councils’ programmes and grants to fill critical needs and enrich their lives,” Phoebe Stein, the president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, said in a statement. “Mellon’s support allows us to not only preserve this vital network—it helps ensure that everyday Americans can thrive through lifelong learning, connection and understanding of one another.”
The NEH, one of the three principal agencies channelling federal funds into the culture sector—along with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services—is funded through appropriations made by Congress. Its appropriation for fiscal year 2024 totalled $207m. The $22.6m in grants it announced the week before Trump’s inauguration in January included, for instance, $25,000 for the West End Museum in Boston to develop an exhibition focused on the LGBTQ+ history of the city’s West End neighbourhood, as well as $22,693 for the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas, to develop an interpretive plan telling a more diverse history of railroads.
Since the NEH was visited by Doge, around two thirds of its staff of around 180 have been laid off, according to The New York Times. The agency has committed $17m to Trump’s Garden of National Heroes and launched a call for artists to design its monuments (the NEA will also contribute $17m). It also launched a grant programme dubbed “Celebrate America!” that is seeking to provide as much as $6.3m for projects marking the 250th anniversary on 4 July 2026 of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence.
