National Endowment for the Humanities

1
National Endowment for the Humanities

• Roger S. Baskin, Sr.
• EDUC 870

2
The National Endowment for the Humanities

• The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
  is an independent federal agency created in 1965.
  It is the largest funder of humanities programs
  in the United States.

3
Who leads the NEH?

• The Endowment is directed by a chairman, who is
  appointed by the president and confirmed by the
  U.S. Senate, for a term of four years. Advising
  the chairman is the National Council on the
  Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private
  citizens who are also appointed by the president
  and confirmed by the Senate. The National Council
  members serve staggered six-year terms.
• NEH's chairman is Bruce Cole. Before joining NEH,
  Dr. Cole was Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts
  and chairman of the Department of History of Art
  at the Hope School of Fine Arts at Indiana
  University, Bloomington. He is a member of the
  Accademia Senese degli Intronati, the oldest
  learned society in Europe, and a founder and
  former co-president of the Association for Art
  History. He was confirmed by the Senate in
  December 2001.

4
What is its mission?

• The Endowment accomplishes the mission of
  promoting excellence in the humanities and
  conveying the lessons of history to all Americans
  by providing grants for high-quality humanities
  projects in four funding areas preserving and
  providing access to cultural resources,
  education, research, and public programs.
• NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions,
  such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges,
  universities, public television, and radio
  stations, and to individual scholars. The grants
  
• strengthen teaching and learning in the
  humanities in schools and colleges across the
  nation
• facilitate research and original scholarship
• provide opportunities for lifelong learning
• preserve and provide access to cultural and
  educational resources
• strengthen the institutional base of the
  humanities

5
When was NEH established?

• 1963
• Three scholarly and educational
  organizations--the American Council of Learned
  Societies (ACLS), the Council of Graduate Schools
  in America, and the United Chapters of Phi Beta
  Kappa--co-sponsor the establishment of a National
  Commission on the Humanities and instruct the
  Commission to conduct a study of "the state of
  the humanities in America." Barnaby Keeney,
  President of Brown University, is chair.
• 1964
• In April, the commission releases a report
  recommending "the establishment by the President
  and the Congress of the United States of a
  National Humanities Foundation."
• In August, Congressman William Moorhead of
  Pennsylvania proposes legislation to implement
  the Commission's recommendations.
• In a speech at Brown University on the importance
  of federal support for higher education,
  President Johnson lends his support.
• 1965
• In March, Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island
  introduces the Johnson Administration's
  legislation to establish a National Foundation on
  the Arts and the Humanities.
• On September 29, President Johnson signs the
  National Foundation on the Arts and the
  Humanities Act of 1965, establishing the National
  Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the
  National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as
  separate, independent agencies. He selects
  Barnaby Keeney, who headed the original
  commission, to become the first NEH chairman.
  While Keeney completes the academic year at
  Brown, Henry Allen Moe, President of the American
  Philosophical Society, is interim chairman. The
  agency's first home is 1800 G Street, NW, in a
  building largely occupied by the National Science
  Foundation.

6
Where is NEH located?

• National Endowment for the Humanities1100
  Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington, DC 20506
• State Humanities Councils exist throughout the
  country and in territories including Puerto Rico
  and Guam. There are a total of 56 such councils.

7
Why is NEH so important?

• Take a look at some of the projects NEH has
  funded
• "Treasures of Tutankhamen," the blockbuster
  exhibition seen by more than 1.5 million people
• The Civil War, the landmark documentary by Ken
  Burns viewed by 38 million Americans
• Library of America, editions of novels, essays,
  and poems celebrating America's literary heritage
  
• United States Newspaper Project, an effort to
  catalog and microfilm 63.3 million pages of
  newspapers dating from the early Republic
• Fifteen Pulitzer prize-winning books, including
  those by James M. McPherson, Louis Menand, Joan
  D. Hedrick, and Bernard Bailyn

8
How many grant options are there?

• Choose from one of the grant categories
• Challenge Grants
• Education Programs
• Public Programs
• Federal/State Partnership
• Office of Digital Humanities
• Preservation and Access
• Research Programs
• We the People

9
References

• All information for this presentation was
  gathered from the site below
• http//www.neh.gov/index.html