May 7, 2026

HUMANITIES/HIGHLIGHT

Announcing our 2026 Grant Recipients

Today I am happy to share HumanitiesDC's first cycle of 2026 Community Grantees. This cycle we received 255 eligible applications–a 20% increase over last year–making this our most competitive year to date so far. This steady increase in demand demonstrates a growing need for humanities funding across DC. It is truly inspiring to see all the creativity and curiosity that make up our city's humanities community. We are so proud to find ways to continue supporting the work DC residents and organizations are doing on the ground to ensure the District's vibrant culture is captured and celebrated. We also want to show our appreciation for the expertise of our 83 volunteer community grant reviewers–a record number for a single cycle–who supported the selection process for the 2026 Cycle I grantees. On average, our reviewers donated 20 hours of their time to the peer-review process.

41 grants were awarded under the categories of Community Culture & Heritage, DC Oral History Collaborative - Oral History Interviewing, and Visions - Projects + Events, to recipients across all eight wards. That is a total of over $583,000 directly invested back into our community.

Below is the list of all 2026 Cycle I grantees. Please check them out and consider ways to connect and engage with these DC humanists and organizations. Even more support will go out in Cycle II, so please keep an eye out for our next grants announcement in July.

Gracias,

Rebecca Lemos Otero

PS: Want to help us support DC's humanities community? Join our board and staff for an upcoming Humanitini Happy Hour Fundraiser. Keep scrolling to learn more. I hope to see you there!

Community Culture & Heritage Grantees

• Tommy Taylor Jr - The Special Ways (Feature Documentary)
• Gabriel Mata - 3rd Annual Latinx Movement Festival
• DC Theater Arts - A Living Archive of DC Theater
• Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop - On the Same Page: Poetry in the Community and Classroom
• Extreme Lengths Productions - Kinematic/Kinesthetic
• Zoe Poindexter - Defining Love: Voices of Black D.C.
• Phil Hutinet - 2027 Capital Art Book Fair
• Tasha Klusmann - 50 Years of Community Activism at the Anacostia Skating Pavilion
• Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Alumni Federation - DC Youth Memory Map: Justice, Not Just Is—Stories We Inherit
• Eileen Dougherty - Voices of Resilience
• Gabrielle Newell - Swann Society: Uplifting Washington DC's Legacy of Courageous Celebration
• Charlia Acree - Capital M: Exploring Motherhood Across Wards and Generations in DC
• Kelly Baggatts - Ground Beneath the City: DC’s Agricultural and Community Growing History

DC Oral History Collaborative - Oral History Interviewing Grantees

• DC Villages Council - Aging in Place, Growing in Community: How D.C. Seniors Built Networks of Care
• Lew Is Ckool - FortStanton.Online: Oral Histories of Place, Change, and Community Memory
• Deonne Gantt-Bey - Serving Legacy: African American Tennis, Community, and Cultural Memory Oral History Interviewing
• Hailey Hartigan - Keeping the Beat: Oral Histories of the Malcolm X Park Drum Circle
• Awen Southern - Why Did They Stay? From Temporary to Permanent Homemaking in Northwest DC
• Rhonda Henderson - "Say No to My Face" : Youth and Community Advocacy to Build Banneker High School
• Jess Rucker - The Linda Leaks and DC Limited Equity Housing Cooperative Movement Oral History Project
• Edwin (Yixin) Zhao - We All We Got: The Women of H.A.B.I.B.
• Dumbarton Arts & Education - Community, Culture, Continuity: Documenting a DC Arts Legacy
• Stephen Hicks - Five, Six, Seven, Eight -- The Story of Tyrone Murray
• Hola Cultura - A Cause for Unity
• Thurgood Marshall AcademyPublic Charter High School - Voices East of the River: 25 Years of Thurgood Marshall Academy
• KK Ottesen - Whose Streets? Our Streets: January 6, The Local Story
• Melinda Donnelly - Cultivating Community: Oral Histories from Peabody Community Garden



Visions - Projects + Events Grantees

• DC Zinefest - DC Zinefest
• Operation Understanding DC - Cemetery Preservation Project
• DCDC/DOX (Sponsored by Women in Film and Video) - DC/DOX Film Festival 2026
• Home Rule Music and Film Preservation Foundation - Home Rule Music Festival
• My Voice Media Group - Neighborhood Favorites
• Gallaudet University - History of ASL Poetry (working title)
• Many Languages One Voice - Diaspora and Belonging in the Nation’s Capital
• DC SCORES - DC SCORES Citywide Poetry Slams
• DC Jazz Festival - 2026 DC: A Jazz City Video Series
• Corazon Latino - Stories of Trees DC
• 1882 Project Foundation - Caretaking + Place: Women Organizers in DC Chinatown
• SoulLife Foundation - From the White House to the Ward: The Cultural Birth of Black Music Month in Washington, DC 
• Valley Place Arts Collaborative, Inc. - Grounded in Play: Reclaiming Nature as Home – an exhibition to preserve "THE FIELD"
• GOODProjects - "What's the Point? Preserving Civic Memory in Southwest DC"

HUMANITIES/HAPPENINGS

Humanitini Happy Hour Fundraiser | Purchase Tickets

Wednesday, May 20 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | metrobar, 640 Rhode Island Ave NE

Whether you’ve been with us for years or are just getting to know us, we want to celebrate our 2026 successes so far as we gear up for the busy season of programming ahead. Join the HumanitiesDC Board and staff at metrobar for an evening of great drinks, new connections, and local impact. Meet fellow humanists and catch up with neighbors who care about the District as much as you do during this spring mixer.

Help us turn $800 into $1,600.

Every $25 ticket and additional donation goes directly toward keeping our city-wide programs accessible and thriving. To kick things off, our Board has already stepped up to personally raise $800, and we’re looking for our community to help match it. We're a little over halfway there! Purchase a ticket today and help us meet our goal. Your support keeps our work rooted in the community and helps us build on this momentum.

Show your HumanitiesDC pride with a discounted ticket + merch bundle! All tickets include delicious bites from El Jefe Woodfire Pizza.

LOW TICKET ALERT! Reserve your spot today.

Breaking News: Writing the Future of Journalism in DC | Register

May 18, 6:30 - 8:30 PM | True Reformer Building, 1200 U St NW

Be part of the conversation! Join us to celebrate our fourth cohort of Community Journalism Program graduates, and for an engaging panel discussion on how journalism in DC is evolving and adapting to meet the moment.

Featured Panelists:

• Abigail Higgins, Co-founder and Managing Editor of The 51st
• Michael Schaffer, Full-time host and Executive Editor of City Cast DC
• Harry Jaffe, Co-founder and President of SpotlightDC

Moderated by Kayla Hewitt, News Producer and Editor of WAMU.

This event is in partnership with the American Press Institute.

Audio Techniques for Oral History Workshop | Register

May 28, 6:00 - 8:00 PM | MLK Library, 901 G St NW (4th Floor)

Test out some of the audio recording equipment, available for DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) members to borrow during this core workshop in the DCOHC Training Series! Attendees will get an in-depth look at some of the techniques that oral historians use to get quality audio from their recording equipment. Whether you're a professional or just getting started, many of the skills and practices introduced during this training can be applied to most recording set ups.

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