Dear Friends,

The Mississippi Humanities Council received notice late last night from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that our federal funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has been terminated effective immediately. We, along with our colleagues at other state councils and the Federation of State Humanities Councils (FSHC), are looking into a possible legal response. Meanwhile, we urgently need you to contact your elected leaders in Congress and show your support for the Council’s work in Mississippi. Remind them how important the Council’s work is in our state and urge them to stop DOGE from gutting the NEH and state humanities councils.

The Mississippi Humanities Council serves as the state affiliate of the NEH, and if the termination of funding to state councils is not stopped, we will lose all of the federal funding that supports our work.

Please contact your senators and members of congress to urge them to support the continued funding of NEH and state humanities councils.

Remind them that in 2024, with just $1 million in federal funding, the Council presented 750 programs across 90 communities and supported 65 grants to various institutions, including colleges, historical societies, museums, and community organizations. These initiatives include traveling Smithsonian exhibits, our Speakers Bureau, the Mississippi Freedom Trail, youth reading programs, and transformative prison education courses and book clubs.

The map on the right shows the counties reached by MHC-funded events in 2024.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives: Urge them to protect the NEH and state humanities councils. Use the federal action alert from the National Humanities Alliance to send your message.

Reach out to state and local officials: Inform them how these funding cuts will impact your community. Utilize the local action alert from the National Humanities Alliance above for this purpose.

Finally, please donate to the Mississippi Humanities Council. Now more than ever, we need your help!