On April 1, we learned that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has targeted the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) with the aim of substantially if not completely reducing its staff, cutting grant programs, and even rescinding grants that have already been awarded. On April 2, we received a brusque letter—as did all other state humanities councils—informing us that an NEH grant intended to support our work through 2027 has been terminated.
The NEH is Oregon Humanities’ largest funder and oldest partner. Our organization was created in 1971 to distribute NEH funds to public humanities projects in communities all over Oregon. The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils, including Oregon’s, will have a devastating effect on our ability to serve our communities. NEH funding accounted for 44 percent of Oregon Humanities' budget in 2024, and a much larger share at many other councils.
- Call or message your U.S. senators and representatives and urge them to protect the NEH and humanities councils.
- You can use this federal action alert from the National Humanities Alliance and paste in our humanities council-focused script (available below). If you aren’t in Oregon, find your humanities council here.
- Share this action alert: Post it on social media, then send it directly to five people in your network and ask them to take action as well. Ask your neighbors, colleagues, and family members—wherever they live—to do the same.
- Attend a member of Congress’s town hall or other open meeting to voice your support for the NEH.
- Write a letter to the editor for your local newspaper explaining why humanities councils are important and the impact these federal dollars have in Oregon and in your community.
- Gather, talk, read, and listen: Join a Conversation Project discussion or host one in your community. Sign up for a So Much Together workshop or attend a Consider This event. Read the stories in Oregon Humanities magazine and Beyond the Margins, listen to The Detour and This Place, and share these stories with others.
- Donate: Make a gift to help us keep our programs and publications available—now and in the future.
Script for Contacting Elected Officials:
Protect NEH/ Save Our Humanities Council
As a constituent, I am [writing/calling] to urgently request that you support the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the face of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) attempt to substantially reduce its staff, cut the agency’s grant programs, and rescind grants that have already been awarded.
NEH is the only agency that funds our nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils, which provide vital cultural services and critical funding to local nonprofit organizations across the nation.
Each year, Oregon Humanities engages tens of thousands of Oregonians and hundreds of local partner organizations through in-person programs, grants, and media.
NEH was created by an act of Congress in 1965 and reaffirmed by Republican and Democratic Presidents and legislators over the following 60 years. DOGE’s reductions to the NEH budget and workforce will block the agency’s ability to carry out Congressional intent.
Every Congress for 50 years has supported the state humanities councils and their effective distribution of federal dollars across America. These funds go directly to states (and your district) and allow councils to raise $2 in private investment for every federal dollar spent.
The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve communities across our state, eliminating programs that are essential to our region’s cultural infrastructure.
Again, I urge you to protect NEH and NEH funding for humanities councils.