Dear Friends of the West Virginia Humanities Council,
On April 1, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recommended that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) reduce its workforce by up to 80%, and reduce its annual budget--currently $211M—by $175M.
If this recommendation becomes a budgetary act--presumably enacted by Congress--then this will leave $36M to close NEH, and eliminate NEH funding for all state humanities councils.
The West Virginia Humanities Council is proud to be the NEH’s official Mountain State affiliate, and to have benefited West Virginia’s cultural economy and cultural organizations for the last 50 years.
Founded by Congressional statute, the West Virginia Humanities Council currently receives $965,000 annually in general operating support from the Endowment (about 50% of our annual budget).
We rely on this funding to dedicate over $1M annually in grants, fellowships, apprenticeships, and original programs in support of West Virginia’s cultural nonprofits, K-12 students in every West Virginia school and home, local communities, and individuals researching local stories and preserving our state’s history, traditions, and cultural heritage.
We also use that funding to employ a small but dedicated staff who run statewide programs such as the West Virginia Folklife Program, e-WV: the West Virginia Encyclopedia Online, the West Virginia National Cemeteries Project, and many more.
The future is unwritten, and the situation remains fluid. But today, we urgently need your help in two ways.
Make your voice heard!
Please use this tool to communicate with your Congressional representative. There is space for you to add what the West Virginia Humanities Council has meant to you, your community, and your own organizations. We encourage you to use that space to tell your own story about how our programs, grants, or fellowships have impacted you. If you need help, here’s a script you can copy/paste into the message field.
Continue supporting our work!
Many of you have been great financial supporters of our mission. And for that, we are grateful. In our 50 years as your state humanities council, we have faced past funding cuts and crises. Your support sustained us through those times, and now we need your help again.
If you are able, we ask that you make a gift, even if it is small, even if you have already given this year. We need your help now and will continue to need your support in the coming weeks and months, as we see what the future holds for NEH, our federal funding, and for you, the people we serve.
Thank you for taking this moment to sustain our current work and support the future of the humanities in the Mountain State.
With gratitude,
Eric Waggoner
Executive Director, West Virginia Humanities Council
