This week, the Mellon Foundation announced a $15 million emergency funding commitment to the Federation of State Humanities Councils (the Federation) in response to federal funding cuts that have devastated state humanities councils. This emergency funding will help provide support to all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils across the United States, including up to $250,000 for South Carolina Humanities.
Mellon’s investment comes at a critical moment when $65 million in federal support for state humanities councils has been eliminated as a result of cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). On April 2, South Carolina Humanities received notice that all its grant funding through NEH had been cancelled effective immediately, a loss of $650,000 that would have provided for general operating support and grants and programs.
The grant from Mellon means an immediate $200,000 for South Carolina Humanities and an additional $50,000 available in matching grants. Any donations received by South Carolina Humanities starting April 29, 2025, count towards the match. Members of the public can donate to South Carolina Humanities by visiting https://schumanities.org/support/friends/.
With this emergency funding, South Carolina Humanities will be able to continue to provide its core council-conducted programming across the state, including the Speakers Bureau: Humanities out Loud program and the annual SC Humanities Festival and South Carolina Awards in the Humanities. SC Humanities grants will remain suspended until additional federal funding is secured.
This funding from the Mellon Foundation is crucial to SC Humanities keeping its doors open in 2025; however, SC Humanities’ future remains tenuous. When the Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency terminated our NEH grant this month, SC Humanities lost 80% of our annual funding. That’s $1 million that covered the majority of our operational costs and statewide grantmaking. SC Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils will continue to advocate for the restoration of federal funding to state humanities councils. More information about advocacy efforts can be found here: https://schumanities.org/advocacy-action-alert/.
SC Humanities Executive Director Randy Akers said, “Our special thanks goes to the Mellon Foundation for this timely and generous support. They appreciate the vast cultural network and outreach of the state humanities councils, serving large cities and small rural communities across the nation. They do not want to see what has been built during 50 years be dismantled overnight. We thank them for helping us keep moving forward.”
About SC Humanities
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
About the Federation of State Humanities Councils
Founded in 1977, the Federation of State Humanities Councils (Federation) is the membership organization of the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils. The Federation supports, connects, and amplifies the work and voices of our members, demonstrating councils’ value for communities and their collective impact on civic health and cultural vibrancy. The Federation envisions a fully resourced, inclusive, and thriving humanities council network.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. We believe that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
