National Endowment for the Humanities



The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. in the Old Post Office.

Overview
The NEH provides grants for high-quality humanities projects to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars. The agency is also a base supporter of a network of private, nonprofit affiliates, the 56 humanities councils in the United States. These grants are given in order to strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in schools and colleges across the nation, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources and to strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.

The Endowment is directed by a chairman, who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, for a term of four years. Advising the chairman is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens who are also appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The National Council members serve staggered six-year terms.

On June 3, 2009, President Obama announced that he intended to nominate former Iowa congressman Jim Leach, a Republican, to be the next chairman of the NEH. The Senate confirmed his appointment in August 2009. Leach began his four-year term as the NEH Chairman on August 12, 2009

Chairs

 * Barnaby Keeney, 1963-1965, chairman of National Commission on the Humanities
 * Henry Allen Moe, 1965–66, interim chairman
 * Barnaby Keeney, 1966–1970
 * Wallace Edgerton, Acting Chairman, 1970–71
 * Ronald Berman, 1971–1977
 * Robert Kingston, Acting Chairman, 1977
 * Joseph Duffey, 1977–81
 * William J. Bennett, 1981–85
 * John Agresto, Acting Chairman, 1985
 * Lynne Cheney, 1986–1993
 * Jerry L. Martin, Acting Chairman, 1993
 * Donald Gibson, Acting Chairman, 1993
 * Sheldon Hackney, 1993–97
 * Bruce A. Lehman, Acting Chairman, 1997
 * William R. Ferris, 1997–2001
 * Bruce Cole, 2001-2009
 * Carole M. Watson, Acting Chairman, 2009
 * Jim Leach, 2009–Present

Grant-Making Divisions and Offices
The NEH has seven grant-making divisions and offices:

The Office of Challenge Grants specializes in matching grants intended to inspire and augment fundraising by humanities institutions for the sake of their long-term stability.

The Office of Digital Humanities promotes the use of technology to ask new questions. It makes grants and sponsors efforts that show how new media and technology are reshaping traditional disciplines in the humanities.

The Division of Education works to support and strengthen teaching of the humanities.

The Office of Federal/State Partnership collaborates with fifty-six state and jurisdictional humanities councils to support local programs.

The Division of Preservation and Access awards grants to help maintain cultural and historic collections.

The Division of Public Programs supports projects that bring the humanities to large audiences through libraries and museums, television and radio, historic sites, and digital media.

The Division of Research makes awards to support original scholarship in all areas of the humanities, funding individuals as well as teams of researchers and institutions.

Noteworthy Projects
Since 1965, the Endowment has sponsored noteworthy projects such as:


 * "Treasures of Tutankhamen," the blockbuster exhibition seen by more than 1.5 million people
 * The Civil War, the landmark 1990 documentary by Ken Burns seen by 38 million Americans.
 * Library of America, editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America's literary heritage
 * United States Newspaper Project, an effort to catalog and microfilm 63.3 million pages of newspapers dating from the early Republic
 * Fifteen Pulitzer-Prize winning books, including those by James M. McPherson, Louis Menand, Joan D. Hedrick, and Bernard Bailyn

The Civility Tour
Between November 2009 and May 2011, Chairman Leach is conducting the American Civility Tour. Leach will visit each of the 50 states, speaking at venues ranging from university and museum lecture halls to hospitals for veterans to call attention to the need for civility in public discourse. The Tour was created because the exchange of ideas and the consideration of other viewpoints are central to the humanities. The initiative is calling to bring the spirit of reason back into politics.

The Bridging Cultures Initiative
NEH's newest initiative, Bridging Cultures, aims to stimulate important humanities efforts in two thematic areas: "Civility and Democracy" and "The Muslim World and the Humanities." These two themes are of great interest today both as subjects of humanities scholarship and as an issue of public concern, making them especially suitable for demonstrating the role of the humanities in taking thoughtful approaches to issues that matter to a broad American Public.

"We the People" Initiative
"We the People" is an NEH program designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles. The initiative supports projects and programs that explore significant events and themes in our nation's history, which advance knowledge of the principles that define America.

NEH was founded on the belief that cultivating the best of the humanities has real and tangible benefits for civic life. Through "We the People," NEH has rededicated itself to this mission, and is leading a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all our citizens. The NEH launched the "We the People" initiative on Constitution Day, September 17, 2002.

Jefferson Lecture
Since 1972 the NEH has sponsored the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, which it describes as "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities." The Jefferson Lecturer is selected each year by the National Council on the Humanities. The honoree delivers a lecture in Washington, D.C. during the spring, and receives an honorarium of $10,000. The stated purpose of the honor is to recognize "an individual who has made significant scholarly contributions in the humanities and who has the ability to communicate the knowledge and wisdom of the humanities in a broadly appealing way."

National Humanities Medal and Charles Frankel Prize
The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year. From 1989 to 1996 the NEH awarded a similar prize known as the Charles Frankel Prize. The new award, a bronze medallion was designed by 1995 Frankel Prize winner David Macaulay. Lists of the winners of the National Humanities Medal and Frankel Prize are available at the NEH website.