NEH Statement on Proposed FY 2019 Budget

Today the Trump administration released its comprehensive budget for the Federal government for FY 2019. The White House has requested that Congress appropriate approximately $42 million to the National Endowment for the Humanities for the orderly closure of the agency. This amount includes funds to meet matching grant offers in effect as of October 1, 2018, as well as funds to cover administrative expenses and salaries associated with the closure. 

“As NEH awaits Congressional action on the President’s proposed budget, the agency is continuing normal operations and will be making the next round of FY 2018 awards following the meeting of the National Council in March,” says NEH Senior Deputy Chairman Jon Parrish Peede.

Since its creation in 1965, NEH has established a significant record of achievement through its grantmaking programs. Over these five decades, NEH has awarded more than $5.6 billion for humanities projects through more than 64,000 grants. That public investment has led to the creation of books, films, and museum exhibits, and to ensuring the preservation of significant cultural resources around the country.

NEH grants have reached every part of the United States and provided humanities programs and experiences to benefit all of our citizens. Veterans and civilians in communities from Troy, Alabama, to Laramie, Wyoming, are coming together to discuss the legacy of war as part of the NEH-funded World War I and America reading, discussion, and touring exhibition initiative. NEH support has led to significant revelations about our country’s history, including the discoveries of the original sites of the Pilgrim settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the 1607 Jamestown fort in Virginia. Documentaries such as The Vietnam War, Freedom Riders, and Mine Wars have brought important chapters of our nation’s past into living rooms and classrooms.

Each year more than 2,400 teachers participate in NEH-sponsored workshops and institutes on topics ranging from ancient Roman society to the literature and culture of Appalachia, translating into a more enriching educational experience for some 350,000 students across America. NEH grants have enabled the development of the country’s art conservation education programs, producing graduates who have applied their expertise to the conservation of precious heritage items such as the Star-Spangled Banner and the Declaration of Independence.

NEH initiatives such as a partnership with the First Nations Development Institute are helping revitalize endangered Native American languages. And NEH emergency grants to museums, libraries, and archives in areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are helping small cultural institutions recover quickly from natural disaster. Through these projects and thousands of others, the National Endowment for the Humanities has inspired and preserved what is best in American culture.