West Virginia Humanities Council celebrates 50 years of arts, cultural enrichment

(July 15, 2024)

The Journal

The West Virginia Humanities Council (WVHC) celebrated its 50th anniversary at Alma Bea restaurant in Shepherdstown last week.

According to Waggoner, the West Virginia Humanities Council is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). On top of providing grant funding and educational programming, the WVHC is the creator and curator of the West Virginia Encyclopedia — an online, comprehensive reference resource for the state.

“About half of our funding comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities each year. We do get some support from the state, although we’re not a state agency. Outside of that, the rest of our support is made up by donors from all around West Virginia,” Waggoner said. “We have a really wonderful network of supporters throughout the state.”