The Mellon Foundation has thrown a lifeline to state humanities councils, which were stripped of their federal grant funding by the Trump administration recently as part of its dismantling of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

“The Mellon Foundation on Tuesday announced $15 million in emergency funding for state humanities councils across the country, throwing what advocates say is a crucial lifeline after the cancellation of federal support had left some in danger of collapse,” according to The New York Times.

“The new funding, which will support humanities councils in all 50 states and six jurisdictions, comes a month after the National Endowment for the Humanities abruptly cut off federal funding for the councils, as well as most of its existing grants. The endowment, which had a budget of $207 million last fiscal year, is the nation’s largest public funder of the humanities, providing crucial support to museums, historical sites, cultural festivals and community projects.”

The Mellon Foundation emergency funding is crucial for the state humanities councils, but it will only make up part of the missing federal grants from the NEH.

“The $15 million from the Mellon Foundation will offset only a portion of the $65 million the state councils were set to receive this year from the humanities endowment, as appropriated by Congress. But Elizabeth Alexander, the foundation’s president, said it would help preserve humanities programs, particularly in rural states without a robust base of private philanthropy.

“‘The projects that fall under the rubric of the humanities are of an extraordinary range,’ she said. ‘It would be terrible if countless people across the country lost access to all the things that help us understand what it is to be human, in history and in a contemporary community.'”

The New York Times reports that “The money from the Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest funder of arts and humanities projects overall, with an annual grant-making budget of about $550 million, is a one-time infusion. Every council will get $200,000 in immediate operational support. Most of the remainder will come in the form of $50,000 challenge grants, which must be matched by other sources.”

The Mellon Foundation has long been the biggest funder of history and humanities projects in the United States.

As the Trump administration decimates the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon funding will become even more important for humanities researchers, writers, practitioners, and institutions.

Schuessler, Jennifer. “Mellon Foundation Announces $15 Million for Humanities Councils.” The New York Times (29 April 2025).