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Contact Us About Advocacy

Aaron Heinsman, Director of Development
(410) 685-4183
Jessica Wichmann, Communications Officer
(410) 685-4186

Advocate

Raise your voice to help save NEH and its sister cultural agencies.

UPDATE: Thanks to your advocacy thus far, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would provide $145 million each for the NEH and the NEA in FY 2018. While this is just the first step in the budget process, it is very encouraging.

In its proposed FY18 budget released in May, the Trump Administration has called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as three other vital cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). If this comes to pass it could be devastating to the educational and cultural vitality of communities large and small throughout Maryland.

In addition to its extensive grant-making across the nation, NEH provides core funding to the 56 state humanities councils, including Maryland Humanities. We rely on this funding in order to keep our programs free and accessible, serving every corner of Maryland. In addition, our One Maryland One Book program receives significant grant support via IMLS.

Last year alone, we reached more than 930,000 people with 1,600+ free public educational events in 170 communities. Without NEH and IMLS funding, this level of service to Maryland residents will be significantly reduced. Read Executive Director Phoebe Stein’s op-ed in The Baltimore Sun.

We hope you will add your voice to the nationwide chorus calling for Congress to act now to reject this proposal.

How You Can Help

If you’ve participated in Maryland Humanities programs or received a grant from us, or whether you are a donor, partner or you follow us on social media, you know about the work we do and how it benefits individuals and communities all over Maryland. Here’s how you can show your support for the public humanities and arts and culture in Maryland.

  • Contact your legislators in support of Maryland Humanities. To get you started, we have provided a sample message. Sharing your personal experiences with legislators makes a difference. Add your own impact story to our sample or craft your own message in your own voice. Have you received a grant from us that enabled a vitally important community project? Has your child participated in Maryland History Day or Letters About Literature and gone on to do great things? Describing how you, your family or organization, or your community has benefited from Maryland Humanities programs is compelling and persuasive. To identify your representatives and their contact information, you can use this tool:

Find Your Elected State & Federal Officials

  • Share your Maryland Humanities experiences with us. Your stories about the impact of Maryland Humanities in your life can help us demonstrate why we need the public humanities in Maryland—and throughout the nation—now more than ever.

Share your story with Maryland Humanities

  • Express your support for the public humanities and arts and culture via social media.
Share the call to #SaveNEH, #SavetheNEA, #SaveCPB, and #SaveIMLS with your social media networks. Your support matters.
  • Make a gift to Maryland Humanities. Your financial support is always greatly appreciated and will allow us to better respond to any financial threats in the future while maintaining our statewide programming.

Thank you for your support of Maryland Humanities!  We are so grateful.  Please feel free to contact us directly at (410) 685-0095 or info@mdhumanities.org with any questions or concerns.

  • “Humanities are the core of everything. You cannot be a good scientist or computer programmer, if you cannot communicate clearly with others and understand others. Humanities studies and scholarships are the essential element in learning how to relate to each other AND how to better communicate with one another.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “[Humanities] are the gateway to our souls, and to understanding each other. They enable us to avoid repeating our mistakes, and are a tool for teaching compassion.”

    ​​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “Lifelong learning is continuing to read, listen, learn, share ideas, discuss, and be enlightened by the great ideas and events of the human experience during the course of an entire life.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “Humanities are stories of human endeavor. They are at the root of who we are as human beings. The humanities matter because the better we understand and appreciate each other’s cultural and creative foundations the stronger we all become. We then have the ability to work together to solve the problems we all face.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • Humanities matter because humanity matters. The best thoughts, the highest questions, the most profound actions of courage and sacrifice are found in written accounts, art, and creative expressions throughout the ages. To study the humanities is to study oneself in a way that develops cultural literacy, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “Lifelong learning is a philosophy, practice, and lifestyle that I’ve long advocated for in both my professional and personal lives. In the rapid pace, constantly changing, technological, social, and cultural environments we find ourselves in, a continuous adjustment to change is necessary. Lifelong learning is essential to understanding where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go, both as individuals and as a society.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “[Lifelong learning] means that we are forever students, constantly discovering, researching, exploring, and challenging ourselves.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “The humanities allow us to learn about lives and experiences that are different than our own through compelling and engrossing experiences.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “[The humanities] provide us with tools and perspectives to analyze and interpret social phenomena with different lenses; they open up perspectives we may not have thought about and help us look at issues in more empathic ways.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “[The humanities] are what allow us to see the beauty of the world. I often think that humans are the only species that can reflect on how beautiful the world is, can step back and take intense delight in the sounds and colors of it all, can record not only the world but our reactions to it. The humanities matter because beauty matters.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • Humanities help everyone learn about common and universal themes from diverse groups of people. They can help build peace and understanding in the world.

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant
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About Us
Maryland Humanities is a statewide, educational nonprofit organization that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities.
Maryland Humanities
108 West Centre Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-4565
(410) 685-0095
(410) 685-0795 fax
info@mdhumanities.org
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