Here’s a tidbit for all the history buffs out there: today marks the 50th anniversary of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act, an act that created the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), considered the first “grand investment in American culture.” In the five decades since its creation, the NEH has made more than 63,000 grants totaling $5.3 billion, including leveraging an additional $2.5 billion in matching grants to bring the best humanities research, public programs, education, and preservation projects to the American people.
Last Friday, the NEH kicked off a year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary with a symposium at Loyola University in Baltimore, where Duke University President Richard Brodhead delivered the keynote address. Brodhead, a co-chair of the Commission on Humanities and Social Sciences, who’s appeared on The Colbert Report and Capitol Hill to talk about the importance of the humanities, reflected on the changes in American society in the 50 years since the NEH was created and how advocates for the humanities can continue to talk about the need for strong support for the humanities from local to national organizations.
Click here for the full text of Brodhead’s keynote address.