Welcome to the Alabama Humanities Alliance

We celebrate thinking. We encourage inquiry. We live for surprising discoveries. We exist to join together those who hunger for knowledge and create a sense of belonging among those who desire to learn. We are more than an organization — we are an alliance of thinkers. We are the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

Get to know us

Thinkers Wanted

Calling all thinkers, learners, and aspirers. We challenge you to be more curious, confront your assumptions, dare to investigate, and never stop asking “Why?” Come with us on a quest to learn, every day. Join the Alliance.

Programs

AHA gives all Alabamians opportunities to explore the humanities through funded public programs such as seminars, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, documentaries, and more.

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Grants

AHA is the primary source of grants for public humanities programs, and we collaborate with other organizations to advance the humanities in both the academic and public arenas.

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Mosaic

Mosaic is AHA's flagship publication, featuring stories that highlight how the humanities uplift communities statewide. Read the latest issue and sign up for free delivery!

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Listen to our new podcast series!

Can community journalism help sustain our democracy?

A new podcast series from the Alabama Humanities Alliance explores the future of journalism in rural Alabama, and highlights a growing number of citizen-produced newspapers that offer a new path forward.

In an era when the definition of truth often can’t be agreed upon, community newspapers are one of the best tools at Alabamians’ disposal to combat disinformation, to help neighbors see past their differences, and to know one another more fully.

Listen now

Spotlight: National Arts and Humanities Month

October is National Arts and Humanities Month and we're celebrating the impact the arts and humanities have on communities across Alabama.

Pictured here: Governor Kay Ivey signing an Arts and Humanities Month proclamation in Alabama, with Chuck Holmes (at left), executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and Elliot Knight (at right), executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

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Feature story: Joe Louis and Jesse Owens

On Alabama's greatest athletes and the state they left behind:

In this essay, historian Wayne Flynt explores whether Joe Louis and Jesse Owens would have become world champions if they stayed in Alabama. And how did Alabamians of the era respond to their native sons’ greatest glories?

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Feature story: What it means to be a fan

Alabama comedian Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson dissects our love of sports — and what it says about us:

“Our fandom — the traditions we create, even the banter we throw around — shapes our shared culture here that we love so much.”

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Feature story: Beyond the trophies

We asked sports museums, historic sites, and halls of fame across the state to spotlight one treasure from their collections that tells a unique story about Alabama. Each artifact is a snapshot of a moment in the state’s long, rich sports tradition — and reveals how sports in Alabama are woven into the memories we share, the places we live, and the communities we build together.

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Feature story: A national pastime, shared

Tracing the roots of Cuban baseball to Mobile's Spring Hill College:

"We cannot talk about the history of Cuban baseball, about the greatness of Cuban baseball, without highlighting the role of the Guilló brothers and Enrique Porto, of the City of Mobile and Spring Hill College."

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Feature story: Suffrage Day at Rickwood Field

How Alabama's suffragists went to bat for the right to vote:

"Suffragists knew they could not rely on lectures and fliers alone to sway Alabamians indifferent to their cause. They also connected their movement to the popular culture of the day. They decided to play a game, a baseball game."

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