AHA’s 2025 grantmaking

Through the first half of 2025, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has awarded 14 grants across Alabama, totaling nearly $32,000 in support of locally created, humanities-rich public programming.

Projects funded include childhood literacy programs, oral history projects, civics education, literary festivals, documentary films, and explorations of Alabama art, music, and folklife. Grant recipients hail from Huntsville to Monroeville, Dothan to Anniston, and many points in between.

See below for examples of AHA-funded projects thus far in 2025.

Less funding for the humanities in Alabama

As happy as AHA is to have funded these projects, the organization’s overall grantmaking capacity is down significantly this year. For comparison, at midyear 2024 and 2023, AHA had already awarded $157,351 and $206,996, respectively, to Alabama nonprofits, colleges, and state and local agencies.

The reason?

On April 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency terminated AHA’s 50-year partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities — and, with it, two-thirds of AHA’s annual budget. For more than half a century, AHA had used federal dollars appropriated by a bipartisan Congress to support annual grantmaking — $13 million to local communities statewide since 1974.

This year, however, AHA had to fully suspend its grantmaking for two months, as it sought to stay viable and find alternative sources of funding for its grants, programs, and operations.

On May 19, AHA announced it was bringing back its monthly Mini Grants, which offer up to $2,500 each. AHA’s Major Grants (up to $10,000 each) and Media Grants (up to $15,000 each) remain on hold.

This restoration of Mini Grants was made possible thanks to the generous support of individuals, corporations, and foundations, including major gifts from Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. and from the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation.

“We were pleased to resume this support that helps thousands of Alabamians come together as they engage with the humanities in their own communities,” says Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “We missed offering these grants as much as our local partners missed the support.”

Indeed, in 2024, 90% of AHA’s grant recipients reported that their public programs and events would not have been possible without funding provided by the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Over the past five years, AHA has received 607 grant applications — $5.9 million in total requests.

“We’re acutely aware that there’s a host of local nonprofits, universities, and state and local agencies out there who rely on us,” Holmes says. “So, while we’re thankful to once again offer our Mini Grants, we know the need goes beyond that. And the reality is that we don’t know what our ability will be to serve Alabamians in 2026, and beyond.”

Discover how to help ensure AHA’s future at alabamahumanities.org/our-future.

2025 AHA-funded project examples, so far:

Alabama Coal Miners Digital Archive
The University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa

This project gives Alabama coal miners the chance to share their memories — and artifacts — as part of a project to preserve our state’s coal mining history. Organized by the University of Alabama’s Department of History, this project will also give miners the chance to scan, and preserve, artifacts like photos, letters, mining lamps, helmets, lunch buckets, and more.

Alabama Folk Podcast, Season Four
Alabama Folklife Association | Statewide
Alabama Folk explores Alabama’s many cultures and traditions and engages statewide audiences in Alabama folklife. The podcast features deep interviews with Alabama artists who carry on traditions passed down through the generations or shared in community. Season Four showcases artists diverse in experience, artform, and geography.

Civic Tapestry: Weaving History into Public Life
Troy University | Troy
Presented by Troy University’s Office of Civic Engagement, this public series seeks to provide an opportunity for local youth to better understand the critical role of history in public life — by exploring local and civil rights history through an intergenerational oral history initiative and visit to The Legacy Museum.

Deep Roots, Strong Souls: Anniston’s Black Heritage Documentary
Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County | Anniston
The history of Anniston runs deep, but often overlooked is the contribution of Black residents to the growth of Anniston. The goal of this project is to use the library’s resources (phots, oral histories, research materials) to create a documentary that richly tells this local story, to be shown at the library during Black History Month, and beyond.

Monroeville Literary Festival
Monroe County Heritage Museum | Monroeville
The Monroeville Literary Festival is a two-day event that hosts visitors from across the state, and beyond, attend not only to meet authors and hear their stories, but also for the real Monroeville experience of walking in the footsteps of Monroeville’s celebrated authors. Visitors attend lectures, book reviews, workshops, and book signings.

Presenting Katherine Applegate
STAIR of Birmingham | Birmingham

Newberry Award-winning author Katherine Applegate visits Birmingham to speak with students at i3 Academy, Avondale Elementary, and Shades Cahaba Elementary. AHA funding provides hundreds of local students with signed copies of Applegate’s new picture book, ODDER, to foster a love for reading and learning, enhancing literacy in the process.

The Invisible Hand of Diplomacy: Shaping Our World
Global Ties Alabama | Huntsville
Celebrating 60 years of service, Global Ties Alabama partners with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) to bring an engaging U.S. diplomatic exhibit to Alabama. The exhibit highlights key diplomatic moments, along with a complementary “Century of Service” presentation that delves into the personal (and often unheard) stories of diplomats — revealing the power of human connection in shaping our world.

Learn more about AHA’s current grantmaking opportunities at alabamahumanities.org/grants. 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we promote lifelong learning, impactful storytelling, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring Alabamians together and help us better understand the communities we call home.