In 2024, the Alabama Humanities Alliance awarded $379,063 to 65 nonprofits statewide. This funding made it possible for more than 200,000 Alabamians to come together and learn together. Communities from Florence to Spanish Fort, Camden to Ozark — and everywhere in between — created their own local programming that highlights Alabama’s rich history, literature, art, law, culture, and more.
Meet our 2024 grant recipients
Community cornerstones and education-focused nonprofits rely on AHA as the state’s primary source of funding for humanities programming. Recipients often include local libraries, museums, historic sites, universities, arts and literary organizations, chambers of commerce, archives, historical societies, literacy groups, and many other community-based nonprofits. Artists, filmmakers, and media producers often rely on AHA grants, too, for producing Alabama-focused documentaries, podcasts, and other digital media.
“AHA support allows amazing events to take place which otherwise would not happen,” says Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakeley State Park, one of AHA’s 2024 grant recipients. “AHA inspires and supports projects for which there are few other available funding options.”
In 2024, public programming created by AHA-funded grantees reached at least 222,360 Alabamians across all 67 counties. This impact doesn’t include the additional programs that AHA provides directly, such as Alabama History Day, the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibits program, Road Scholar speakers, Healing History initiative, teacher workshops and scholarships, the Alabama Colloquium series, and much more.
Fifty years of grantmaking impact
The year 2024 marked AHA’s 50th anniversary. Over the past half-century, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has provided $12.9 million in grant funding to support at least 2,247 public humanities projects across the state. All funding for AHA’s grants program comes from an affiliate partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, and thanks to steadfast support from Alabama’s elected officials in the U.S. Congress.
“We are grateful that decision-makers recognize the value in what these grants offer to communities around our state, especially since there’s no other funding stream that offers statewide, humanities-focused funding,” says Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “These grants help local communities bring the past to life, highlight our vibrant culture, connect us to each other, and help us better understand this dynamic and complex state we all call home.”
A brief sampling of AHA-funded grantee projects, below, reveals a wide variety of topics and communities reached in 2024.
2024: Grant-funded project examples
Alabama Authors Day
Historic Blakeley Authority | Spanish Fort
Alabama Authors Day offers an annual celebration of the literary arts and our shared cultural and natural heritage. This program highlights recent works by accomplished Alabama authors and provokes discussion about important topics addressed in their writing.
Alabama Hip Hop 101
Southern Music Research Center | Statewide
This oral history project documents the history and growth of hip hop music and culture in Alabama; the project features a series of videos and interviews shared via the Southern Music Research Center’s podcast and website.
Brick and Barn
Sand Mountain Cooperative Education Center | Guntersville + Birmingham
Brick and Barn aims to bridge Alabama’s urban-rural divide through a speaker series, offering talks on topics from energy and isolation to literature and migration — fostering dialogue and understanding between historically separated communities.
Exploring the Relationship Between the Human Condition and Artificial Intelligence
U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation | Huntsville
AHA funding enables this national AI Symposium to include conversations about the human condition within broader discussions about artificial intelligence — including how to incorporate history, philosophy, ethics, and law in AI decision-making.
Memphis and Charleston Railroad Bridge: Connecting the Shoals
University of North Alabama | Florence
The traveling exhibit explores how The Old Railroad Bridge has long connected towns and shaped lives in the Shoals; the exhibit traveled to four public libraries, offering talks by historians and authors in Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Muscle Shoals.
Preserving the Lived Experiences of Senator Richard C. Shelby
The University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa
Senator Shelby, who retired after 36 years in the U.S. Senate, was one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history; this oral history video project by the Shelby Institute for Policy and Leadership documents his life in Alabama and beyond.
About AHA’s grants
The Alabama Humanities Alliance offers a variety of grants to meet local needs:
Mini Grants
Up to $2,500
Offered monthly
No cost-share matches
Major Grants
Up to $10,000
Offered 3x a year
1:1 cost-share match
Media Grants
Up to $15,000
Offered annually
2:1 cost-share match
Upcoming 2025 grant deadlines:
- March 1: Mini Grant monthly deadline
- March 15: Major Grants spring DRAFT deadline
- April 1: Mini Grant monthly deadline
- April 15: Major Grants spring FINAL deadline
- May 1: Mini Grant monthly deadline
- May 15: Media Grants annual DRAFT deadline
- June 1: Mini Grant monthly deadline
- June 15: Media Grants annual FINAL deadline
Learn more about AHA’s grants offerings — including eligibility guidelines, types of projects funded, and how to apply — 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 and impactful storytelling that lifts up our state. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.