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The Smithsonian arrives in Alabama

On a warm summer evening in Sylacauga, Alabama, more than 200 residents gathered to celebrate a momentous occasion — the opening of SPARK! Places of Innovation, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit, right there in Sylacauga’s Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and Arts Center.

The evening of June 26 represented nearly a year of preparation for the Comer Museum. It also offered a unique opportunity for Sylacauga to come together as a community and consider their shared past and future.

“The Comer Museum had such a clear vision for hosting this exhibit,” says Laura Anderson, director of partnerships and outcomes for the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “They have gathered Sylacauga-area residents around the notion that innovation is at the heart of their community’s shared future — not imagining whether they will encourage innovation, but in how many ways.”

From now through spring 2026, SPARK! Places of Innovation will tour six towns across the state — Sylacauga, Dothan, Brewton, Uniontown, Athens, and Fort Payne. Each host venue will make the exhibit its own — complementing SPARK!’s national perspective with local programming and conversations that reflect their towns.

The idea is to explore the people, places, and ideas that have always ignited innovation in our rural communities — and inspire us all to consider how we can shape our communities moving forward.

SPARK! comes to Alabama courtesy of a longtime partnership between the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street. The exhibit’s statewide tour is made possible thanks to the generous support of a pair of sponsors, Innovate Alabama and The Daniel Foundation of Alabama.

“At Innovate Alabama, we believe innovation isn’t limited to city centers or tech corridors — it’s rooted in every corner of our state, including rural communities,” says Cynthia Crutchfield, CEO of Innovate Alabama. “That’s why we’re proud to support SPARK! as it travels across Alabama, highlighting the creativity and problem-solving that have long shaped our state’s story. This exhibit reflects our mission to foster innovation and entrepreneurship statewide and shows what’s possible when we invest in local ideas and talent.”

Learn more about SPARK!: alabamahumanities.org/spark.

 

SPARK! 2025-2026 Tour Dates

 

SYLACAUGA: THROUGH JULY 19, 2025
Isabel Anderson Comer Museum & Arts Center

DOTHAN: Aug. 1-31, 2025
Landmark Park

BREWTON: Sept.23-Oct. 23, 2025
Brewton City Hall

UNIONTOWN: Nov. 11-Dec. 13, 2025
Renaissance Center (C.H.O.I.C.E. Uniontown)

ATHENS: Jan. 3-Feb. 10, 2026
Athens-Limestone County Public Library

FORT PAYNE: Feb. 20-March 25, 2026
Fort Payne Coal & Iron Building (Landmarks of DeKalb County)

As SPARK! tours the state, the Alabama Humanities Alliance will offer a public info session at each stop, promoting local humanities programming and grantmaking opportunities. In Sylacauga, AHA presents “Get the Scoop” on July 16 at the B.B. Comer Memorial Library.

 

SPARK!-inspired teacher workshop and community reception

AHA also offered a SPARK!-inspired teacher workshop in Sylacauga, June 24-25, presented in partnership with Design Alabama. More than 30 educators came from across Alabama to consider new ways to ignite their own students’ imaginations.

“One of the reasons this workshop was so fantastic is that it was community-centered, locally connected to the place where it was offered,” says LaVerne McDonald, an educator in Talladega County. “Sylacauga and its mill village are where I grew up. Six generations of my family over time sharecropped, worked at the mill, experienced the loss of the mill and the loss of community that comes with it, and continued to call this area home. Innovations highlighted in this workshop make me optimistic for the future of the community and its youth.”

Indeed, highlighting local community-building was core to the Comer Museum and Arts Center’s plan for hosting SPARK!. During the exhibit’s opening reception, attendees didn’t just view the Smithsonian traveling exhibit — they also got a tour of the town’s former Avondale Mill’s site to consider its past, present, and future.

For more than a century, the mill was central to The Marble City’s identity and economy. In 2006, Avondale closed its doors; five years later, a lightning strike burned down the deserted plants. Residents wondered if the town could survive the loss.

Today, the former Avondale Mills site is transforming into the home of the East Alabama Rural Innovation and Training Hub (EARTH). This transformative and innovative workforce development program, physically rooted in the town’s rich history, will help East Alabamians prepare for careers and industries that might not even exist yet.

“SPARK! is such a wonderful exhibit for us to host right now,” says Judy Green, director of the Comer Museum and Arts Center. “Everyone who came to SPARK!’s opening reception got to tour the new site and see 3-D renderings of what could rise from the ashes there. This is an exciting time and SPARK! helps us all continue to consider new ideas and solutions for our shared future here in Sylacauga.”

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About the AHA-Smithsonian partnership
Since 1997, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has brought more than a dozen Smithsonian traveling exhibits to smaller towns statewide — nearly 70 communities, and counting. Alabamians who might never have the chance to visit Smithsonian museums in our nation’s capital are treated to museum-quality exhibits right here in their home communities. AHA works in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street and Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. alabamahumanities.org/spark

About Innovate Alabama
Innovate Alabama is Alabama’s first statewide public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation, with a mission to help innovators grow roots here in Alabama. Innovate Alabama was established to implement the initiatives and recommendations set forth in the Alabama Innovation Commission’s report, including smart policy solutions that will create a more resilient, inclusive, and robust economy to remain competitive in a 21st-century world. With founding CEO Cynthia Crutchfield leading the charge, Innovate Alabama includes a board of 11 innovation leaders appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey, collaborating across sectors to advance industries, drive technology, and facilitate an environment where innovation and entrepreneurship thrive. innovatealabama.org

About The Daniel Foundation of Alabama
The Daniel Foundation of Alabama’s mission is to strengthen communities within Alabama and improve the quality of life for citizens from all regions of Alabama. We believe this can be achieved through support of effective organizations that are focused on building a healthy and well-educated population, living in a vibrant community. danielfoundationofalabama.com

 

Alabama students compete at National History Day

The Alabama Humanities Alliance’s 2024-2025 Alabama History Day program came to a thrilling conclusion this week. More than 40 Alabama students competed against their peers from across the country at National History Day, held at the University of Maryland. These students created some of the most fascinating, history-rich projects this year, advancing from Alabama’s state contest in April.

“There may not be a more inspiring showcase of students’ brilliance and curiosity in this state,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., program coordinator for the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “Alabama History Day brings hundreds of students together to share their passion for learning about our past. These students are more than historians, too. They are authors, artists, filmmakers, web designers, and dramatic performers who have the freedom to choose their topics and share their research in creative ways.”

Alabama History Day 2025 state contest photos

National History Day 2025 national contest photos

The Alabama Humanities Alliance puts on Alabama History Day each year, helping students statewide (grades 6-12) cultivate their curiosity, learn to do primary research, and become confident, lifelong learners. The program also gives Alabama teachers a dynamic — and year-long — project-learning tool that they can incorporate into their classrooms. Each year brings a new History Day theme; in 2025, that was “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

School-level and regional competitions take place during the school year, then the program culminates in our statewide contest, held at Troy University’s Montgomery campus. There, students showcase their research as exhibits, papers, websites, documentaries, and performances — with first- and second-place winners eligible to advance to National History Day. Students compete in Junior (grades 6-8) and Senior (grades 9-12) divisions, in both individual and group categories.

Alabama History Day 2025: Meet This Year’s State Contest Winners 

National History Day 2025: Affiliate Winners (below)

A Capitol Visit

For Alabama students who advance to National History Day, the experience comes with the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C.. These memory-making visits to Capitol Hill give our students a chance to see the halls of our democracy up close — and to talk about their History Day projects with their members of Congress.

This year, dozens of students, teachers, and parents were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Capitol building, led by staffers from Senator Katie Britt’s office. Senator Britt also spent quality time meeting with Alabama’s students, taking photos, and leading a round of applause for Alabama’s National History Day competitors.

Alabama members of the House of Representatives also took time out from their busy schedules — sometimes even stepping out of floor votes and committee meetings — to meet with students from their districts. This year, students had the chance to visit with U.S. Representative Barry Moore (AL-01), Rep. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Representative Dale Strong (AL-05), and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06).

“We are grateful to Alabama’s elected officials for making this experience memorable for our students, and talking with them about their History Day projects,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “In many ways, those meetings encapsulate what History Day is all about — learning about our nation’s history and being inspired to keep strengthening our nation’s democracy.”

This year’s D.C. day also involved some work for a pair of Alabama students. Lexington Bush and Jayde Robinson, of Mobile’s Murphy High School, were selected to present their exhibit at a “Smithsonian Showcase” at the National Museum of American History. Museum visitors had the chance to see these students’ work and ask questions about their research on “The Literary Legacy of African Americans During the Harlem Renaissance.”

“This was such a special opportunity for these two young ladies,” says Sarah Woltring, the girls’ teacher. “Having the chance to showcase their work in the museum representing American history is an inspiration for them as young learners.”

 

 

Alabama History Day 2026

The theme for Alabama/National History Day 2026 is set, and it is an apt one for the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence: “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.” 

All schools statewide are invited to participate and the Alabama Humanities Alliance offers school visits and trainings to help teachers learn how they can incorporate Alabama History Day into the classroom. AHA’s next public History Day workshop for teachers will be held September 12 in Huntsville, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Learn more about Alabama History Day 2026.

The Alabama Humanities Alliance doesn’t do this alone, of course. AHA appreciates all the many, many event partners who make this possible, including our Special Award sponsors and volunteer judges who donate their time each year. And none of this is possible, of course, without the generous support of the state of Alabama, the Alabama Power Foundation, and individual donors year-round. To add your support with a donation today, visit alabamahumanities.org/support.

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance 
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served 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. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

AHA grants are back

May 19, 2025 — Six weeks after suspending its statewide grantmaking as a result of abrupt federal cuts, the Alabama Humanities Alliance is bringing back limited grant offerings.

Effective immediately, nonprofits across Alabama can once again apply for AHA’s Mini Grants, which offer up to $2,500 for humanities-rich public programming. Learn about these grants — and how to apply for them — at alabamahumanities.org/grants.

All AHA grantmaking was paused April 2, when the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) terminated AHA’s longstanding partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities — eliminating two-thirds of AHA’s annual funding.

Since then, an outpouring of support from individuals, corporations, and foundations has helped preserve the Alabama Humanities Alliance, including major gifts from Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. and from the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation. This support has now enabled AHA to bring back its Mini Grants.

“We are 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 have missed offering these grants as much as our local partners have missed the support. These grants illustrate what AHA is all about. We help Alabamians bring the past to life, explore our shared stories, and better understand this vibrant and complex state we all call home.”

It is AHA’s hope to offer Mini Grants for the rest of 2025, if donor support for the organization continues to sustain AHA’s capacity, Holmes says. AHA’s Major Grants (up to $10,000) and Media Grants (up to $15,000) remain paused. Those painful decisions reflect AHA’s still-tenuous financial situation. For decades, AHA has used federal dollars appropriated by a bipartisan Congress to support grantmaking across the state.

“As happy as we are to offer Mini Grants once again, the reality is that we don’t know what our ability will be to serve Alabamians in 2026, and beyond,” Holmes says. “Like many other organizations dedicated to history, civics, culture, and the arts, we need a hand right now to keep offering dynamic grantmaking and programming to Alabamians statewide.”

To support AHA today, donate at alabamahumanities.org/support.

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How to apply for a Mini Grant

Mini Grants are available on a rolling basis, with deadlines on the first of each month. Designed for flexibility, AHA’s Mini Grants feature a simplified and quicker application process to support a broad range of projects. And Mini Grant applications do not require cost share matches.

All applications submitted by June 1, 2025, will be considered in this first round of resumed grantmaking. Interested applicants are encouraged to read through AHA’s revised grant guidelines, which have been updated following the termination of our NEH partnership.

 

What can AHA’s Mini Grants help fund?

AHA’s Mini Grants can help fund anything from public history projects, literary festivals, and conferences to art talks, book clubs, traveling exhibits, podcasts, and much, much more.

For reference, a small sampling of AHA’s 2024 Mini Grant recipients includes:

AHA’s grantmaking represents an investment in the cultural fabric of our state — and in the economies of our local communities. In 2024, AHA awarded nearly $380,000 to nonprofits statewide, making local projects available to nearly a quarter-million Alabamians. And 90% of those grant recipients said their community programming would have been impossible without AHA’s support. Since AHA’s founding in 1974, the organization has supplied thousands of grants, totaling more than $13 million.

For full information on AHA’s Mini Grants, visit alabamahumanities.org/grants.

For the latest information on how you can support Alabama Humanities, visit alabamahumanities.org/our-future.

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served 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.

AHA receives emergency Mellon funding

April 29, 2025 — Today, the Mellon Foundation announced a $15 million emergency funding commitment to the Federation of State Humanities Councils in response to federal funding cuts that have devastated state humanities councils, including the Alabama Humanities Alliance here. This emergency funding will help provide up to support to all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils across the United States.

AHA will receive an immediate $200,000 gift courtesy of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, with support from the Mellon Foundation. Plus, AHA has an opportunity to access an additional $50,000 in a “Humanities100” challenge grant. Any donations that AHA receives, starting today, will count as matching funds to unlock that additional support. Individuals, corporations, and foundations can donate to AHA now by visiting alabamahumanities.org/support.

“For more than 50 years, humanities councils have served as the backbone of American cultural life, connecting people through programs that illuminate, honor, and celebrate our shared history at the local level,” said Phillip Brian Harper, Mellon’s program director for higher learning. “The work of these councils touches every aspect of communities across our country. This grant ensures that these irreplaceable institutions can continue their mission.”

Mellon’s investment comes at a critical moment when $65 million in federal support for state humanities councils has been eliminated as a result of cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) — cuts enacted by the Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.

On April 2, each humanities council nationwide, including AHA, received notice that all grant funding through the NEH had been cancelled, effective immediately — a local loss of $1.2 million here in Alabama. The loss represents two-thirds of AHA’s annual budget and has a trickle-down impact on AHA’s grantees and partners — local libraries, museums, historic sites, historical societies, colleges and universities, arts and culture organizations, literary and literacy groups, towns and chambers of commerce, and more statewide.

What does this emergency support mean for the Alabama Humanities Alliance?

“This generous donation from our friends at the Federation and the Mellon Foundation keeps the lights on here at AHA,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “Combined with donations from AHA’s supporters in all corners of the state, we can look at programming we might be able to reactivate this year, too.

“This investment isn’t a silver bullet for our long-term viability. But it does buy us precious time to continue advocating for the restoration of our federal funding, and to seek out new sources for sustainable, year-over-year operational support.”

This is not the first time the Mellon Foundation’s philanthropy has supported AHA’s efforts here in Alabama. Mellon’s other contributions include a recent grant to fund Democracy and the Informed Citizen, a podcast series produced by AHA.

That series explored community journalism in rural Alabama, and highlighted how citizen-produced newspapers can help build community, preserve local history, and strengthen our democracy. Project partners included Alabama A&M’s WJAB-FM, PACERS Rural Community News Network, Auburn University’s School of Communication and Journalism, the University of Alabama’s College of Communication and Information Sciences, Auburn University’s Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities, and the David Mathews Center for Civic Life.

 

Help AHA unlock the Humanities100 matching gift:

All new donations made to the Alabama Humanities Alliance will be generously matched 1:1 by the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation, up to $50,000. Donate today at alabamahumanities.org/support. 

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served 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.

About the Federation of State Humanities Councils
Founded in 1977, the Federation of State Humanities Councils (Federation) is the membership organization of the 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils. The Federation supports, connects, and amplifies the work and voices of our members, demonstrating councils’ value for communities and their collective impact on civic health and cultural vibrancy. The Federation envisions a fully resourced, inclusive, and thriving humanities council network.

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. We believe that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.

Culverhouse extends $250,000 donation to AHA

April 28, 2025 — The Alabama Humanities Alliance has received a record-setting matching gift opportunity from Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr., an Alabama native and noted attorney and philanthropist. The $250,000 donation is set up as a matching gift opportunity, which will help AHA raise an additional $250,000 from other donors to match Culverhouse’s contribution.

“This is an invaluable gift in a moment of crisis for the humanities in Alabama,” says AHA Executive Director Chuck Holmes. “We are grateful to Hugh for his generosity, and for his recognition of how vital the humanities are to the cultural fabric of our state and to the economic vitality of the communities we call home.”

This gift is the largest individual donation in AHA’s half-century history. And it indeed comes at a critical juncture for Alabama Humanities. On April 2, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency terminated the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s 50-year partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities — and, with it, two-thirds of AHA’s funding.

As a result, AHA had to suspend its statewide grantmaking that Alabama nonprofits rely on for locally created public programming. Last year, for example, AHA awarded $380,000 in funding that made possible local storytelling festivals, public history projects, cultural celebrations, civics education, book clubs, art talks, documentaries, and much more. AHA has also had to pause some of its original programming, including its Road Scholars Speakers Bureau. This program provides scholar-storytellers who give fascinating talks at local libraries, senior citizen centers, historical societies, and more statewide.

Culverhouse’s gift gives the Alabama Humanities Alliance greater flexibility as it searches for sustainable, long-term funding to fill the $1.2 million gap left by DOGE’s cuts. Once fully realized, Culverhouse’s gift — in tandem with support from Alabamians across the state — could also help AHA preserve and restore beloved programming.

“The Alabama Humanities Alliance does the work that makes us all better, more informed citizens,” Culverhouse says. “They support learning about history, civics, and jurisprudence. They help us explore what we have in common so that we can come together, not apart. We need more of the humanities in our communities right now, not less.”

Culverhouse has a long history of supporting causes related to education, civic engagement, and public health, both here in his native Alabama and his current home of Florida. His father, Hugh Culverhouse Sr., was also a prominent philanthropist and a member of the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.

To help match this generous donation, Alabamians are encouraged to contribute directly at alabamahumanities.org/support.

 

Founded in 1974, the nonprofit and nonpartisan Alabama Humanities Alliance has served 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.

Alabama impact of NEH cuts

April 2, 2025 — Alabamians stand to lose local programs that provide important lifelong learning and civic engagement opportunities as a result of newly mandated federal cuts of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The federal Department of Government Efficiency this week ordered the NEH to make deep reductions in its staffing and budget, including to its grantmaking. These cuts would severely limit the ability of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, an NEH affiliate, to support statewide humanities efforts in communities large and small — efforts such as local history projects, storytelling festivals, community cultural celebrations, and humanities-focused podcasts and documentaries.

AHA is suspending its grantmaking in the state because of this financial uncertainty. The decision includes a pause in AHA’s monthly Mini Grants, Spring round of Major Grants, and its annual Media Grants, which were planned for this summer. AHA will also halt further bookings of its popular Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, which provides scholars and storytellers who give presentations at libraries, historical societies, and senior citizen centers across the state.

“The potential gutting of a federal agency might feel far away from many of us here in Alabama,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “But what’s at stake is very much of local concern — hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for local nonprofits to serve people in towns and cities across Alabama. These AHA grants are decided here in Alabama — not Washington, D.C. — and they support programming that enriches local communities.”

The impact of NEH cuts, if fully implemented, would be acutely felt in Alabama. For more than 50 years, AHA has served as a nonprofit and nonpartisan state affiliate of the NEH. During that time, Alabama Humanities has received congressionally appropriated federal funding to distribute nearly $13 million in support of humanities-rich programming in towns and cities across Alabama.

In 2024 alone, AHA distributed $380,000 to nonprofits statewide, supporting efforts like local storytelling festivals, oral history projects, conferences on AI and the humanities, art talks and book clubs, documentaries and podcasts, and public convenings that seek to bridge divides and find common ground. Grant recipients include community cornerstones such as local museums, historical societies, universities, libraries, arts and culture groups, literacy and educational organizations, municipalities and chambers of commerce.

Critically, there are no other statewide organizations that provide the type of funding AHA does. In AHA’s 2024 survey, 90% of all grant recipients stated that their public programming would not have been possible without their grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

NEH funding also covers AHA’s operational costs and enables AHA to leverage state, corporate, foundation, and individual support. This non-federal funding supplements AHA’s other original programming, including:

In total in 2024, AHA and its partners reached about 250,000 Alabamians with 1,790 events and public projects.

“Ultimately, what these proposed cuts threaten is our ability to inspire a lifelong love of learning here in Alabama,” Holmes says. “And when we lose that, we lose much more than funding. We lose our ability to understand each other. We miss opportunities to strengthen our communities, as well as our economy. And we fail to make Alabama an ever more vibrant place to live, to work, and to visit.”

For those who wish to support the Alabama Humanities Alliance, visit alabamahumanities.org/support.

 

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.

Alabama History Day 2025

On April 11, around 200 students from middle schools and high schools across the state will converge on Troy University’s campus in Montgomery for Alabama History Day. This annual statewide contest, presented by the Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA), enables students to engage in robust and creative historical research.

“The beauty of History Day is that students choose to research topics in history that interest them,” says Idrissa N. Snider, Ph.D., AHA’s Alabama History Day coordinator. “They’re encouraged to be creative storytellers in sharing their findings — as artists, performers, designers, filmmakers, and authors. When students immerse themselves in this process, their confidence grows, academically and socially.”

This is the first time the state contest has been hosted at Troy University’s Montgomery campus. Participating students will present their work in downtown venues, including at the Rosa Parks Museum and the historic Davis Theatre. Volunteer judges will provide feedback and encouragement. These judges include historians, educators, lawyers, and more from around the state, including professors from Troy University.

“A number of Troy’s historians have enjoyed serving as judges for Alabama History Day over the years, and members of the History Department were really excited to learn that the event has found a new home at Troy University’s Montgomery campus,” says Allen Jones, Ph.D., chair of the History Department. “Not only will most of our historians participate as judges in Montgomery this year, around 20 Troy students majoring in history — and members of the university’s History Club — will make the trek to assist in the event and share their delight for studying history with the competitors.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Troy University to provide an exciting and dynamic experience for our Alabama History Day students in such a historic slice of our state’s capital,” says Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. “Troy has long been an outstanding friend of ours and we are grateful for their partnership in elevating the Alabama History Day state contest.”

State winners advance to National History Day, which is held each summer at the University of Maryland and Washington, D.C. Students also have the chance to win special awards from sponsors such as the Alabama Historical Association, Friends of the Alabama Archives, the Alabama Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and many more.

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The Alabama History Day state contest marks the culmination of months of work by Alabama students, as well as their teachers. Far more than a single day, this year-long program provides teachers with a dynamic, project-based learning tool they can incorporate into the classroom — and offers students a creative way to engage with history and civics.

Each spring, classrooms, schools, and districts host local competitions and showcases of students’ work. The biggest single competition leading up to this year’s statewide contest took place on February 21 in Mobile. There, nearly 200 students gathered for the South Alabama Regional Competition, a day filled with fun, photos, food, and fascinating History Day projects.

In Mobile, this year’s History Day theme, “Rights & Responsibilities in History,” generated student research on national topics ranging from America’s World War II workforce to the eradication of smallpox. Student projects of regional interest included Mobile’s Africatown community, the history of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, and an exploration of the invasive lionfish population along the Gulf Coast.

Matt Spivey is the academic supervisor for social studies at Mobile County Public Schools, and a partner in organizing the South Alabama regional. He noted that the History Day program has obvious immediate impacts in terms of helping students build critical thinking skills, and in vetting and analyzing sources — “and in all those elements that will benefit our students in their classes, in those high-stakes tests that we use to measure their progress.”

But Spivey also sees a much broader, long-lasting positive impact with Alabama History Day:

“When you’re building those kinds of skills, you’re also building critical thinkers who will benefit our communities in who knows how many ways down the line,” Spivey says. “They’ll be able to analyze complex situations, to vet and source information, to figure out what’s accurate and trustworthy. The critical thinking skills they’re getting will help them address problems in our communities in ways that we’ll never fully know the impact of.”

To learn more about Alabama History Day, visit alabamahumanities.org/alabama-history-day.


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 better understand this dynamic and complex state we all call home. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

About Troy University
Troy University is a public, historic, international university with more than 14,000 students and 175,000 alumni. Students choose TROY for its quality academic programs, reasonable costs and availability of financial aid, outstanding faculty, and flexible in-class and online class offerings. Students on the Troy, Ala., campus enjoy a traditional college experience, while adult students are the centers of attention at campuses in Dothan, Montgomery and Phenix City, Ala., as well as at locations around the world and online.

Troy University’s Montgomery campus with historic Davis Theatre.

 

 

AHA awards $380K in ’24 grants

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:

 

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.

AHA welcomes nine new board members  

The new year brings new faces to the Alabama Humanities Alliance’s statewide board of directors. Seven board members saw their terms expire at the end of 2024, with nine new members following in their footsteps in 2025.

AHA’s newest board members come from seven different counties, representing Alabama’s rich geographic and cultural diversity. They come from academia, business, law, government, history, and nonprofit leadership.

“I am so grateful that each member of AHA’s board is committed to helping provide opportunities for storytelling, lifelong learning and community engagement across every county of this state,” says Chuck Holmes, AHA’s executive director. “We see over and over how the arts and humanities bring Alabamians together, and help us all better understand each other and these vibrant, complex communities we call home.”

Meet AHA’s full board of directors.

 

2025 board leadership
Robbie McGhee

Robbie McGhee, of Atmore, will serve as the new chair of AHA’s board of directors in 2025-2026. McGhee is an enrolled member of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and has been an advocate for Native American issues at all levels of government. He is in his fifth term on the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Tribal Council.

The rest of AHA’s 2025 board’s leadership includes:

Chandra Brown Stewart, Vice Chair (Mobile): Executive Director, Lifelines Counseling Services

Clay Loftin, Secretary (Montgomery): Manager of Governmental Affairs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

Bob Barnett, Treasurer (Pell City): Structural Engineer and Adjunct Professor

Ed Mizzell, Immediate Past Chair (Birmingham): Managing Director, Luckie & Company

Diane Clouse, At-Large (Ozark): Retired Educator and Performing Arts Choreographer

Susan Yvette Price, J.D., At-Large (Montgomery): Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff, Alabama Community College System

  

Welcome to the new class

AHA’s newest board members come from across the state and bring a variety of strengths and experience to the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Read each member’s full bio. 

Darrell Ezell, Ph.D. (Huntsville): Social Scientist, Professor, and CEO of Heritage Solutions

Markell Heilbron (Birmingham): Director of Corporate Responsibility, Alabama Power

Jason Isbell (Pike Road): Senior Vice President, State Government Affairs and Economic Development, Regions Bank

Joseph Messina, Ph.D. (Tuscaloosa): Professor of Geography; Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, University of Alabama

Alan Miller, J.D. (Chelsea): President and CEO, American Village Citizenship Trust, Montevallo. 

Sidney James Nakhjavan (Auburn): Retired Executive Director, Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Auburn University

Chris Robinson (Huntsville): Senior Technical Advisor, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Sam Todd, J.D. (Birmingham): Director of business development, Vulcan Materials Company

Roger Williams (Florence): Certified Public Accountant; President, Patterson, Prince, and Associates, P.C.

 

Saying thank you

AHA’s outgoing board members have helped move the organization forward in substantial ways  commitment helped us move the organization forward in substantial ways. Thank you to Darren Hicks (Birmingham), Dorothy Huston, Ph.D. (Huntsville), Mark Nelson, Ph.D. (Tuscaloosa/Birmingham), Brett Shaffer (Birmingham), Sheryl Threadgill-Matthews (Camden), R.B. Walker (Birmingham), and Andy Weil (Montgomery).  

Among many other accomplishments, these members helped shepherd AHA through a year of reflections, planning, and celebrations in 2024, the Alliance’s 50th anniversary.

 

National role for AHA board member
Susan Price

Also of note, Susan Yvette Price, J.D., an at-large member of the board’s executive committee, has also been elected to the board of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Her appointment took place January 1.

The Federation is the national association of the Alabama Humanities Alliance and 54 other state and territorial humanities councils that promote humanities-rich programming across the United States. The D.C.-based Federation’s chief role is to advocate for increased investment in state humanities councils. It also nurtures the national network of state councils and other allies of the humanities and arts in efforts to amplify the meaning and importance of our work.

“Susan’s new volunteer role as a Federation board member is an important extension of her volunteer role for AHA,” Holmes says. “I am grateful to her for taking on this responsibility, which is a win-win. The Federation is the beneficiary of her extraordinary talents, energy, and expertise. AHA is the beneficiary with an Alabama voice at the table on important national conversations and policy decisions about the humanities and its role in American life.”

 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.

Celebrating AHA at 50

On December 2, the Alabama Humanities Alliance capped its 50th anniversary with a year-end celebration of the humanities. The Alabama Colloquium in Birmingham highlighted the power of sharing our stories with each other. To underscore the point, AHA bestowed its greatest honor upon two of Alabama finest storytellers, author Rick Bragg and humorist Roy Wood Jr.

The evening was a memorable one for many reasons. There was Bragg reciting the visceral and heartbreaking opening page of his memoir, All Over But the Shoutin’. Wood Jr. revealing his aim to film a one-man show in Birmingham and illustrate just how much his hometown means to him. A welcome from Mayor Randall Woodfin that highlighted Bragg’s ability to “open hearts and minds” and Wood’s to “use humor not only to entertain but to enlighten the world.”

There were surprise video messages from award-winning author Ron Rash and former Daily Show anchor Trevor Noah. Heartfelt tributes from author Cassandra King, to Bragg, and from educator and literacy advocate Devon Frazier, to Wood. There was even an errant fire alarm that briefly forced an evacuation of the Alys Stephens Center — sending attendees out into the cold and leading many to joke that Birmingham’s erstwhile prankster Roy Wood Jr. might be to blame.

But the highlight of the evening was the hilarious and heartfelt conversation between Bragg and Wood on stage, moderated by journalist Sid Evans. Evans’ first question asked each man what it meant to be honored as an Alabama Humanities Fellow. Tongue firmly in cheek, Bragg responded first: “With all due respect to Roy, I think they just kinda worked their way down to us.” Once the laughter had subsided, Bragg clarified: “You know when someone passes you the popcorn at the movie theatre and all that’s left is seeds and grease?”

Once the laughter died down again, Bragg copped to the truth: “No, you reach a point in your life when these things mean a whole lot more to you. Just think of what it took to put this thing on. Good people and a good organization. This means a lot to me. I’m honored to get to do it.”

Wood agreed: “It’s one thing to be honored. But to have people who know what your life was before this, to be able to come and celebrate you, it’s humbling. I’m trying not to cry. It means a lot.”

To see and hear more from the event:

To get a feel for our 50th anniversary, check out this Year in Review graphic.

Other highlights
Honorees Guin Robinson (left) and Julian Butler.

 

 

 

 

The Birmingham event was the final in a two-part Alabama Colloquium series for 2024. The first event, held in August in Huntsville, honored a pair of acclaimed songwriters and musicians from North Alabama: Brittany Howard and Jason Isbell. Howard and Isbell also joined in a conversation, followed by a pair of songs. Their conversation, and closing songs, are also available to view online.

The 2024 Alabama Colloquium series was made possible by the support of dozens of sponsors and partners, and by the 2,000-plus folks who attended. Presenting sponsors of the series included Regions Bank, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Huntsville Utilities, and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

 

A (50th) year to remember

Thanks to the support and involvement of Alabamians statewide, the Alabama Colloquium series was just one among many highlights from 2024.

Over the course of its 50th anniversary, the Alabama Humanities Alliance:

Awarded roughly $380,000 in grants to help dozens of nonprofits put on humanities-rich public programming statewide. (Applications now open for 2025 grants)

Turned our Healing History pilot into a long-term initiative to bridge divides and bring Alabamians together through conversation.

Brought a Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Crossroads, to five rural communities statewide, enabling nearly 5,000 Alabamians to share their small-town stories.

Grew AHA’s Alabama History Day program with our first official regional contest, in Mobile, and our first-ever AHD for incarcerated youth, at Mt. Meigs.

Reached nearly 2,500 Alabamians in 20-plus counties through our Road Scholars, who delivered 79 fascinating talks in community libraries, schools, historic sites, and more.

Considered our past, present, and future through a 50th anniversary issue of Mosaic magazine. (Sign up for Mosaic)

Explored the essence of Alabama through the lens of some of our state’s compelling writers, artists, and thinkers. Read our My Alabama Story series.

And there’s much more already scheduled for 2025: Expanded opportunities to engage with Healing History; our next Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Spark!; a new home for our Alabama History Day state contest at Troy University in Montgomery; a weeklong Stony the Road teacher institute exploring Alabama’s civil rights legacy; double the award funding for teachers named 2025 Riley Scholars, and a fall 2025 Alabama Colloquium in Mobile.

None of this is possible without the support of Alabamians across the state. Thank you for helping us share our collective stories. The stories of our hometowns, our neighbors, ourselves. The stories that help us understand where we come from and who we are. And bring us ever closer toward one another.

If you’d like to support AHA’s next 50 years, consider making a year-end gift. 

About the Alabama Humanities Alliance
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grantmaking and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more at alabamahumanities.org.