The West Virginia Humanities Council, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, serves West Virginia through grants and direct programs in the humanities. The Humanities Council budgets more than $600,000 for grants and programs each year. A variety of major grants and mini-grants are offered to nonprofit organizations that support educational programming. The Humanities Council major grants are awarded twice annually for projects requesting over $1,500 and up to $20,000. The next major grant deadline is September 1, 2012.

The West Virginia Humanities Council recently announced the award of eight new major grants:

Shepherd University Foundation, “2012 Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Award and Writerin-

Residence,” $7,100 (Jefferson County); The Friends of Mountwood Park, “Archaeological Field School at the Thornhill Estate at Volcano, West Virginia,” $4,000 (Wood County); Harpers Ferry Historical Association, “Prelude to Freedom: The 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry,” $8,361 (Jefferson County); Marshall University Research Corporation, “Amicus Curiae Lecture Series on Constitutional

Democracy,” $12,043 (Cabell County); Cabell County Public Library, “Ohio River Festival of Books of 2012,” $11,450 (Cabell County); West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, “West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Interactive Map Additions,” $15,700 (Kanawha County); Marshall University Research Corporation, “The Long Civil Rights Movement in America: A Lecture Series,” $7,340 (Cabell County); and, Contemporary American Theater Festival, “2012 Humanities at the Festival,” $17,013 (Jefferson County).

For more information about the West Virginia Humanities Council grants program contact

Humanities Council grants administrator Amy Saunders at (304) 346-8500 or via email at saunders@wvhumanities.org. Grant Guidelines and applications are available on the Humanities Council website, www.wvhumanities.org.