Press Release

THE ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES


$107,460 “We the People” project grant will support programming focusing on American history and culture

CHICAGO – The Illinois Humanities Council is pleased to announce that it has received a $107,460 “We the People” Project Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). “We the People,” an initiative of the NEH, was launched in 2002 and is designed to help address Americans’ historical “amnesia” through the teaching, studying, and understanding of American history and culture.

NEH’s “We the People” grant will support the following IHC programs:


  • Heartland Chautauqua, “Changed Lives: Lewis & Clark Meet the West,” a living history program that brings historical figures from the United States’ westward expansion to small town Illinois. From June 21-26, Alton, Illinois will host five scholar-actors who will perform the lives of various historical figures central to Lewis and Clark’s journey, including Sacagawea and Andrew Jackson.
  • The IHC’s Grants program, which supports organizations statewide who develop and present humanities programs for their communities. The IHC is especially interested in grant applications that focus on American history and culture for its July 15, 2004 major and mini grant deadline. For a copy of the IHC’s grant guidelines, please visit www.prairie.org and click on “Funding Guidelines” under “Grants.” Applications are also available at that location. If you would like to speak to someone about applying for a grant, or would like an application mailed to you, please call (312) 422-5580. You may also e-mail the IHC at ihc@prairie.org.
  • The IHC’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau program, now including presentations related to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which turns 50 this year. New speakers will address a variety of topics, including the integration of the University of Mississippi, The Voting Rights Act of 1965, and African American leadership in the Jim Crow Era.

For more information on “We the People,” visit their website at http://www.wethepeople.gov/. For more information on the Illinois Humanities Council, please call (312) 422-5580, e-mail ihc@prairie.org, or visit www.prairie.org.

DARE TO KNOW

# # #