Opinion: Humanities Kansas has given state ‘a better view of the future.’ DOGE cuts threaten mission.

A TALK book discussion takes place at the Graham County Public Library in Hill City. (Graham County Public Library)

Opinion

Julie Mulvihill, guest editorialist, Kansas Reflector

“An advanced civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone.”

Let’s hear it for humanities!

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. The legislation combines technical information needed for a new law with aspirational language needed to describe its purpose: An advanced civilization, along with investing in science and technology, must also “give full value and support to the other great branches of scholarly and cultural activity in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future.”

The legislation established the National Endowment for the Humanities, which was designed to keep Americans engaged and thinking about democracy and ideas. The work of state humanities councils — there is one in every state and territory, including Humanities Kansas — has been embraced by millions of Americans participating in activities like local preservation projects, community conversations, and local exhibits. This work has also been supported by every Congress for the last 60 years.

Until now.

On April 2, Humanities Kansas received a letter from the Department of Government Efficiency terminating the federal grant that carries out the intent of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. This has significant implications for our state and nation.

Federal funds are appropriated by Congress to the National Endowment for the Humanities and then sent out to the state humanities councils, like Humanities Kansas, that are charged with distributing the funds across their state. It’s a process that works.

Why would the United States government have responsibility to fund projects that explore history and literature and support community treasures like museums and libraries? Because, as the Act explains, democracy depends on the exchange of ideas.

The creation and passage of the 1965 Arts and Humanities Act did not occur in a vacuum, writes historian Jason Steinhauer in a recent History Club commentary.

The space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, the growth and popularity of television, and a cultural focus on technological advancement led a group of passionate Americans to convince members of Congress from both parties that our position in the world — and our very democracy — would be threatened without a serious investment in strengthening civic engagement through arts and humanities.

“Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens,” the legislation states. “It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.”

That statement, and the entire act, is as relevant today as it was then.

My colleague Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, shared in a recent podcast how the state humanities councils do this work: “Person by person, room by room, community by community.”

This is true in Kansas, too.

Ann Dean presents “The Power of Imagery during the Civil Rights Movement” at the Gordon Parks Museum. (Ann Dean)

Last year, Humanities Kansas, using federal funds designated to us, supported 488 events in 126 communities. The events are local — person by person, community by community. The Cherryvale Museum volunteers sat down and interviewed local Vietnam War veterans. The Republic County Historical Museum worked with filmmakers to tell the story of a once thriving town named Minersville, now long gone, built on Kansas’s lignite coal industry.

Historians partnered with Humanities Kansas to create a special speakers bureau to explore the legacy of the 1954 landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka on its 70th anniversary. Four speakers were invited to speak 32 times in 25 different Kansas communities over the course of a year. And free tickets to the U.S. Poet Laureate’s appearance in Salina, as part of an event created by Humanities Kansas, the Salina Art Center, and Salina Arts and Humanities, sold out in 22 minutes. Kansans love the humanities. Demand for humanities resources continue to rise.

Kansans and Kansas organizations turn to Humanities Kansas because they’re looking for something — a financial boost to get a project to the finish line, inspiration from talented authors and thinkers, a chance to connect with others. And Kansans connect with the humanities in ways that make sense to them. It might be through attending local history presentations, poetry hikes, oral histories, book discussions, film festivals, exhibitions and community festivals. It might be collecting recipes from family members passed down by our grandparents or learning about heirloom gardens and growing heritage tomatoes.

These are all activities rooted in stories — stories of our families, our communities, and our nation. These are stories that connect people to place and show us what we, as Kansans and Americans, have valued over time and across generations. They show us what it means to be part of a democracy.

Kansans are engaging with democracy through humanities programming created by and for the local community with a boost, when needed, by Humanities Kansas. At events that are free and open to the public, we see communities invested in civic engagement: “What would happen if you shared your idea, and I shared my idea and then together we came up with an even better idea?”

Isn’t that what we all want? Something better? For our communities and our nation? It’s a movement of ideas. It’s how we strengthen our democracy and honor our country. It’s how we move forward. It’s what the 1965 law intended.

Let’s make sure our Kansas stories — community by community — are preserved.

Julie Mulvihill is the executive director for Humanities Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

This article was republished with permission from the Kansas Reflector. The Kansas Reflector is a non-profit online news organization serving Kansas. For more information on the organization, go to its website at www.kansasreflector.com.