Humanities North Dakota could be forced to close after learning Wednesday all of its federal grant funding was terminated.
The nonprofit, which provides civics, arts and cultural education, relies on funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to cover core operational costs, Executive Director Brenna Gerhardt said.
She said Humanities North Dakota received a letter earlier this week from the National Endowment for the Humanities indicating that a $900,000 grant it received for the 2025 fiscal year was axed effective immediately. The nonprofit, which has four full-time and two part-time staff, had yet to spend about $600,000 of the grant, said Gerhardt.
“We’ll have to close our doors,” she said.
The National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides funding to humanities organizations across the country, is “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda,” Acting Chairman Michael McDonald wrote in the letter.
The letter cites a Feb. 19 executive order by President Donald Trump which the White House says aims to downsize federal bureaucracy.
Other state humanities councils have received similar letters from the federal government revoking their grant money.
The Department of Government Efficiency has recommended that the National Endowment for the Humanities reduce its staff by a significant amount, NPR reported.
Gerhardt said Humanities North Dakota will review its finances to determine how long it will be able to stay open. A lot of programming will have to be cut, she said.
The nonprofit’s programs — which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more — reached an estimated 24,000 people last year, Gerhardt said. During the summer, it hosts a civics education program for high school and middle school social studies teachers. Gerhardt said this program will continue.
“This is what makes it affordable for a lot of people, not just the elite who can afford to go to a program,” said Dina Butcher, who sits on the nonprofit’s board, said of the federal funding. “This puts it in the grasp of just ordinary citizens for these wonderful programs that are offered at a really low cost.”
Congress created the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1965 and appropriates funding for the grants.
Humanities North Dakota sent out emails this week asking its supporters to urge the state’s congressional delegation to restore the funding.
“My sense is that since Congress was the one that allocated the funds that go out to the states, that they should be the ones that claw this whole thing back again,” Butcher said.
Gerhardt said the nonprofit has been in touch with the offices of Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Julie Fedorchak.
In a letter addressed to Hoeven, Gerhardt said Humanities North Dakota has an important role to play in helping to educate North Dakotans about civic life. For example, it’s planning special events to help the state celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.
“Our upcoming commemorative programming — including living history performances, public readings of the Declaration of Independence, and civics education initiatives — is designed to deepen public understanding of our founding principles and engage people of all ages in the
democratic process,” Gerhardt wrote in the letter. “Without continued federal support, much of this programming is in jeopardy.”
A spokesperson for Fedorchak said in an email her staff are looking into the matter.
“We have reached out to the NEH to seek more clarification on this decision, how other states are being impacted, and their approach to state grant funding longer term,” the email said, using an acronym for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
