The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government by an act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965. It is a sub-agency of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed in the Constitution Center at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C. From 1979 to 2014, NEH was at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities."
The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is an advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural issues. It works directly with the White House and the three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as other federal partners and the private sector, to advance wide-ranging policy objectives in the arts and humanities. These include considerations for how the arts and humanities sectors can positively impact community well-being, economic development, public health, education, civic engagement, and climate change across the United States.
Joseph Daniel Duffey was an American academic, educator, anti-war activist and political appointee. He was the Democratic Party's candidate in the 1970 U.S. Senate election in Connecticut, losing to Republican Lowell Weicker. He later served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs; the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities; the director of the U.S. Information Agency; and the president or chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Massachusetts system and American University.
Stephen John Brademas Jr. was an American politician and educator originally from Indiana. He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 at the conclusion of a twenty-year career as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In addition to his major legislative accomplishments, including much federal legislation pertaining to schools, arts, and the humanities, he served as the 13th president of New York University (NYU) from 1981 to 1992, and was a member of and subsequently the chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In addition he was a board member of the New York Stock Exchange and the Rockefeller Foundation.
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. census.
Francis Sheldon Hackney was an American educator, historian, and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was president of Tulane University from 1975 to 1980 and president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1993.
James Albert Smith Leach was an American academic and politician. He served as ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 to 2013 and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa (1977–2007).
Bruce Milan Cole was a longtime professor of art history at Indiana University, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a member of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, and the eighth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
William Reynolds Ferris Jr. is an American author and scholar and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. With Judy Peiser he co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tennessee; he was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and is co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.
Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Domestic distribution for the press is currently provided by the University of North Carolina Press's Longleaf Services.
The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities is an honorary lecture series established in 1972 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). According to the NEH, the Lecture is "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities."
William Drea "Bro" Adams is an American educator and advocate for the humanities. He was the tenth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2014 to 2017. He served as the 14th President of Bucknell University from 1995 to 2000, and as the 19th President of Colby College from 2000 to 2014.
Barnaby Conrad Keeney was president of Brown University from 1955 to 1966. He was known and loved by the student body for openness and his dry wit. As he once observed, "One of the joys of the life of an educator, particularly a president, is the amount of free advice he gets." Keeney then served as president of Claremont Graduate University from 1971 to 1976.
Carole McAlpine Watson is an American academic who served twice as acting Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, first in 2009 and again in 2013 to 2014. Watson studied African American literature and authored Her Prologue, a scholarly bibliography of novels by African American women published between 1859 and 1965.
Jon Parrish Peede is an American book editor and literary review publisher, who served as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2018 to 2021.
The Mississippi Writers Trail is a series of historical markers which celebrate the literary, social, historical, and cultural contributions of Mississippi's most acclaimed and influential writers. An advisory committee of state cultural agencies oversees the process of installing historical markers in places of significance to an author's life. To emphasize the literary focus of the trail, the markers are cast in the shape of an open book and display information about the author's life with the goal of educating the public about the legacy of Mississippi writers.
Shelly C. Lowe is an American academic administrator serving as the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
