Mellon Foundation Provides $850,000 to Support Humanities Faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Charlottesville— Today, Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, announced they will receive a $850,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the research and scholarship of humanities faculty at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Virginia Humanities’ HBCU Scholars Fellowship helps writers, community scholars, faculty members, and doctoral candidates by providing financial support for their research, access to publishing outlets, public promotion, and professional community/peer support.

The announcement comes following the elimination of $1.7M in federal funding for Virginia Humanities and the cancellation of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ longstanding and highly regarded HBCU Fellowship. The Virginia Humanities fellowship is now one of only two national fellowship opportunities dedicated to supporting HBCU humanities faculty in the United States (the other is offered by the American Council of Learned Societies).

The Mellon funding will allow Virginia Humanities to expand the program from focusing only on Virginia institutions and make it available to HBCUs across the nation. “We’re excited to be leading this effort,” said Yosef Medina who directs the program. “Virginia’s unique history—which is central to the narratives of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and traditional communities—provides an unparalleled foundation for this initiative. With Mellon’s support, we can continue sharing these stories and help offset the scarcity of opportunities for this important work.” The award furthers the Mellon Foundation’s mission to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking.

The Mellon Foundation also recently joined the Federation of State Humanities Councils in announcing $15M in emergency operating funds for the national network of state humanities councils. “We are immensely grateful for Mellon’s generous support,” said Virginia Humanities’ executive director Matthew Gibson. “Mellon has been a vocal advocate for the role that arts, culture, and humanities play in exploring our shared humanity and the stories that unite us. Their support has helped ensure we’re able to amplify the stories of Virginia, its people, history and culture.”

Virginia Humanities has supported nine HBCU scholars since the program was established in 2022 with support from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. The first cohort supported by the Mellon funds will begin this summer, 2025 and will be announced in July. Applications for next year’s cohort will open in December. For more information on this and other Virginia Humanities fellowship opportunities, visit VirginiaHumanities.org/fellowships.

Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. We’re headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, but we serve the entire state. We aim to share the stories of all Virginians—or, better yet, find ways for people to share their own stories. We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better. Founded in 1974, we are one of fifty-six humanities councils created by Congress with money and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all Americans. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.