Skip to main content

Office of Challenge Grants

Featured Project Articles

Image of Mannie Jackson

Featured Project

Harlem Globetrotter, Business Executive, and .... Humanities Philanthropist

It’s unlikely Mannie Jackson dreamed, while attending racially-segregated schools in 1950s downstate Illinois, that one day he would be involved in an educational endowment designed to encourage humanities exploration.

Posted: December 7, 2012
Child playing phonograph in cabin home

Featured Project

From Chopin to Public Enemy

Some people can wax philosophical about a CD.

Posted: May 16, 2012
Post-renovation Byrne-Reed House

Featured Project

Hidden Treasure

When looking for a new home to replace its cramped office condo in a suburban strip mall far from downtown Austin, Humanities Texas director, Michael Gillette, liked the location of the Texas Oil Company building, just blocks from the state capitoI.   But while it had abundant space, access to parking, and a fair price, it was ugly: its cheap stucco façade was only surpassed by a bland interior.

Posted: May 15, 2012
Moose in snow

Featured Project

Moving Off the "Moose Highway"

How a new home brought greater visibility to the Vermont Humanities Council--and a safer drive to the council's friends and staff.

Posted: January 18, 2012
painting of North Haven, ME in 1907

Featured Project

Preserving an Island's History

North Haven is a small island community off the coast of Maine, with a history dating back to 1762 when the first permanent settler arrived. Thanks to a $60,000 NEH challenge grant, matched by $180,000 in nonfederal donations, North Haven was able to build an archives building to safeguard the community’s historical documents.

Posted: June 30, 2011