The West Virginia Humanities Council, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, serves West Virginia through grants and direct programs in the humanities.

The Humanities Council budgets nearly $700,000 for grants and programs each year. A variety of grants are offered to nonprofit organizations that support educational programming.

Humanities Council mini-grants, which support projects that request $1,500 or less, are offered four times per year. The next Humanities Council mini-grant deadline is Apr. 1.

The West Virginia Humanities Council recently awarded four mini-grants:

• Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society, “Letters from Liberia: Voices of Jefferson County African Americans,” history project and public program;
• Wyoming County Historical Museum, “Save Our History,”archival project;
• Greenbrier Historical Society, “Native American Heritage Gathering,” history event; and
• Appalachian Forest Heritage Area, “Sustaining the Appalachian Forest: Healthy Forests for the Common Good,”exhibit (Randolph County).

For more information about the West Virginia Humanities Council grants program contact grants administrator Erin Riebe at 304-346-8500 or via email at riebe@wvhumanities.org.

Grant guidelines and applications are also available on the Humanities Council website, www.wvhumanities.org.