The West Virginia Encyclopedia Online? Deleted from the internet.

The West Virginia Folklife Program’s preservation of our unique traditions and culture? Gone.

Hundreds of annual History Alive! presentations to schools, libraries, churches, and community centers across West Virginia? Cancelled.

Last week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted the National Endowment for the Humanities with devastating funding cuts, putting West Virginia’s rich history, cultural tourism, and community programs at immediate risk. These cuts will pull nearly a million dollars per year in Congressionally approved federal funding out of West Virginia, directly affecting historical societies, museums, festivals, and organizations that work tirelessly to preserve and share the enthralling story of our Mountain State.

In our role as the NEH’s official state affiliate, the West Virginia Humanities Council, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, has delivered NEH funding throughout West Virginia since 1974, providing programs and giving grants to organizations and initiatives that celebrate our cultural heritage. These efforts ensure that West Virginia’s history and culture remain alive and accessible for future generations.

Our grants and programs can be found in all 55 counties, everywhere from cities to the smallest communities. We have supported initiatives as wide ranging as Arthurdale Heritage in Preston County and the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown. Our West Virginia National Cemeteries Project and the History Alive! speaker series are just two examples of how we bring state, national, and military history to life and create invaluable experiences for students, residents, and visitors alike.

Along with important programs such as these, our support for West Virginia studies and civics programs has made the West Virginia Humanities Council a national leader in the arts and humanities for people of all ages.

Kenzie New Walker, executive director of Matewan’s West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, attests that Council grants “have enabled us to create new permanent exhibits, support Appalachian authors, and launch innovative programs — many of which continue to thrive well beyond their initial funding. The success of the Museum over the past decade is, in large part, thanks to invaluable partners like the West Virginia Humanities Council.”

But our work is about more than just preserving history — it’s also about contributing to a thriving cultural economy by fueling our state’s businesses and tourism industry. We coordinate with in-state businesses, corporations, foundations, and cultural organizations to create productive, sustainable partnerships between the public and private sectors that benefit us all.

The West Virginia Humanities Council is federal funding done right — locally directed and locally delivered, with transparency and accountability to the people of West Virginia.

West Virginia’s congressional representatives know the impact of our work, and have demonstrated their support year after year through regular appropriations.

With the help of congressionally approved funding, our Council contributes over $1.2 million annually to the state’s cultural economy. DOGE’s proposed cuts would terminate that contribution, effective immediately.

If budget cuts must come, those cuts should not reverse the essential work of sustaining and growing our state’s arts and humanities by decimating our up-and-coming cultural heritage economy — work that is supported by the West Virginia Humanities Council on every day of the year, everywhere in the Mountain State.

Eric Waggoner is the executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council.