Statements

Mission

To foster community and civility in Tennessee through public programs that examine and reflect upon ideas, stories, history, arts, and culture.

Background

Humanities Tennessee was incorporated in 1973 as the Tennessee Committee for the Humanities, a state-based program of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The mission to "bring the humanities to the public" was supported solely by federal funds at that time. In its early years, Humanities Tennessee was primarily a re-grant organization, offering funding for humanities projects statewide. We still award approximately $150,000+ annually to cultural organizations in Tennesse, though we are no longer solely a grant-making organization. HT now conducts public humanities programming across the state and raises significant non-federal funds. We focus on local history, literary arts, and civic life. Our work sparks conversations and builds strong communities across Tennessee. Our programs include the annual Southern Festival of Books, Chapter16.org (the State's virtual Center for the Book), the Young Writers' Workshops, Student Reader Days, the Neighborhood Story Project, and Traveling Exhibits, including Smithsonian Museum on Main Street tours. In 2024 we launched the Shared Futures Lab and Tennessee Book Award. Both programs are future-oriented initiatives to help Tennesseans, as a community, create the future they desire and preserve the legacy of notable Tennessee writers.

Learn more and get involved at www.HumTN.org.

Impact

Humanities Tennessee's programs and grants respond to a need for dialogue, civility, an understanding of history, and a love of lifelong learning among Tennesseans. Our programs and grants reach an estimated 500,000 Tennesseans per year and help to strengthen Tennessee communities by nurturing mutual respect and understanding.

For the past 50 years, Humanities Tennessee - the staff and board, volunteers, donors, and community partners - all of us together - have worked to foster community and civility. We have examined and reflected on our stories and ideas through arts, history, and culture.

And that looks like…

- Grant funding to support the cultural infrastructure of Tennessee
- Almost 15 years of online literary content from Chapter 16
- Traveling exhibits and neighborhood story projects
- Young writers honing their skills and building their confidence
- And, 35 years of shared stories through the Southern Festival of Books

These first 50 years are just the beginning. As we reflect on the past, we also look ahead and imagine the next 50 years. How may our work together today foster a future in which Tennesseans seek knowledge, share stories, and unite with empathy to create more connected communities? These are the questions we explore through our newest initiative, the Shared Futures Lab. In less than six months, we have crossed the state for interviews and conversations reflected in our online blog and new podcast, Humanities in Action. Through never-before-told narratives and deep-dives into community history, we are engaging citizens, scholars, activists, and students in conversations about the future we hope to create. This program is already contributing to more critical thinking, understanding, community, and equity.

Needs

Humanities Tennessee's strategic goal and need is to diversify funding and to create sustainable revenue. We have revamped our annual Authors in the Round fundraising event in support of the Southern Festival of Books, and in 2023 celebrated the largest event, both in size (440 guests) and revenue ($200,000+).
Needs include:
1.) General operating support - Gifts of every size are appreciated.
2.) Funding to present the Southern Festival of Books (budget is about $575,000). Sponsorship is $1,000-$25,000 with benefits relative to the amount.
3.) Funding for Chapter16.org covers editorial expenses, site maintenance, enhancement, and expansion (more than $100,000 annually).
4.) HT welcomes volunteer support, particularly for the Festival in October.

CEO Statement

Humanities Tennessee is the only statewide organization in Tennessee that focuses on promoting, supporting, and celebrating the humanities. We do so through history, language, and literature programming that runs deep throughout our state into cities, rural communities, and neighborhoods. HT thrives on partnerships and collaboration and enjoys longstanding relationships with the Nashville Public Library, other libraries in Tennessee, Tennessee Public Schools, Parnassus Books, the Nashville Scene and other publications throughout the state that reprint articles from Chapter16.org and promote the Festival each year, Vanderbilt University's Robert Penn Warren Center, and many others. These partners connect us to new audiences and support our programming financially and with other resources. W e continue to evaluate our programming for effectiveness, responsiveness, relevance, and need through surveys and other feedback and make adjustments as required. During fiscal year 2023, we developed and implemented a comprehensive program evaluation toolkit to better understand the reach and impact of our programs, and to inform future decision-making and resource allocation.

We are grateful for our community partnerships and to the citizens of Tennessee for engaging with public humanities programs and to the many volunteers who make events like the Southern Festival of Books possible.

Board Chair Statement

HT has spent the last several years, under the leadership of Tim Henderson, developing and strengthening its infrastructure. This has included focusing on recruiting new board members, targeting diverse candidates and making deeper connections within communities throughout the State to raise more money and to increase our program reach. To date, these goals are being met and HT is reaching newer and broader audiences as well as raising more money from additional sources. The greatest challenge faced by HT is our dependence on funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. To date, HT has begun identifying new funding sources, cultivating these relationships and working to secure new and increased revenue. The work is ongoing but paying off. Generally, HT's programs are well received by local, regional and national audiences. The majority of HT's programs are free to the public and are located in ADA and public transportation-accessible facilities in communities around the state. Chapter16.org is innovative and proving to be ahead of the curve in the literary field. Other Humanities councils around the country as well as other publications have begun exploring and developing online literary resources for their state and readership. The Southern Festival of Books is one of HT's most popular programs and continues to draw authors from across the country who participate or being a part of the Festival each year. The Board is strong and is supporting HT and its staff at 100% with financial gifts and volunteer participation. We believe in the work of HT and support the staff who are equally dedicated with gifts of support and time and energy exerted to develop and implement programming. I am honored to be a part of the HT Board and to serve as Chair.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Arts,Culture & Humanities NEC
Secondary Category:	Education  - Elementary & Secondary Schools
Tertiary Category:	Youth Development  - Youth Development Programs

Areas Served

Although Humanities Tennessee's office is based in Middle Tennessee, we are a statewide organization and focus our efforts on reaching individuals in communities large and small, rural and urban, of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our statewide board includes representation from all of Tennessee's economic development districts to ensure both rural and urban perspectives are part of our planning and programs.

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