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Dwindling Funds Led to Abundance of Data on Colonial California

Over three decades, I've aided Californians in self-discovery and historical understanding, primarily funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has now dismantled it.

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Dwindling Funds Led to Abundance of Data on Colonial California

In a straightforward, conversational tone, let's delve into the role of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in shaping our understanding of history and culture. I've spent three decades as a history professor, all thanks to the NEH, a tiny, underfunded government agency that's been gutted by recent administration changes.

The NEH has been instrumental in our collective quest for self-awareness and understanding of our society. Since its establishment in 1965, it has funded over 70,000 projects across all 50 states, leading to the creation of 9,000 books including 20 Pulitzer Prize winners, 500 film and media programs, and the editing and publication of the papers of influential figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Ernest Hemingway.

As Congress intended when they founded the NEH, it aims to affirm and acknowledge the importance of wisdom and vision in citizens for a healthy democracy. Through its financial support, it's given "full value and support" to the humanities, helping us better comprehend the past, scrutinize the present, and envision the future.

In terms of raw funding, NEH's annual disbursements amount to roughly $100 million over three generations, with most grants being for $50,000 or less. The majority of this funding flows directly to individual states' humanities councils.

From a more personal perspective, I experienced the NEH's impact firsthand as a struggling graduate student in the 90s. With financial support from the NEH, I completed my dissertation on colonial California, a field that had been left out of our national narrative. The resulting book introduced the concept of Vast Early America, a comparative and continental vision of early America now widely embraced.

In the early 2000s, I worked with the Huntington Library Research Division to create an online database of people affiliated with California missions before 1850. Today, this database informs dozens of articles and books on early California, helping thousands trace their ancestry back to 18th-century pueblos and Native villages.

More recently, with NEH backing, I collaborated with a team of researchers to create visualizations of Native movements to California missions. These visualizations have been showcased in museums across Southern California, shedding new light on the impacts of Spanish colonization.

These are just a few examples of the NEH's contributions to the cultural fabric of Southern California. Given its incredibly minor share (0.0029%) of the federal budget, the financial savings from zeroing out the endowment are trivial. However, the loss to our society and future generations would be incalculable.

In these trying times when challenges to the constitutional order, the economy, and society abound, we need a robust humanities sector now more than ever. As Wise words in the congressional legislation that created the NEH remind us, the federal government has a "necessary and appropriate" role in fostering a climate encouraging freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry, and in providing the materials necessary for such exploration. These words echo now, then, and forever.

Steven W. Hackel, chair of the Department of History at UC Riverside, is the author of various books, including "Junipero Serra: California's Founding Father."

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  1. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) plays a significant role in shaping our understanding of history and culture, as it has funded over 70,000 projects across all 50 states since 1965.
  2. NEH funding has led to the creation of 9,000 books, including 20 Pulitzer Prize winners, 500 film and media programs, and the editing and publication of the papers of influential figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Ernest Hemingway.
  3. As a history professor in Los Angeles, I can personally attest to the NEH's impact, as it helped me complete my dissertation on colonial California and introduce the concept of Vast Early America.
  4. The NEH's financial support has also contributed to the cultural fabric of Southern California by creating online databases and visualizations that inform articles, books, and museum exhibits.
  5. In challenging times for our democracy, economy, and society, it's crucial to maintain a robust humanities sector, as the federal government has a "necessary and appropriate" role in fostering freedom of thought, imagination, and inquiry.
  6. The NEH's annual disbursements amount to around $100 million over three generations, with most grants being for $50,000 or less, and the majority of this funding flowing directly to individual states' humanities councils.
  7. The loss of the NEH would be incalculable for future generations, given its minuscule (0.0029%) share of the federal budget, while the financial savings from zeroing out the endowment are trivial.
Spending three decades educating Californians about personal insights and local history, largely through financial aid from the National Endowment for the Humanities, has now been dismantled by President Trump.

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