Dear AAS community – members, fellows, and friends:
We received word on April 3 that AAS’s National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship grants have been terminated.
Though not unexpected, this news is nonetheless wrenching. Since 1976-1977, NEH fellows have been the linchpin of AAS’s scholarly programs. In residence for four to twelve months, NEH fellows have drawn upon the richness of our collections, the expertise of our staff, and the time for research and writing to produce groundbreaking books in all fields of American history and culture. Those books have changed the way we think about the American past. Many have won the highest honors not just in their own fields but in all fields, including Pulitzer Prizes.
Our NEH fellows have also been leaders within our own community: mentors and generous colleagues to the scholars and artists, including many rising scholars, with whom they share the reading room and break bread in the fellows’ residences. They have been the core of each annual fellowship cohort for nearly half a century. Many have returned to AAS to deliver programs, have maintained enduring relationships with one another and with our staff, and have served on our Council.
Also in early April, AAS signed onto a statement from the National Humanities Alliance describing the essential mission of the National Endowment for the Humanities. NEH’s mission resonates with our own—to cultivate a deeper understanding of the American past, grounded in our ever-growing collection of original sources. This is essential work in a democratic society, and AAS will continue to do that work every day.
Scott E. Casper
President