Illinois Humanities announces Activate History Microgrants

The Illinois Humanities Microgrants program supports individuals and small organizations that engage the public with local and regional history collections. This initiative aligns with the foundation's mission to foster an appreciation for the humanities and historical understanding within communities. By providing financial assistance, Illinois Humanities empowers stewards of history to educate and enlighten their communities, emphasizing the value of archives, texts, stories, and photography. The target beneficiaries include individuals, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions such as schools, government institutions, libraries, museums, and churches. The program prioritizes applicants, historical content, or audiences focused within Illinois, with a particular emphasis on organizations having annual budgets less than $400,000. The impact goal is to strengthen historical engagement and education at the local level, ensuring that diverse communities have opportunities to connect with and learn from their past. The program's priorities and focuses revolve around supporting grassroots efforts to bring history to the public. It provides grants of $750, with optional additional stipends: up to $250 for accessibility services like ASL interpretation or captioning, and up to $100 for media services such as documentation and photography. These optional funds highlight the program's commitment to inclusive access and effective dissemination of historical knowledge, reflecting a strategic priority to make history broadly available and engaging. Expected outcomes include an increase in public programs and events that utilize local and regional history collections, enhanced community engagement with historical narratives, and greater accessibility for diverse audiences. Measurable results could include the number of events supported, audience attendance, and the adoption of accessibility and media documentation practices. This program serves as a practical application of Illinois Humanities' strategic goal to support community-driven humanities projects and their theory of change, which posits that by empowering local actors, historical understanding and civic engagement will flourish.