Between 2008 and 2012, institutions and individuals in Washington received $9.4 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Humanities Washington for projects that explore the human endeavor and preserve our cultural heritage. Below are some examples of projects since 2006.
- Until a dam inundated Celilo Falls, tourists went there to watch Native American fisherman on scaffolds pull salmon straight from the crashing waters. Fifty years later, with support from a $42,000 grant, the Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, convened scholars, tribal representatives, and interested members of the public to recall Celilo Falls, which was not just a popular fishing site but an ancient trading hub.
- Consisting of six homestead cabins from the late 1800s containing artifacts such as masks, carvings, and tools, the Orcas Island Historical Museum documents island life both before and after European settlement. A $100,000 Save America’s Treasures grant was awarded to secure, fireproof, and control these historic buildings’ interior climate.
- With support from a $625,000 grant, the Washington State Library, Olympia, is digitizing 200,000 pages of historic newspapers from 1870 to 1922 such as the Yakima Herald and the Tacoma Times. This work is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program, an NEH–Library of Congress collaboration.
- Supported by a $213,000 grant, Civility and American Democracy, drew scholars of history, philosophy, religion, architecture, and communications.
- The Washington State Historical Society received a $215,000 grant to preserve and digitize documents, film, photos, videotape, and other materials assembled by a consortium of seventeen college archives documenting women’s history. These collections will be accessible to researchers through one website.
- The Records of Early English Drama (REED) project at the University of Puget Sound has published nearly 16,000 pages of text that have compelled scholars to revise many suppositions about seventeenth-century theater companies. Recipient of two recent grants totaling $350,000, REED is extending its survey to the Inns of Court, a venue for Shakespeare’s plays, and earlier London performance history.
- William Brumfield’s multidecade photographic documentation of historic Russian buildings captured countless images of architectural achievement that might otherwise be forgotten. With support from a $325,000 grant, the University of Washington, Seattle, is preserving 30,000 Brumfield photographs in a text-and-image database.
- Readers of the best-selling Twilight series may think of the Quileute Nation as a tribe of werewolves. With support of a Humanities Washington grant, “Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of Quileute Wolves,” at the Seattle Arts Museum, presented an exhibition of tribal art, ceremonial objects, and historical materials.
- Voices of the First People is an online collection of recordings of traditional songs and language lessons from Vi Hilbert, an Upper Skagit tribal elder who dedicated her life to preserving Lushootseed, the language of Chief Seattle.
- The Cowlitz County Historical Museum, Kelso, hosted the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition “Key Ingredients: America by Food.” The museum also worked with the local farmers market and gardening association to plant a victory garden and donate hundreds of pounds of food to a local food bank.