Ways to Give
Your support for the humanities helps keep our state creative, connected, and in community.
Celebrate the Humanities in Action
2026 Honorees: Susan Eleuterio, nationally recognized folklorist, philanthropist, and former Illinois Humanities board chair; Ofelia Guerra, founder of Ballet Folklorico; historian and Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Mike Matejka; Daniel Kisslinger and Damon Williams, co-founders of Respair Media and AirGo; and Mayer Brown, provides vital corporate and pro bono work that sustains civic and cultural institutions
Public Humanities Awards 2026
Join us on Wednesday, September 23, at the Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center from 5:30 - 9:30 p.m. to celebrate this year’s Public Humanities Award honorees, who demonstrate how the humanities are lived every day in Illinois communities, through culture, history, journalism, education, and civic engagement.
This unforgettable evening of celebration promises to be enlightening, fun, and connecting.
Reserve Your Seat Today | Become a Sponsor
Can't attend? Make a donation.
Support the Humanities
Individual Giving
Your investment offers critical funds that keep our programming free and available to all Illinoisians and supports the public humanities' role in making people’s lives better and our state more resilient.
See Your Impact
Illinois Humanities is the only statewide nonprofit working to activate the humanities to foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement in Illinois. Here's some of what you helped us accomplish in 2025.
4,936
Illinoisians in 44 counties engaged in culture, history, and social issues through free Road Scholars Speakers presentations
333
arts and culture leaders from over 188 organizations attended our inaugural One State in the Arts and Humanities Conference
227
free events fostered reflection, built community, and strengthened civic engagement across every legislative district
988
youth poets statewide participated in our annual Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards
Recent Grantee Partners
250th Gifts (FY2026)
- African American History Museum, $5,000.00
- American Indian Center of Chicago, $5,000.00
- Bond County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Bronzeville / Black Chicagoan Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Bureau County History Center, $5,000.00
- Cairo Historical Preservation Project, $5,000.00
- Calumet City Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Canton Area Heritage Center, $5,000.00
- Champaign County African American Heritage Trail, $5,000.00
- Chicago Collections Consortium, $5,000.00
- Chicago Cultural Alliance (CCA), $5,000.00
- DeKalb County History Center, $5,000.00
- Elgin History Museum, $5,000.00
- Fund for Innovative TV DBA Media Burn Archive, $5,000.00
- Haitian American Museum of Chicago, $5,000.00
- Historic Ellisville Restoration Organization (H.E.R.O.), $5,000.00
- Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, $5,000.00
- Illinois Labor History Society, $5,000.00
- Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS), $5,000.00
- Lansing Historical Society, $5,000.00
- LaSalle County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Lawrence County, Illinois, Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Livingston County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Macoupin County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Madison County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- MARSHALL PUBLIC LIBRARY, $5,000.00
- McHenry County Historical Society & Museum, $5,000.00
- National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial, $5,000.00
- National Museum of Gospel Music, $5,000.00
- North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society, $5,000.00
- Peoria Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Pike County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (P.E.R.R.O), $5,000.00
- Project 15 Corp, $5,000.00
- Rapbrary, $5,000.00
- Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Saline County Historical Society, $5,000.00
- Savanna Historical Society NFP, $5,000.00
- Shorefront Legacy Center, $5,000.00
- SI Achievers dba African American Museum of Southern Illinois, $5,000.00
- Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society, $5,000.00
- The Historical Society of Brooklyn Illinois, Incorporated, $5,000.00
- Walls Turned Sideways, $5,000.00
- Western Illinois Museum, $5,000.00
- Winnebago Community Historical Society (WCHS), $5,000.00
Envisioning Justice Grants (FY2026)
- Bobby Price from Lawndale People, $5,000.00
- Build Communities Not Prisons, $10,000.00
- Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation, $10,000.00
- Despertar Latino, $10,000.00
- Greater Rock Development Corporation, $10,000.00
- Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, $10,000.00
- Hannah Johnson, $5,000.00
- MAMAS Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity, $10,000.00
- Melissa Pavlik, $5,000.00
- Migrant Support Collective, $10,000.00
- Mud Theatre Project, $10,000.00
- Prison + Neighborhood Arts / Education Project, $10,000.00
- Stateville Speaks, $10,000.00
Healing Illinois Grants (FY2026)
- Adler University, $40,000.00
- Advocacy & Education Consulting PLLC, $15,000.00
- Affinity Community Services, $20,000.00
- Alternatives, Inc., $30,000.00
- American Indian Center of Chicago, $30,000.00
- Art for Healing Trauma, $38,500.00
- Asian Health Coalition, $40,000.00
- Ballet 5:8, $40,000.00
- Brightpoint, $40,000.00
- Chicago History Museum, $20,000.00
- Circles & Ciphers, $20,000.00
- DeKalb County History Center, $20,000.00
- Forefront, $40,000.00
- Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago & Northwest Indiana, $40,000.00
- Grupo Salto, $20,000.00
- H.O.P.E., Inx., $40,000.00
- Illinois Public Health Institute, $40,000.00
- League of Women Voters of Illinois Education Fund, $40,000.00
- Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, $40,000.00
- School of Opulence, $40,000.00
- Shorefront Legacy Center, $20,000.00
- South Asian American Policy & Research Institute, $20,000.00
- TASC, Inc., $32,000.00
- Trickster Cultural Center NFP, $35,000.00
- University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, $40,000.00
- Western Illinois Dreamers, $40,000.00
- Women Initiating New Directions (WIND), $10,000.00
Project Grants (FY2026)
- About Face Theatre Collective, $10,250.00
- Chih-jou Cheng, $4,250.00
- Chicago Dance History Project, $10,250.00
- Chicago Poetry Center, $4,250.00
- The Community Archive, $4,250.00
- Community TV Network, $4,250.00
- Coulterville Historical Society, $1,500.00
- Toussaint Daniels, $4,250.00
- Dorrah Alharbi, $4,250.00
- The Freadom Road Foundation, $10,000.00
- The Friends of the Mount Carroll District Library, NFP, $4,250.00
- Tiffany M. Johnson, $4,250.00
- Kyn 43, $4,250.00
- Lucky Jefferson, $4,250.00
- Mud Theatre Project, $4,250.00
- NONop Arts and Humanities, $4,250.00
- Peoria Proud, $4,250.00
- Quincy Juneteenth Organization, $4,250.00
- The Realitea Project Inc., $9,190.00
- Reimagine Justice Illinois, $10,250.00
- Ten Thirty-One Pictures Foundation, $10,250.00
- Briana Thomas, $4,250.00
- Third City Studio, $10,250.00
- Warsaw Historical Society, $4,250.00
Contact
Suite 650, 125 South Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60603
312.422.5580 312.374.6787 Fax
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Illinois Humanities respects the privacy of its audiences and will at no time sell or distribute personal information to any party not directly affiliated with Illinois Humanities and its programs.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations, or our funders.
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