Georgia Humanities Awards Fall 2025 Grants to 21 Organizations Statewide
Georgia Humanities has awarded $51,584.31 in grants to 21 Georgia educational and cultural organizations through its Fall 2025 grant cycle, selected from 45 applications requesting $93,012.31.
Nearly 45% of this cycle’s grant recipients are first-time Georgia Humanities grantees, reflecting the organization’s commitment to expanding access to public humanities funding and strengthening local capacity across the state.
Funded projects are based in ten communities spanning ten congressional districts and will generate programming available to audiences in all 159 Georgia counties, underscoring Georgia Humanities’ role as a statewide partner in civic and cultural life.
Several awards also support projects aligned with Georgia Humanities’ America250 initiative, a special themed option offered within this grant cycle. These projects explore the ideals and legacies of the American Revolution—its aspirations and contradictions, its struggles and consequences, and the questions it continues to raise as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.
“These grants demonstrate how the humanities help communities explore who we have been, who we are, and who we hope to become,” said Dr. Mary McCartin Wearn, President of Georgia Humanities. “We are proud to support projects that are rooted in place, responsive to local voices, and meaningful to Georgians across the state, especially as we look ahead to America’s 250th anniversary.”
Georgia Humanities anticipates launching a Spring 2026 grant cycle. Additional details will be announced on the organization’s website.
The Port of Savannah: 80 Years of Driving Georgia’s Economy
Georgia Council on Economic Education| Atlanta (5th Congressional District) | $2,500
By offering a specialized teacher workshop focused on the Port of Savannah, this project equips educators with the tools to teach one of Georgia’s most influential economic engines. Participants will gain practical knowledge they can immediately bring into their classrooms, strengthening K–12 understanding of global trade and statewide economic growth.
The Carter Legacy
Georgia College| Milledgeville (10th Congressional District) | $2,500
This symposium will examine Jimmy Carter’s life and leadership in the context of the nation’s founding ideals. Scholars and participants will discuss Carter’s contributions to public service, diplomacy, and democratic principles as part of the America250 commemoration.
Food and the Soul of America
Chattahoochee Valley Libraries| Columbus (2nd Congressional District) | $2,500
Exploring American identity through food, this series blends exhibits, film screenings, author talks, and community programs. Nationally recognized writers and Georgia experts will illuminate how cuisine ties together history, family, migration, and culture—inviting participants to consider what our shared table reveals about the nation.
We Write Well
Georgia Southern University| Statesboro (12th Congressional District) | $2,500
Monthly community workshops will provide system-impacted individuals with a supportive environment to reclaim their stories through writing. The project centers literacy, healing, and empowerment while working to reduce public stigma and strengthen community connection.
Muscogee Ancestral Lands
University of West Georgia| Carrollton (3rd Congressional District) | $2,250
Drawing from extensive research conducted with the Muscogee Nation, this event highlights West Georgia’s Indigenous history and its living legacies. Community members will gain insight into the deep cultural, geographic, and historical ties the Muscogee people maintain with their ancestral homelands.
Creatively Speaking
National Black Arts Festival | Atlanta (5th Congressional District) | $2,500
NBAF’s program begins with a screening of Titus Kaphar’s film Shut Up and Paint and continues with a conversation between Kaphar, Masud Olufani, and moderator Dr. Fahamu Pecou. The event encourages dialogue about artistic agency, race, and the role of creative work in shaping public narratives.
Georgia’s Fall Line
Columbus Museum| Columbus (2nd Congressional District) | $2,500
Focusing on Georgia’s Fall Line cities, this exhibition highlights the mills, transportation networks, and economic forces that shaped the region. Through stories of industry, migration, and community leadership, visitors will see how these cities contributed to statewide development.
Washington’s Revolutionary Tent Visits
Coastal Georgia Historical Society | St. Simons Island | (1st Congressional District) | $2,500
The Coastal Georgia Historical Society will host the Museum of the American Revolution’s First Oval Office Project at Gascoigne Bluff on St. Simons Island, featuring a full-scale replica of George Washington’s Revolutionary War tent. Visitors will help raise the tents and experience an interpretive encampment led by six costumed historical interpreters.
Jazz of the City: 50 Years of WCLK 91.9FM
Culture Centers International | Atlanta (5th Congressional District / Program in 2nd District) | $2,500
Marking half a century of Atlanta’s iconic jazz station, this project collects stories from the people who shaped WCLK’s legacy. DJs, musicians, scholars, and community voices will share their experiences, building an oral history archive that honors jazz as a foundational African American art form and a key piece of Atlanta’s cultural identity.
Digital Humanities: From Beowulf to Generative AI
Georgia Southern University| Statesboro (12th Congressional District) | $2,339.31
High school students will step into the world of digital humanities during a week-long summer camp that blends historical English studies with modern technologies. Through hands-on activities and AI literacy instruction, participants will explore how digital tools reshape English studies. Resources created for the camp will later support K–12 teachers across the region.
America @ 250 Lecture Series
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Woodruff Arts Center | Atlanta (5th Congressional District) | $2,500
Through a sequence of pre-concert lectures, audiences will delve into the historical and cultural contexts behind selected orchestral works. Discussions will address matters of race, gender, and artistic influence, helping listeners better understand the stories and questions embedded within classical music.
Ralph J. Bunche Traveling Exhibit
Three Rivers Regional Library System| Jesup (multiple counties) (1st and 12th Congressional Districts) | $2,500
Traveling across three libraries, this exhibit will reintroduce communities to the legacy of Ralph Bunche High School, a segregated institution that shaped generations of Black students in Camden County. Exhibits and an accompanying speaker program will reconnect residents with a crucial part of local and state history.
Forging a Nation – Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary with the Statesboro Regional Public Libraries
Statesboro Regional Public Libraries| Statesboro (12th Congressional District) | $1,760
A series of immersive public events—including reenactments, themed fairs, and interactive displays—will invite families to explore Georgia’s Colonial and Revolutionary past. By engaging multiple senses and age groups, the project brings early American history to life within the library system.
Southern LitFest 2026
Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation| Newnan (3rd Congressional District) | $2,500
Focusing on journalists-turned-authors, LitFest 2026 will spotlight the First Amendment and its essential role in creative expression. Featured writers will discuss how their careers in journalism shaped their literary work and how free speech empowers public storytelling.
Celebrating America – “The Declaration of Independence at 250” Conference
Oglethorpe University | Atlanta (5th Congressional District) | $2,500
Oglethorpe University will mark the nation’s semi-quincentennial with a two-day conference examining the principles and legacy of the Declaration of Independence. Presentations and conversations will foster thoughtful engagement with the founding document and its relevance to modern civic life.
An Unseen Revolution
Clayton County Library System | Jonesboro (13th Congressional District) | $2,500
This project brings the American Revolution into the community through exhibits, panels, book displays, and multigenerational programs. Events will highlight underrepresented perspectives and expand public understanding of who shaped the nation’s founding era.
Alice Ryley: An Operatic Reflection on Liberty, Struggle, and Belonging
Georgia Southern University Research & Service Foundation | Savannah (1st Congressional District) | $2,500
Georgia Southern Opera’s production of Alice Ryley retells the story of an Irish servant executed in colonial Savannah. Through music and performance, the opera explores themes of justice, displacement, and resilience rooted in Georgia’s early history.
Culloden: 25 Years of American Independence
Monroe County Historical Society | Forsyth / Culloden (8th Congressional District) | $2,485
Through dual exhibitions, this project examines the transformations that unfolded in America and Georgia after 1776. Indigenous histories, immigration patterns, land expansion, and daily life will all be explored to help visitors understand the nation’s development across two and a half centuries.
Winterville is Revolutionary!
City of Winterville | Winterville (10th Congressional District) | $2,500
Winterville’s citywide commemoration will feature rotating exhibits, performances, and guided battlefield tours. Through visual materials and live interpretation, residents and visitors will encounter stories that place the town’s local history within the broader landscape of the Revolutionary period.
Southern Gothic Film & Lecture Series
Georgia College & State University | Milledgeville (10th Congressional District) | $2,500
Public film screenings and lectures will highlight how the Southern Gothic tradition uses narrative and atmosphere to explore regional identity. A visiting scholar will lead discussions that consider the genre’s influence on literature, cultural memory, and historical interpretation.
Revival: Lost Southern Voices (RLSV) 10th Anniversary
Georgia State University Research Foundation| Atlanta (5th Congressional District) | $2,500
For its tenth year, RLSV continues its mission of celebrating overlooked and underrecognized Southern writers and artists. During this festival, presenters amplify those voices through readings, lectures, and discussions that help restore their visibility and relevance.
Media Contact:
Jen Welborn
jwelborn@georgiahumanities.com
###
