Tarnowksi Attends Advocacy Forum in Washington DC

Now more than ever, funding for the humanities is crucial as we seek to stay connected with our communities.

Every spring, representatives of humanities organizations across the country convene in Washington, DC to advocate for more federal funding for humanities research, teaching, and programming. And this year, the Leslie Center was there!

Humanities representatives met for three days in Washington, DC in March, just before travel restrictions set in. The event gave advocates for the humanities from across the U. S. the chance to learn from one another and meet with members of Congress to highlight the value of humanities work. Hosted by the National Humanities Alliance, a coalition of organizations dedicated to advancing humanities education, research, preservation and public programs, the forum matched advocates with U. S. Senators and representatives of their home states.

Andrea Tarnowski of the Leslie Center thus met with staffers of New Hampshire senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan (both of whom have also served as New Hampshire govenors), as well as with aides to Congresswoman Annie Kuster and Congressman Chris Pappas. Tarnowski was happy to report broad interest and support among NH representatives for the National Humanities Alliance's principle advocacy requests: funding for 1) the National Endowment for the Humanities 2) Title VI - Fulbright-Hays, which supports foreign language acquisition and international learning, and 3) NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration, which preserves and makes accessible to the public the historical records of the U.S. government.

Attendees at the National Humanities Alliance meeting also had the opportunity to discuss a strong humanities presence in higher education, and to listen to a conversation between Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, and Michael Witmore, Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library.