More than $550,000 in funding relief provided to Indiana humanities organizations through CARES Grants

Nonprofit organizations that provide public humanities programming to Hoosiers across the state will receive more than $550,000 in operating support to help with funding relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indiana Humanities awarded CARES Grants to 80 organizations, from Mishawaka to Milan. Awards range from $1,000 to $15,000, depending on the size of the organization’s budget. 

 The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) provided the funding to Indiana Humanities as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan appropriated by the U.S. Congress. 

 “The CARES Act includes provisions to help small businesses and Hoosiers in many industries, including those employed by public humanities such as cultural sites, libraries, and museums. The funds appropriated for Indiana Humanities CARES Grants will help support these programs through this difficult time,” said Senator Mike Braun. 

 Requests for the grants exceeded $1.3 million, and the 186 applicants expressed $11.7 million in total losses to date, as well as projected losses of $44.9 million through Sept. 30. 

 “We are pleased to have awarded grants to groups large and small, carrying out a variety of programming, in each congressional district and in 51 of our 92 counties,” said Doran Moreland, Indiana Humanities board chair. “Because of the immense need we had to turn down many organizations that are doing good work, including some of our close partners. The grant committees put great care into the review, weighing a number of factors such as public humanities focus, need, audiences served, and geography.” 

CARES Grant recipients

(listed by organization, town and amount received): 

• Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society – Fort Wayne ($5,000)
• Attica Public Library – Attica ($5,000)
• Auburn Automotive Heritage – Auburn ($10,000) 
• Bartholomew County Historical Society – Columbus ($7,500) 
• Bedford Public Library – Bedford ($10,000) 
• Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site – Indianapolis ($7,500) 
• Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library – Bloomfield ($7,500) 
• Brick Street Poetry – Beech Grove ($5,000) 
• Brown County Historical Society – Nashville ($5,000) 
• CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center – Terre Haute ($10,000)
• Carmel Clay Historical Society and Monon Depot Museum – Carmel ($5,000) 
• Cedar Lake Historical Association. – Cedar Lake ($5,000) 
• Clay County Historical Society– Brazil ($5,000) 
• Corning Irish Heritage Center – Montgomery ($1,000) 
• Crawford County Historical and Genealogical Society – Leavenworth ($2,000) 
• Crown Hill Heritage Foundation – Indianapolis ($7,500) 
• Crown Point Community Library – Crown Point ($10,000) 
• Delphi Preservation Society – Delphi ($5,000) 
• Evansville African American Museum – Evansville ($7,500)
• Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science – Evansville ($10,000)
• Evansville Wartime Museum – Evansville ($5,000) 
• Fort Wayne Cinema Center – Fort Wayne ($7,500) 
• Freetown Village – Indianapolis ($5,000) 
• French Lick West Baden Museum – French Lick ($5,000) 
• Friends of the Frankfort Public Library – Frankfort ($15,000) 
• Garrett Public Library – Garrett ($7,500) 
• Grouseland Foundation – Vincennes ($5,000) 
• Gruenewald Historic House – Anderson ($2,500) 
• Hillforest Historical Foundation – Aurora ($5,000) 
• Historic Madison – Madison ($5,000) 
• Hobart Historical Society – Hobart ($5,000) 
• Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library Foundation – Zionsville ($15,000) 
• Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Foundation – New Castle ($7,500) 
• Indiana Historical Society – Indianapolis ($15,000) 
• Indiana Medical History Museum – Indianapolis ($5,000) 
• Indiana State Museum Foundation – Indianapolis ($15,000) 
• Indianapolis Film Project – Indianapolis ($7,500) 
• Indy Reads Books – Indianapolis ($7,500) 
• InterAction Initiative – Mishawaka ($5,000) 
• Irvington Historical Society – Indianapolis ($5,000) 
• Jackson County Public Library – Seymour ($5,000)
• Jefferson County Historical Society – Madison ($5,000) 
• Jennings County Historical Society – Vernon ($5,000) 
• Knox County Public Library – Vincennes ($10,000) 
• Lawrence County Historical and Genealogical Society – Bedford ($5,000)
• Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historic Site – Fountain City ($5,000) 
• Louis J. Koch Family Children’s Museum of Evansville – Evansville ($7,500) 
• Middlebury Community Public Library – Middlebury ($5,000)
• Milan 54 – Milan ($2,500) 
• Monroe County Historical Society – Bloomington ($7,500) 
• Montgomery County Historical Society – Crawfordsville ($2,500) 
• Museum of Miniature Houses and Other Collections – Carmel ($5,000) 
• Newburgh Museum Foundation Corporation – Newburgh ($5,000) 
• North Manchester Historical Society – North Manchester ($5,000) 
• Northern Indiana Historical Society – South Bend ($10,000) 
• Pike County Public Library – Petersburg ($7,500) 
• Porter County Public Library System – Valparaiso ($15,000) 
• Preservation Alliance – Scottsburg ($5,000) 
• Pulaski County Public Library – Winamac ($10,000) 
• Putnam County Museum – Greencastle ($5,000) 
• Shelby County Historical Society and Grover Museum – Shelbyville ($5,000) 
• Shelby County Public Library – Shelbyville ($10,000) 
• Switzerland County Historical Society –Vevay ($5,000) 
• Syracuse-Wawasee Historical Museum – Syracuse ($5,000) 
• The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – Indianapolis ($15,000) 
• The Facing Project Gives – Muncie ($5,000) 
• The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation – Indianapolis ($15,000) 
• The Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana – Peru ($7,500) 
• The Quilters Hall of Fame – Marion ($5,000) 
• Tippecanoe County Historical Association – Lafayette ($7,500) 
• Tipton County Historical Society – Tipton ($5,000)
• Union County Public Library – Liberty ($7,500) 
• Vigo County Historical Society – Terre Haute ($7,500) 
• Vintage Fire Museum and Safety Education System – Jeffersonville ($2,500) 
• Wabash County Historical Museum – Wabash ($7,500) 
• Washington County Historical Society – Salem ($5,000) 
• Wayne County Historical Museum – Richmond ($5,000) 
• Willard Library – Evansville ($10,000) 
• Working Men’s Institute – New Harmony ($5,000) 
• Yorktown Mt. Pleasant Public Library – Yorktown ($7,500) 

 The grants do not require a match and will be distributed to the organizations in June. 

 Organizations with budgets less than $250,000 received up to $5,000; organizations with budgets from $250,000 to $999,999 received $7,500; organizations with budgets from $1 million to $2,499,999 received $10,000 and organizations with budgets of $2.5 million or more received $15,000. 

 “These CARES grants will help meet immediate needs at cultural institutions around the state, allowing Indiana museums, archives, libraries and historical societies to maintain vital operations,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “Thank you to Indiana Humanities for their swift and judicious distribution of CARES Act funding to the many humanities organizations suffering financial distress during the pandemic.” 

 To view an interactive map and more information about the grant recipients, click here.