For almost a month now, the Mississippi Humanities Council has been running a CARES Emergency Grant program with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. We have been accepting applications on a rolling basis with our review committee meeting over Zoom each Friday afternoon to evaluate the applications and make awards. So far, we have awarded over $325,000 to 28 different organizations significantly affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

 

As we started our first review meeting a few weeks ago, one committee member mentioned that it was depressing to read through the applications. I felt the same way. Cultural organizations in Mississippi are struggling as they remain closed to the public. Of course, there is economic desperation almost everywhere, from an ever-growing number of unemployed people to the local restaurants and stores that shape the places we live. Mississippi's institutions of higher learning are facing grim budgets and tough questions about when to welcome students back to their campuses. In short, almost everywhere you look, you see extreme economic hardship brought on by the pandemic. The hardest part of administering this emergency grant fund is having to tell struggling organizations that do important work that they are not eligible to apply since our limited funds require us to focus on humanities-related institutions.

 

We also know the $460,000 we've received from Congress through the NEH is not enough to sustain these cultural institutions for more than a few months, and we are already two months into the crisis. I have talked to many Mississippi museum directors who worry about when they should reopen and how they can ensure their patrons are safe and feel safe in their facilities. Because the truth is that no government official can decree the opening of an economy. Only when people feel safe returning to offices, stores, and museums can we begin to return to normal.

 

And many of our cultural institutions are just beginning to feel the impact on their budgets. Literary festivals that receive significant support from state and local tourism agencies worry whether that support will be available next year. Public libraries fear the effect of reduced local sales taxes on their budgets. University humanities programs will likely be affected as well. As Congress debates future stimulus bills to help shore up the economy, we need to advocate for the importance of these institutions to both our economic and cultural life.

 

Amidst these challenging circumstances, hope can be hard to find. And yet, I see hope in the way cultural institutions have responded to the moment by providing compelling virtual programming. I see hope in my conversations with museum directors who are committed to the safety and well-being of their staffs and patrons while remaining dedicated to their larger mission of fostering Mississippi's cultural life. I see hope in the wisdom that writers and scholars are sharing to help us understand the larger meaning and context of the crisis. And finally, I find hope in the human impulse to connect, which remains strong even as so many of us remain isolated at home. While the near future may be uncertain, I am confident we will emerge from this crisis committed to rebuilding and sustaining the cultural institutions that preserve and tell our stories.