A plan to slash funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities will cripple its Alabama affiliate by ending grant programs and canceling longstanding initiatives that promote history, art and culture throughout the state.

Chuck Holmes, executive director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance announced major cuts to his agency’s services and urged public support in a letter Wednesday.

“Here’s the short answer for what this NEH news means to us in Alabama,” Holmes wrote. “The Alabama Humanities Alliance is the state affiliate of the NEH, and if the NEH’s budget is indeed slashed, then we are likely to lose all or most of the federal funding that sustains us.”

In Washington the NEH was told Tuesday of major cuts to its funding, cancellation of previous grants and massive layoffs.

The cuts are part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s plan to slash federal spending and shrink the government workforce. The DOGE reductions would reduce NEH staff by up to 80 percent. The federal agency currently has 180 employees.

In response, the non-profit Alabama Humanities Alliance has suspended its grants program for initiatives around the state and paused bookings for its Road Scholars speakers program. That program brings experts to libraries, schools and civic organizations. Road Scholar engagements already booked will be honored.

“These decisions are deeply painful to us,” Holmes wrote. “We know Alabamians enjoy hearing from our Road Scholars — that’s why we put on 82 talks across the state last year. And we know how many Alabama nonprofits rely on AHA grants to create vibrant, humanities-rich programming in their local communities.”

Holmes noted that the Alliance in 2024 provided $380,000 to support storytelling festivals, local history projects, cultural celebrations, humanities-focused podcasts and documentaries.

“And we aren’t embellishing when we say folks rely on us for these grants,” Holmes wrote. “When we surveyed our 2024 grant recipients, 90% of them replied that their programming would not have been possible without AHA’s support.”

Holmes urged supporters to donate to the alliance to support existing programs and call their congressional leaders and senators to advocate for the agency.

“We were heartened by our recent meetings in D.C. with Alabama’s Congressional delegation, and have long appreciated their support for our work,” he wrote. “It’s Congressionally appropriated funding, after all, that has long made this federal-state partnership work between the NEH and state humanities organizations like ours.”