West Virginia Humanities Council

09/30/2026

We're in DC this week celebrating the National Endowment for the Arts 2026 National Heritage Fellows, including West Virginia's own Gerry Milnes who received the distinguished Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship! We're honored to be here with Gerry's family and friends Augusta Heritage Center

Last night, the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) screened beautiful short films of each of the fellows followed by a Q&A. Gerry's film features many familiar West Virginia traditional artists and musicians. Watch them now at this link! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLFjbhoHvdPA&si=kTknJmHkSMUmY6mB

Tonight at 5:30PM ET, the fellows will all be honored at the Library of Congress, where there will be performances and speeches. You can watch this event live from home tonight at this link: https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage

Congratulations to all the 2026 National Heritage Fellows!

Celebrating the 2026 NEA National Heritage Fellows. From Texas borderlands fiddles and Afro-Caribbean rhythms to Appalachian storytelling, Irish wooden flute...

09/28/2026

Have you seen this wonderful display featuring Rick Atkinson’s books ahead of our 2026 McCreight Lecture in the Humanities ?

Join us Thursday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Capitol Theater in Charleston for an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Rick Atkinson as he explores the American Revolution.

This event is free and open to the public and includes a Q&A and book signing!

Thank you to our friends at Taylor Books for helping us spread the word! 📚

09/22/2026

Check out the Fall 2026 issue of People & Mountains! The West Virginia Humanities Council’s free digital magazine is live at https://wvhumanities.org/

Here is what’s inside:

2026 McCreight Lecture Feature: 3x Pulitzer Prize winner & historian Rick Atkinson speaks Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m., at Charleston’s Capitol Theater. (Contact Kyle Warmack at [email protected] or 304-346-8500 for lecture details.)

Traditional Fiber Arts: Enrica McMillon of Elkins breaks down the history of box tape looms (part of the national By the People initiative with the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage).

Appalachian History & Culture: A look into Preston County sportsman/conservationist/writer George Bird Evans and a celebration honoring 2026 National Heritage Fellow Gerry Milnes.

West Virginia Folklife Program

https://wvhumanities.org/

09/21/2026

From The Dominion Post, "Small grants make big difference: West Virginia Humanities Council funds disbursed in communities"

Joni Morris had no idea she would stumble upon an ancient graveyard behind Bass Pro Shops on Lawless Road in Morgantown, let alone her own family’s. She said the Breakiron cemetery is about a quarter of the acre it should be, per the cemetery deed, and there’s a sediment pond within 60 feet of t...

09/14/2026

Tribute to the 2026 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows, including folklorist and musician Gerry Milnes of Elkins, WV

09/11/2026

In 2015, the West Virginia Humanities Council partnered with West Virginia military veterans to produce a six-part web series, "West Virginia Standing Together: The Humanities and the Experience of War." Filmmakers Calvin Grimm and Tyler Miller of Lost Valley Studios, both veterans themselves, produced six 30-minute episodes that explore the experiences and stories of West Virginia veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the First Gulf War, and the post-9/11 era.

You can view all six episodes on the Humanities Council website:
https://wvhumanities.org/programs/west-virginia-standing-together/

09/03/2026

Wishing a very happy 80th birthday to old-time music legend John Morris! Born Sept. 3, 1946, in Ivydale, Clay County, he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2018 and named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow (the nation's highest honor in traditional arts) in 2020. He also received the Vandalia Award (our state's highest folklife honor) from West Virginia Arts & Heritage in 2025.

To learn more, you can read his e-WV bio here: https://wvencyclopedia.org/entries/2373

09/02/2026

This week, the West Virginia Humanities Council awarded 27 minigrants to nonprofit organizations across the state. You can read the full list of grant recipients in this press release:https://wvhumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/MediaRelease_HumanitiesCouncil_announces_minigrant_awards.pdf