In light of recent events involving deep cuts to the NEH and the termination of general operating support grants to all state humanities councils, Humanities Montana is currently unable to offer programs and grants.
2025 Grants Awarded
Conrad Public Library Book Club, Conrad Public Library, Conrad, MT, $500. The Conrad Public Library book club meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Conrad Public Library at 15 4th Ave SW, Conrad, MT 59425. To learn more about joining and participating, please contact the Tiffany Christensen (406)271-5751 or visit their Facebook page.
Harlem Public Library Book Club, Harlem Public Library, Harlem, MT, $500. The Harlem Public Library Book Club meets Mondays at 4pm at the Harlem Public Library at 37 1st Ave SE, Harlem, Montana 59526. To learn more about joining and participating, please contact the Colleen Brommer (406)353-2712 or visit their Facebook page.
Preston Hot Springs Town-County Library’s Sorry I’m Late Book Club, Preston Hot Springs Town-County Library, Hot Springs, MT, $500. The Preston Hot Springs Town-County Library’s Sorry I’m Late Book Club meets at 3pm at the library, 203 E Main St Hot Springs, MT 59845. To learn more about joining and participating, please contact Starla Rice at (406)741-3491 or visit their Facebook page.
Darby Community Public Library Book Club, Darby Community Public Library, Darby, MT, $500. The Darby Community Public Library Book Club meets every other month: February, April, June, August, October, and December, on the second Thursday of the month from 4:30 to 6:00pm. The book club meets in the conference room at the Darby Community Public Library at 101 South Marshall Street, Darby, MT 59829. To learn more about joining and participating, please contact Lisa Poe, Darby Library Adult Programing Director at (406)369-5050 or visit the Darby Community Public Library Facebook page.
The North Lake County Public Library’s Bookfest Book Club, North Lake County Public Library, Polson, MT, $500. The Bookfest Book Club meets on the third Saturday of the month from 10:00am-11:00am. No book clubs in June, July, August, or December. The book club meets in the Community Room at the North Lake County Public Library (102 1st Street East, Polson, MT 59860). To learn more about joining and participating, please contact Jennifer Groves at (406)883-8225 or visit the North Lake County Public Library Facebook page.
Homestead Holiday, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT, $650. Taking place in the Tinsley house, the Museum of the Rockies’ 1890s homestead, the Homestead Holiday celebrates holiday traditions of Montana from 1890-1925. Programming will explore and bring to life the shared history and experiences of Montana homesteaders while also sharing and encouraging learning about other traditions such as Indigenous winter traditions with research and interpretation provided by members of the Métis tribe and an educator with extensive Indigenous cultural knowledge.
Book Launch event for Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World by Sally Thompson,Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT, $1,300. The Missoula Art Museum hosted the launch of Sally Thompson’s new book, Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World, on December 18, 2024, alongside a pop-up exhibit showcasing newly discovered 1850s drawings from western Montana. The event will explore the history of the Bitterroot Salish, focusing on their interactions with Father De Smet and the contrasting values between Native American and Euro-American cultures, featuring Salish elders, language, and previously unseen historic artwork. This free event, supported by Humanities Montana, aims to deepen public understanding of the Salish people’s history and heritage.
Queer In and Out of Montana, Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center, Missoula, MT, $2,000. Queer In and Out of Montana is an oral history project that captures the stories of LGBTIQ+ people who have left Montana or who are contemplating doing so. The project is a collaboration between the Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center (WMCC) and students, faculty, and alumni of the University of Montana.
Annual Youth Concert: Saint-Georges’ Sword & Bow, Helena Symphony, Helena, MT, $2,000. The Annual Youth Concert will bring 2,000 4th and 5th grade students from more than 17 elementary schools across the region including underserved communities to an education concert rich in humanities content in partnership with Classical Kids Live. Students in attendance will directly benefit from this program, and for many, it will be their first time in a concert hall and accessing humanities content surrounding the historical context and culture of pre-revolution France and the impact this landscape had on Joseph Bologne’s life and music.
York: Explorer on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Chouteau County Library Foundation, Fort Benton, MT, $2,000. Fort Benton Branch Library will host a unique living history program featuring author, historian, and performer Hasan Davis in a production of “The Journey of York: The Unsung Hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition” on February 10, 2025, at the Montana Agricultural Museum.
History of Indigenous Art Practices & Native Ethnobotany, Columbus High School, Columbus, MT, $1,458. This project serves students at Columbus High School in Columbus, MT. Art teacher Anna Killebrew’s project includes a day with Tim Ryan of Salish Kootenai College to significantly enhance student appreciation of Indigenous art and culture.
Winter Storytelling with Hasan Davis, Travelers’ Rest Connection, Lolo, MT, $2,000. Travelers’ Rest will include author and historian Hasan Davis in the Winter Storytelling program on February 8th, 2025. Davis will appear as York, the enslaved man who accompanied Captain William Clark on the Expedition.
Catalog for Jesse Albrecht Traveling Exhibition, Schoolhouse History & Art Center, Colstrip, MT, $2,000. This project will support the creation of a free catalog to accompany a traveling exhibition titled Vessels of War & Recovery by military veteran artist, Jesse Albrecht. This project creates new understandings of Albrecht’s experiences as a man, a father, a human at war literally and within himself, and an artist. It allows the reader to gain insight into the work and shows connections between scholarly thinking, artwork, and the audience’s experience.
2025 RISE Tribal Education Summit, Montana Office of Public Instruction- Tribal Student Achievement and Relations, Helena, MT, $2,000. The OPI’s RISE Tribal Education Summits are yearly events, co-planned and co-facilitated with Native youth from across the state. This year, students selected the theme of “Wisdom from our ancestors: Hope and purpose for our future”. The RISE Native Student Leadership group brings Native students from across the state together to foster positive peer connections, celebrate Indigenous identities, share cultures, and prepare students to be leaders in their schools, communities, and in their lives after high school.
Centering Indigenous Knowledge webinar series: Spring and Fall 2025, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, $6,561. Following a successful 2024 series, the 2025 Centering Indigenous Knowledge webinar series aims to elevate Indigenous voices and knowledge through eight webinars featuring Montana’s Indigenous scholars. These webinars, including presentations, Q&A, and discussions, will be recorded and available online to reach communities across the state to foster a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures and contributions.
Japanese Festival in Western Montana, University of Montana Western, Dillon, MT, $6,457. This two-day festival featuring Japanese music, literature, food, and art aims to promote cultural exchange, mutual respect, and global interconnectedness. The workshops, lectures, and exhibits will be open to the public and involve many local organizations and businesses.
River Arts & Books 2025 Speaker Series, River Arts & Books, Roscoe, MT, $8,880. River Arts & Books is a community-driven organization in rural Montana dedicated to promoting the humanities through literature and cultural engagement. The 2025 Speaker Series will foster a love for reading, writing, and dialogue in the community through events featuring presentations from esteemed authors held in person and made available online.
Academic WorldQuest 2025: Honoring Indigenous Cultures in Montana and Around the World, World Affairs Council of Montana, Missoula, MT, $5,000. Montana Academic WorldQuest is a three-day nonpartisan global education conference. It creates a place for Montana high school students from every part of the state to learn about the world and each other. This year, in its 20th anniversary, the conference will honor “Indigenous Cultures in Montana and Around the World.”
The Montana Tapestry: People and Places from 1776 to Today, Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT, $7,840. This project will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. The Montana Tapestry traveling exhibit will educate the public on the lesser-known history, people, and places of Montana and highlight Montana’s changing cultural, social, and physical landscapes from 1776 to today. Six sets of banners and interpretive resources will travel throughout Montana state parks visitor centers across each region of the state, delving into our unique past and sparking curiosity to help shape the next 250 years of our state.
Unequal and Unruly: Working Class Women Create Meaning in Montana, 1910 to 1960, Jennifer Hill, Boulder, MT, $4,000. This research project will explore the history of working women in Montana between 1910 and 1960. During this time, working women in Montana taught school, staffed hospitals, kept factories running, and raised children. They danced and loved and paid the rent; they stirred up trouble and talked back. As they navigated cultural constraints and economic limitations, they shaped a modern Montana. The fellowship will support Dr. Hill’s forthcoming academic text and public presentations in the fall of 2025.
The Lives of James P. Beckwourth and the Disappearance of the Black West, Anthony W. Wood, Helena, MT, $4,000. James P. Beckwourth was the first Black man to see and explore much of the Rocky Mountains and Far West during the 1820s–1850s. Since the publication of his wildly successful autobiography in 1856, claims about his life in the West have been endlessly debated, first by his peers in the fur trade and subsequently by early historians of the American West during the first decades of the 20th century. Despite the rise of a new Black Western History since the 1980s, no scholar has attempted a thorough and honest assessment of Beckwourth’s participation in the fur trade, the settlement of western territories, or his prominent place in the turn-of-the-century West’s cultural imaginary. This fellowship will support Dr. Wood’s initial work on an upcoming book and public presentation to address one of the West’s most enduring enigmas.
A Cheyenne Review: Producing Historical Articles Related to the Reservation Era, Clara Caufield, Lame Deer, MT, $4,000. The Northern Cheyenne have a rich and dramatic history. Though small in number, they were extremely adaptive, resilient, and strong. When defeated and forced to give up a nomadic lifestyle and placed on a reservation, their appeal as worthwhile historical subjects largely dropped. Yet, the reservation era presents some of their greatest challenges. The Northern Cheyenne have not only survived but made remarkable accomplishments during the Reservation period, much of which has not been recorded. Clara Caufield will collaborate with professional educators and traditional elders to record and share these stories and histories with tribal members, neighbors and friends, and the world through published articles and public presentations across multiple school districts within Northern Cheyenne communities.
Mapping Indigenous Montana, Delia Hagen, Missoula, MT, $4,000. “Mapping Indigenous Montana” is a deep mapping project that intensively reconstructs urban indigenous geographies in settlements across Big Sky County. It maps Montana landscapes at levels ranging from families, households, and neighborhoods to tribal groups and transnational communities, plotting the people and places of the region’s urban indigenes, centering around indigenous cities. This deep mapping from 1860–1940 shows how Indigenous people defined and shaped Montana cities from their first days forward, and how urban areas — and certain neighborhoods, sites, and economic, social, and institutional sectors — formed enduring components of the region’s Indigenous communities. The research will be presented by Dr. Hagen at the 2025 Montana History Conference in Helena.
2025 Awardees will be listed here.
2025 Awardees will be listed here.