Boston’s Museum of African American History is among the latest art and humanities institutions that have been hit by funding cuts from the Trump administration, per CNN.
For six decades, the museum has transported its visitors to the past, giving individuals a look into Black history from a 200-year-old meeting house where abolitionists like Frederick Douglass spoke to a walk through the halls where Black soldiers once rallied to fight in the Civil War. The museum also offered programs for children to learn about African American history.
These programs are now at risk after the Trump administration moved to cancel its federal grant, saying that the funding “no longer serves the interest of the United States.”
“I will forever remember that line,” the museum’s director, Dr. Noelle Trent, said in a statement. “We were very much embedded into key moments of this country’s history. How is that not of interest to the United States and the American people?”
Boston’s Museum of African American History had won a $500,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to support school trips and educational programs.
The IMLS is among the agencies under attack by Trump’s administration, which is aiming to combat alleged “woke” ideology and “anti-American propaganda.” Trump has already moved to take control of the Kennedy Center and target “improper ideology” at the Smithsonian.
Along with IMLS, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities have canceled tens of millions of dollars in federal grants for libraries, archival projects, arts programs, and film festivals.
The African American History Museum in Boston is left trying to figure out a future without the funds, Trent said.
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