2022 Annual Report

Welcome. Humanities plays a critical role in helping us understand the pressing issues of our times – explaining the past, understanding the present, and shaping the future. It is through the humanities that we improve our understanding of one another, and this, we believe, will help build healthy and equitable communities. We are thrilled to reflect on another year of creating and supporting bold experiences and compelling programs throughout the state of Maryland.

OPEN FULL REPORT

MARYLAND HISTORY DAY

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ONE MARYLAND ONE BOOK

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DESIGNING CULTURALLY INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING

IMAGINATION STAGE:
¡ÓYEME! INITIATIVE

WRITERS IN BALTIMORE SCHOOLS

CITYLIT FESTIVAL

Maryland Humanities creates and supports bold experiences that explore and elevate our shared stories to connect people, enhance lives, and enrich communities.

To all who contribute their time, their resources, their insights and advocacy, we thank you.

OUR DONORS ⋅ OUR PARTNERS ⋅ OUR GRANTEES

You are an integral part of our success. Learn more about our impact in 2022!

View our prior annual reports:

2021 ⋅ 2020 ⋅ 2016 ⋅ 2015 ⋅ 2014 ⋅ 2013

  • “[Veterans Book Group] was better than expected! [I got] a feeling of connection and pride with the other member [and] I’d love to participate again in any future book clubs—I enjoyed the stimulation.”

    Veterans Book Group participant

  • It was an interesting thing to do. The process of digging through photos, souvenirs, copies of old orders, and other memorabilia was meaningful after 43 years…I was impressed with all of the students I met.

    Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, veteran participant

  • “[I enjoyed the] thoughtful discussion about complex social issues that gave me hope for our future.”

    Pulitzer 100 event attendee

  • “[The Walking Tour] was a delight: loved the audience-participation with the quotations; great history and anecdotes from the guides; they were excellent at asking provocative questions of the participants, eliciting thought and engagement; good pace, even for someone slow walking.”

    ​Literary Walking Tour Participant

  • “Being a part of the group provided me with a safe area to revisit my thoughts and feelings on my experience during the war.”

    Veterans Book Group participant

  • “[I liked] witnessing three leaders in American thought discuss important issues in illuminating ways.”

    Pulitzer 100 event attendee

  • “For the second year, my students are demonstrating an enthusiasm and effort that surpasses what they usually display. I know this is due to the wonderful opportunity you provide – a chance to write to their favorite author. Authentic communication truly inspires my students! … I am confident that this will become a significant memory in my students’ sixth grade experience. How wonderful that it should promote the beauty and the strength of the written word.”

    Letters About Literature teacher

  • “The program has definitely helped me refocus on caring for patients versus helping physicians treat their diseases.”

    ​Literature & Medicine participant

  • “History Day inspired me to become deeply invested in historical topics which I never thought I’d enjoy. It is an amazing experience that has the ability to make learning fun for everyone, no matter what you’re interested in.”

    Addie Skillman, National History Day Gold Winner

  • “The project definitely raised the visibility of our organization in western Maryland. Spruce Forest Artisan Village has become a fixture in Garrett County, but it does become taken for granted. This project gave local residents a new reason to make the effort to make a return visit to the Village. Moreover, the programs hosted by the adjacent Penn Alps Restaurant helped us in reaching a new audience.”

    ​Kara Rogers Thomas ~ Frostburg State University faculty, and Board Member at Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Grantsville, MD, Host Site, Museum on Main Street

  • “It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project. The grant was crucial to the success of the project, and instrumental in bringing the poet (and 2016 MacArthur Fellow) Claudia Rankine to our campus. As the author of “Citizen: An America Lyric,” Rankine’s powerful reading and discussion of her work provided the anchor for our programming about public education and the role it plays in shaping the political citizen… (Maryland Humanities staff) were a constant source of encouragement and support–and we are proud to have been one of the projects that it recognized this year.”

    Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park

  • “Lifelong learning is continuing to read, listen, learn, share ideas, discuss, and be enlightened by the great ideas and events of the human experience during the course of an entire life.”

    ​Maryland Humanities survey participant

  • “[I enjoyed] the selection of icons: Taylor [Branch], Isabel [Wilkerson], and Sherrilyn [Ifill] as a team!!! I died and am in heaven.”

    Pulitzer 100 event attendee

  • “It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project…The support of (Maryland Humanities) was not in funding alone. By including a spot about the initiative in (their) Humanities Connection program on WYPR, Maryland Humanities did much to help promote our initiative and alert the general public about the program that we were running in the early months of the fall.”

    Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park

  • “I enjoyed that this program directly related to key issues within our community […] I think this lecture could go on for hours; it’s fabulous!”

    Pulitzer Panel attendee
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