Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum has received an Alabama Humanities Recovery Grant, a program aimed at helping humanities-based nonprofits recover from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $10,000 grant received by the museum was one of 83 awarded this month by the Alabama Humanities Alliance, totaling $800,000. Alabama Humanities Recovery Grants are funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The Alabama Humanities Alliance made the funding available through a competitive grant process, inviting Alabama-based nonprofits with a demonstrated commitment to public humanities programming. Grant winners include museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, literacy groups, civic engagement organizations and more.
Ray White, Vice Chancellor of TROY’s Montgomery Campus, said the pandemic greatly reduced tourism, as well as K-12 school tours of the museum. White said the grant funds will help keep employees of the museum working and enable the museum to maintain its hours of operations to serve visitors from throughout the community, state, country and the world.
“The funding from the Alabama Humanities Alliance was awarded at a time when tough decisions regarding museum hours of operation were being considered,” he said. “We appreciate the funds to help keep employees working in the museum. The museum will continue to educate children and adults on the important history of Rosa Parks and the other 50,000 foot soldiers of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the event that started the modern-day Civil Rights Movement.”
Chuck Holmes, Executive Director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, said the grants would help sustain cultural organizations that enrich the lives of Alabamians.
“AHA’s recovery grants will help humanities-focused organizations thrive beyond the pandemic,” Holmes said. “Robust cultural organizations make Alabama a richer, smarter and more vibrant place to live and learn. These grants will sustain the humanities in our communities and contribute to the state’s economic recovery in the months ahead.”
The Alabama Humanities Alliance is a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities with the mission of fostering learning, understanding and appreciation of Alabama’s people, communities and cultures. The Alliance’s ultimate goal is to use the humanities to bring Alabamians together and make the state a better place to live. For additional information, visit alabamahumanities.org.
TROY’s Rosa Parks Museum is located on the University’s Montgomery Campus and was constructed on the very site of Mrs. Parks’ historic 1955 arrest. For more information about TROY’s Rosa Parks Museum, visit the website.
