Missouri Humanities Council - History and Structure

History and Structure

In 1971, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) contacted academic leaders in various states and asked them to form state committees to create a new form of adult education experience centered in humanities scholarship and related to public issues. The state committees were set up as grant-makers, similar to the NEH, and The Missouri Committee for the Humanities was among those first groups formed in 1971. Robert Walrond, a specialist in continuing education at St. Louis University, was among the group that founded the Missouri Committee, and he served as its executive director until 1986.

In 1976, Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell lead the revision of the federal statute that authorized the NEH to operate, naming the state councils as legitimate entities entitled to a portion of the NEH budget. This fundamental change led the state councils to formalize their incorporation in each state as tax-exempt, non-profit corporations, retaining their status as grantees of NEH.

The Missouri Humanities Council was formally incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1975 and received IRS 501(c)(3) status in April 1977. The office is currently located in St. Louis, Missouri. The board members of council, which include individuals nominated and elected by the Council and members appointed by the governor of Missouri, are located across the state and come from diverse backgrounds including education, business, agriculture, museums and libraries, and law. The MHC bylaws currently call for the Council to include no fewer than 24 and no more than 30 total board members, of whom up to six may be gubernatorial appointees. The board members of MHC hold three meetings per year at which the conduct business including review and voting on major grant applications.