| The Guam Humanities Council (GHC or the Council) is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. Founded in 1991, GHC is a nonprofit organization committed to promoting public humanities programming for the people of Guam. The Council was organized through an effort spearheaded by George J. Boughton, a professor at the University of Guam, and was officially incorporated on September 19, 1991. The original incorporator members included George J. Boughton, Rosa Palomo, Remington Rose-Crossley, Nerissa Bretania-Shafer, Robert Underwood, Antonio Leon Guerrero, Alberto Lamorena, John Morvant, Mary Louise Wheeler, Eulalia J. Harui-Walsh, and Sr. Francis Jerome Cruz, RSM.
The Council was initially established as a grant making organization, and indeed, since it’s beginning, GHC has provided community grants every year for local organizations to develop exhibitions, workshops, oral history collections, language preservation projects and publications. While the Council continues to provide foundational support for Guam’s people, GHC also conducts a wide range of humanities-focused programs, projects and activities.
The Council founded Guampedia: Guam’s online encyclopedia. The Guampedia project began in 2001 under the auspices of an NEH initiative to create state online encyclopedias. For eight years, the Council developed the software and initial content for the encyclopedia that was funded through federal and local grants and private donations to GHC. Guampedia was officially launched in April 2008 and transitioned to its own independent nonprofit organization in April 2009. To learn more about Guampedia, visit www.guampedia.com.
Some of the programs presently offered by GHC include community-based family literacy, cultural workshops and performances, film and discussion series, public lectures, interpretive exhibitions, student workshops, and community conversations.
GHC also works to establish important partnerships with local and regional governmental and nonprofit organizations and businesses, including the Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities, University of Guam, Guam Community College, and Pacific Islanders in Communications. These connections help the Council carry out its mission and vision to make the humanities relevant to island residents in their everyday lives.
An eleven-member volunteer Board of Directors, made up of representatives of academia, the general community and gubernatorial appointees, governs the Guam Humanities Council. Directors serve an initial three-year term renewable for an additional term. The sitting members of the Board elect new directors.
An Executive Director manages the Council, oversees the day-to-day operations and reports to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. As an affiliate of NEH, the Council receives an annual general support grant. The Council raises additional funds for programming through fundraising activities and grant writing. |
