News | December 18, 2013

NEH Grants Ransom Center $500,000 to Establish Exhibition Endowment

AUSTIN, Texas—The Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to establish an endowment that will sustain the institution’s exhibition program.

The grant will support a range of activities including facilitating long-range planning, creating teacher training workshops related to future exhibitions, fostering collaboration with other institutions and supporting print and online publications related to the Center’s exhibitions.

The Ransom Center has four years to match NEH’s $500,000 challenge grant with $1.5 million in private contributions to create a dedicated $2 million exhibition endowment.

“This NEH award is validation of the strong work the Ransom Center does in interpreting its collections for wide and diverse audiences,” said Ransom Center Director Stephen Enniss. “It will enable us to build on that past success and sustain this vital program for years to come.”

Through engaging public exhibitions, the Center shares its world-renowned collections and offers visitors a greater understanding and appreciation for our shared culture.

Past exhibitions, featuring a range of subjects from artist Miguel Covarrubias to author Edgar Allan Poe, have publicly displayed holdings from the Ransom Center, including materials from its manuscripts, photography, rare books, film, art and performing arts collections. Upcoming exhibitions at the Ransom Center include “The World at War, 1914-1918” and “The Making of ‘Gone With The Wind.’ ”

The Ransom Center’s exhibitions are free and open to the public. Both the First Photograph and the Gutenberg Bible remain on permanent display in the Center’s lobby.