“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” — Edgar Allan Poe

Due to the COVID-19 Health Emergency, The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum suffered closure for several months earlier in the year. Like many other organization, Poe suffered a devastating loss in operating and programming funds due to this loss of revenue. For this reason, Poe Baltimore is grateful to be one of 100 recipients of Maryland Humanities CARES Act Emergency Grants. The purpose of the grants, from their site:

“As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which became law on March 27, 2020, the National Endowment for the Humanities received $75 million to protect at-risk humanities positions and projects at museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, colleges and universities, and other cultural nonprofits that have been financially impacted by the coronavirus. Of that total, $30 million was distributed to Maryland Humanities and our 55 sister state and territorial councils for emergency grantmaking to the public humanities community.

The goal of this new fund—our $515,000 CARES Act Emergency Relief Grants Fund—is to help sustain Maryland’s infrastructure to ensure that organizations can continue to provide opportunities for public humanities programming and civic learning in Maryland’s diverse communities during this unprecedented time. Grants will support nonprofit general operating expenses. Eligible nonprofit organizations include: museums, historic sites, preservation and historical societies, and community and cultural organizations with a significant humanities focus.

We accepted applications to the Fund from May 1 through May 11, which were then screened for eligibility. Ultimately 119 applications were reviewed by members of our Grants Committee with a focus on both need and geographic location in an effort to disperse funds to all regions of the state. One hundred awards of $5,150 each were approved, and all applicants were notified on May 29.

As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which became law on March 27, 2020, the National Endowment for the Humanities received $75 million to protect at-risk humanities positions and projects at museums, libraries and archives, historic sites, colleges and universities, and other cultural nonprofits that have been financially impacted by the coronavirus. Of that total, $30 million was distributed to Maryland Humanities and our 55 sister state and territorial councils for emergency grantmaking to the public humanities community.

The goal of this new fund—our $515,000 CARES Act Emergency Relief Grants Fund—is to help sustain Maryland’s infrastructure to ensure that organizations can continue to provide opportunities for public humanities programming and civic learning in Maryland’s diverse communities during this unprecedented time. Grants will support nonprofit general operating expenses. Eligible nonprofit organizations include: museums, historic sites, preservation and historical societies, and community and cultural organizations with a significant humanities focus.

https://www.mdhumanities.org/grants/cares/

The Emergency CARES Act grant gave us much-needed funding to continue virtual programming to keep Poe’s chamber door open online and augment loss from closure. We thank the Maryland Humanities council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and look forward to presenting more virtual programs through the rest of this year.