If 2014 was a “Great Awokening,” then 2020 was the start of a second wave – a movement that’s led the entire nation to wrestle with questions around race, diversity, and our origin story.
But what will 2026 – the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – bring? Some hope it’ll be a time to celebrate and commemorate the American story. But others – including many influential organizations – stand in opposition, seeking instead to fundamentally transform Americans’ understanding of our history.
Foremost among these activist organizations is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, our “nation’s largest supporter of the arts and the humanities.”
In 2020, Mellon placed social justice at the center of its grant-making initiatives. Since then, it’s issued numerous and sizeable grants supporting anti-racist and pro-LGBTQ+ programs.
Notably, it gave $150,000 to…
