About Us:PHC History


Joanne Strollo shared memories on Italian-American Community History Day at the Germantown Historical Society as part of the PHC's special project Raising Our Sites in 2000.
Remembering the past, building the future
Since 1973, the Pennsylvania Humanities Council has inspired individuals to enjoy and share a life of learning. Over the last three decades, the PHC has has been a leader in making the humanities accessible to every Pennsylvanian. With PHC help, hundreds of organizations—many with little humanities experience and few resources—offer high-quality public programs that affect the everyday lives of people in their communities. Each year, the PHC provides over one million people in the state with opportunities to discover and discuss ideas.

Take a county-by-county look at past PHC activities
 

Here we remember our roots, take stock of our accomplishments, and look to the future:

  • Experimental Beginnings: 1973-1979
    The Public Committee for the Humanities in Pennsylvania was founded in 1973. As a private, nonprofit organization supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, we began by funding public programs — primarily through grants — on the current conditions of life in the United States, but later expanded our focus to include programming on any subject.

  • Expanded Impact, Diversified Programming: 1980-1993
    In 1980, the Public Committee was renamed the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. The PHC now sought to actively promote humanities scholarship and its dissemination throughout the Commonwealth, well beyond the major cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Programming was diversified to include staff-directed programs such as a speakers bureau and book discussion series, as well as special projects and initiatives, such as a women's studies program and the statewide bicentennial commemorations of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

  • Meeting Challenges, Building Partnerships: 1994-2002
    This period brought an erosion of federal support for humanities and the arts. The PHC responded to the increasing need for statewide programming by actively expanding the number and kinds of organizations reached, the demographic range of participants, and the points of view represented in PHC programs.

    In the late 1990s, we built partnerships with both the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. The PHC developed a systematic approach to supporting history museums, arts organizations, and public libraries while vigorously promoting our programs among grassroots organizations.

  • A New Vision for the Humanities: 2003 and Beyond
    We are now bringing our more than 30 years of experience to bear in planning a future in which the humanities tangibly invigorate the lives of individuals, institutions, and communities across Pennsylvania. Our strategies for the next three years are to raise awareness of the value of the humanities to individual success and community life, to sustain and develop alliances with institutions that share the PHC's goals, and to strengthen the PHC's infrastructure and funding.

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