Stu Whitney, South Dakota News Watch
In the spring of 2024, the Norwegian American Historical Association received some encouraging news.
The Minnesota-based organization was approved for a federal grant of about $300,000 to preserve, digitize and share materials documenting relief efforts of Norwegian-Americans toward their homeland during the German occupation of Norway in World War II.
The project, “Alt for Norge: Norwegians Fighting for Two Homelands,” impressed decision-makers at the National Endowment for the Humanities as a worthwhile endeavor to highlight stories and footage that were otherwise inaccessible.
“The grant process was peer-reviewed and went through four different stages,” said Kristina Warner, an archivist for the NAHA, which was founded in 1925 and is housed at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
“The feedback we got was that this was a very unrepresented part of World War II history that showed how one immigrant group tried to get aid to those back home. Other immigrant groups did that too, but the Norwegians were the ones who really kept all of their records.”
Cuts characterized as ‘urgent priority’
The project, which began in September and involving hiring another archivist, is now shrouded in uncertainty after federal cuts ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump.
The April 2 budget reductions were directed at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent federal agency that distributes money appropriated by Congress to state humanities councils, museums and universities for education and research.
DOGE placed roughly 80% of NEH staff members on administrative leave and terminated previously awarded grant programs that were not fully paid out, according to the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
The NAHA received an email from Michael McDonald, the general counsel who became acting chairman of the NEH after previous chair Shelly Lowe left her position in March at the direction of President Trump. Lowe, the first Native American to lead the agency, was nominated by former President Joe Biden.
“Your grant’s immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the
federal government, including fiscal priorities,” McDonald wrote to the Norwegian historical group. “The termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for the administration, and due to the exceptional circumstances, adherence to the traditional notification process is not possible.”
‘Scrambling to try to keep this going’
The grant money had allowed the NAHA to pursue its three-year project of acquiring and curating five World War II collections, including footage of a training base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force in Toronto and images of soldiers and the Norwegian Royal Family during the Nazi occupation.
German troops invaded Norway in April 1940 and remained in control of the country until the end of the war in 1945, when the royal family returned from exile. Norwegian-Americans were instrumental in collecting funds for supplies, food, and housing for those who remained in Norway during the war.
The project continues for now, said Amy Boxrud, NAHA’s executive director. Digitized photos were made public in February from the collection of fur trader and wartime photographer Campbell Norsgaard, some of which he managed to smuggle out of the Soviet Union.
But the rest of the work, and the status of the digital archivist hired with grant money, are “in limbo” following the federal cuts, with donors being asked to fill the void, Boxrud told News Watch.
“We knew that the NEH was sort of in the crosshairs, but we were really hoping that grants already awarded and under way would be spared,” she said. “These are special projects that we wouldn’t undertake with our normal operations budget, so we’re sort of scrambling to try to keep this going.”
State humanities council feels pinch
The NEH also sent letters to state humanities councils across the country saying their federal grants had been terminated. The halt in funding came during the middle of the fiscal year and has caused widespread changes in programs.
Christina Oey, executive director of the South Dakota Humanities Council, which receives about $950,000 annually through NEH, called it a shock to the system. That federal money represents nearly three-fourths of the organization’s budget, with the rest coming from donations.
“Our funding was completely cut overnight,” Oey told News Watch. “There was no grandfathering in. There was no elimination process. It was just 100% cut. We had about $122,000 worth of grants we were about to disperse, and we’ve had to pause those grants because we just don’t have the funding for them.”
Some of the local organizations or events impacted include the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in De Smet, the South Dakota State Spelling Bee, Earthlodge Gatherings in Sisseton and the South Dakota State Poetry Society.
U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson told News Watch that he’s “a supporter of the arts” and has been in contact with the parties involved.
“I’ve been in contact with the South Dakota Humanities Council regarding the funding cuts they have been notified of and have passed their concerns along to the White House,” Johnson said.
U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds did not respond to requests for comment.
‘We know our states the best’
As for programs run by the council, Oey is most concerned about the South Dakota Festival of Books, an annual event that has hosted nationally renowned authors such as Jane Smiley, Louise Erdrich, Pete Dexter and Tim O’Brien.
The 2025 festival will be held as scheduled on Sept. 26-28 in Spearfish, but federal cuts have changed some of the planning.
“We’re going to have to make some adjustments, whether that’s scheduling or the number of authors or scaling back some of the events,” Oey said. “But it’s still going to happen, and we still want it to be one of the best ever.”
Also impacted is the organization’s Young Readers program, through which every third-grader in South Dakota receives a free book. This year’s offering is “Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills,” co-authored by Mills, the Pine Ridge native who won the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Oey said more volunteers will be needed to distribute the books, especially in rural communities.
Those remote areas of the country were part of the mission behind the National Endowment for Humanities when it was formed in 1965 as a sub-agency of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities.
Its mission was “to convey the lessons of history to all Americans” because “democracy demands wisdom,” establishing 56 humanities councils in U.S. states and territories to establish grant programs and distribute funds.
“The reason it was established is because we know our states the best,” said Oey. “They give funding to us at the councils because we know what goes on in Lemmon, South Dakota, and other small communities throughout the state. We know the culture of South Dakota, whereas the federal government does not.”