Today, State Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex) issued the following statement after learning the Connecticut River Museum was one of many organizations across the state to see an active grant terminated by Elon Musk’s DOGE through the National Endowment for the Humanities this month.
In January, the NEH announced more than $250,000 in funding was awarded to Connecticut groups including the Connecticut River Museum. It was slated to receive $25,000 for a new project focused on a new plan for the Samuel Lay House in Essex, training for staff and volunteers on encouraging conversation among visitors and training for an exhibition on the history of Black and Indigenous maritime workers in Connecticut. Last week, DOGE employees cut millions in grants through the NEH including the Connecticut River Museum’s grant.
“Amid a frenzied effort by the Trump administration to break our systems comes an attack on our arts and humanities. For this project to have its funding stripped doesn’t change our history or erase the hardworking people who faced adversity in the past, but it does reinforce that the federal government is interfering wherever it can. Connecticut has already lost funding supporting our libraries, our health systems, our mental health and substance use disorder supports, and this shows we’re at risk of losing more support every day. I’m not sure DOGE cutting a $25,000 museum grant is the epitome of ‘government waste,’ and I certainly don’t see studies of historical figures as ‘DEI.’ All I see here is broken promises on top of broken promises.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov | 508-479-4969