Using the humanities, we connect with people across Vermont to create just, vibrant, and resilient communities and to inspire a lifelong love of learning.
Dive into our two humanities podcasts to engage and learn about new perspectives.
Banner illustrations include a photo by Rory Stein and an illustration of Vermont’s Capital district by National Book Award Finalist Dan Nott.
August 22
The Town and Community Organizations of Isle La Motte invite you to a day honoring the bravery, sacrifice, and fortitude of our Revolutionary War soldiers, and the legacy of the region’s early settlers.
August 26
We invite the Brattleboro area to participate in an open community discussion around the book Charity & Sylvia by Tillie Walden. We will discuss themes of Vermont’s (and America’s!) early history, the importance of friendships and family networks, the role of religion and faith in communal life, and the evolution of LGBTQ+ identity.
August 29
Historian Howard Coffin explains, with nearly 35,000 of the state’s able-bodied men at war, how women took on farming, worked in factories, served as nurses in the state’s military hospitals, and more. And at least one Vermont woman appears to have secretly enlisted and fought in a Vermont regiment! Drawing from letters and diaries, Coffin tells their story in their own words, describe life during the Civil War in the Green Mountain State.
September 3
New England’s longest river, the Connecticut, is rich in history. Michael Tougias, author of fourteen books about New England, offers a narrated slide presentation that takes the viewer down the entire 410 miles of the river, discussing history from the days of loggers, Indian Wars, steamships, and canals.
September 4
Join us for this special presentation from Tillie Walden about the creation of graphic novel Charity and Sylvia.
September 12
The U.S. has been at war, in one form or another, for all but about 18 of the past 250 years of the county’s existence. What does this mean if this is a constant in our lives? How do we invite the conservatives and progressives into the room to talk together?
September 12
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
September 16
UVM welcomes VSO Artistic Advisor Matt LaRocca, composer Clarice Assad, and vocal soloists Danielle Buonaiuto and Nikola Printz for a discussion about Assad’s new orchestral work based on the historic Weybridge, VT couple Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake. The couple’s lives and marriage are also the subject of Vermont Reads 2026: Charity and Sylvia by acclaimed graphic novelist Tillie Walden.
September 17
Join us on September 17 to learn to ferment your own veggies. Beki Auclair from VT Ferments will join us and discuss how to prep, salt and spice our own veggies (or those from your favorite farmers). You will go home with a jar of your own creation to watch it ferment.
September 18
Join us at the University of Vermont for this special presentation with Tillie Walden in conversation with Coco Moseley, Executive Director of the Hendry Sheldon Museum, about the creation of Charity and Sylvia. The talk is free and open to all – students, faculty, staff, and the general public!
September 18
The 2026–27 Vermont Symphony Orchestra season opens with music inspired and created by powerful women—from Björk to Cleopatra, spanning 19th-century Vermont to the Persian Empire. The concert premieres a VSO commission by composer Clarice Assad, based on the historic Weybridge couple Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake
September 19
White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare lives near Lake Champlain where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written two books of essays– Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation and the award-winning Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure–and a collection of poetry, The Marrow’s Telling: Words in Motion. His newest book, a mixed genre volume titled Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming, was released in September 2025.
We recently supported the Heritage Winooski Mill Museum with two grants to help fund a new exhibit at the museum focusing on child labor. The grants will cover the design, layout, printing, and installation of the exhibit, which will include a global map showing how child labor remains an issue in the overseas textile industry.
Vermont Humanities has developed a broad range of programs that serves Vermonters of all ages and backgrounds. In 2025, over 51,778 people took part in our programs, and we held more than 1,048 activities, hosted by us or our partners.
The Anne Commire Fund for Women in the Humanities supports projects that focus on women writers. Anne (at far left) is shown with the cast of her play “Melody Sisters” in 1984.
The fund was created through a legacy gift of $125,000 from Anne’s estate, one of the largest individual gifts ever made to Vermont Humanities.
By giving to Vermont Humanities, you support education for people of all ages through early literacy programs, Humanities Camps for middle-school children, and programs held in libraries, community centers, schools, and correctional facilities.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
