Monuments Across Appalachian Places

09/24/2026

MAAP is celebrating our Postdoctoral Associates this week! Their creativity, engagement, leadership, and research do not go unnoticed. Thank you, Dr. Sarah Plummer and Dr. Jacob Robinson, for helping us share more mountain stories and inspiring us to continue reimagining Appalachia.

Sarah is a Mellon Postdoctoral Associate and teaches in the Appalachian Studies Program at Virginia Tech. She is a Cultural Studies and Performance Studies Scholar interested in the relationship between people and things in the shifting context of place.

Jacob is a Mellon Postdoctoral Associate teaching courses in Appalachian Studies and Sociology as a member of Virginia Tech’s Department of Sociology. He specializes in the intersection of racial experiences in the unique spaces of Appalachia, where he researches the complexities of identity within rural, mountainous spaces.

09/17/2026

In case you forgot… Applications are due Oct. 13!

Monuments Across Appalachian Places is looking for proposals for new & re-imagined monuments - by community organizations, government offices, tribal councils, collaborative groups, & other memory keepers - that reclaim & document the collective struggles for the vitality of people and our shared environment.

Applications Due: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5pm ET.

Full Call for Grant Applications available at moremountainstories.org/maap-grants

08/28/2026

We are looking forward to hearing "more mountain stories" as we get closer to our October 13th application deadline.
Find out more here: https://www.moremountainstories.org/maap-grants

A Mellon Foundation-backed initiative is opening applications across Central Appalachia, with grants up to $350,000 for community-led projects.

08/28/2026

It's kinda chic to share stories... Even the smallest acts, like sharing your story, can have a monumental impact.

Monuments Across Appalachian Places invites proposals for new & re-imagined monuments by community organizations, government offices, tribal councils, collaborative groups, & other memory keepers. $50,000 - $350,000 is available for early and late-stage projects that reclaim & document the collective struggles for the vitality of people and our shared environment, especially by and for people whose stories have been silenced, denied, or excluded.

Applications Due: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5pm ET.

Full Call for Grant Applications available at moremountainstories.org/maap-grants

08/28/2026

As we honor a great American icon, Dolly Parton, we're reminded of the importance of funding, preserving, and improving access to stories.

Dolly's life was a living testament to the belief that telling stories helps change lives and her work on and off the stage helped make that happen for millions worldwide.

By helping to sow the seeds of personal libraries for young people across the country and around the world, and championing reading for everyone, she exemplified a commitment to literature, storytelling, and lifelong learning that we at Mellon share.

Thanks to her charitable giving, the stories she helped tell will never be lost.

Dolly, thank you for all you've inspired us to do, and for everything you gave.

08/05/2026

Are you ready to reimagine monuments and tell undertold stories?

Join Monuments Across Appalachian Places and The Monuments Workshop, at the Beyond Statues: 2026 Conference on September 12, 10:30 am - 12:30 pm ET, at the University of Kentucky's Gatton Student Center.

MAAP will host a two-hour workshop to support groups from across Central Appalachia interested training and support in grant writing for monuments, developing community-based commemoration, preparing budgets, troubleshooting the feasibility of projects, planning digital archive work, and re-imagining what a monument can be.

Conference Pre-registration is required, and eligible applicants will receive stipends for their participation. Registration is open until Aug. 30th. https://monuments.uky.edu/conference

Workshop attendance is not required to be considered for MAAP funding. Proposals for MAAP grant funding, due October 13, 2026. For more information about our grants visit: WWW.Moremountainstories.org

We want to hear your story.



Workshop

08/01/2026

Trying to share your story, but not sure where to start?

Join Monuments Across Appalachian Places for a free virtual workshop and learn skills those stories often left out of the history books.

Learn how to transform community stories and local histories into public monuments. Participants will receive support with grant writing, community collaboration, project planning, and application guidance for upcoming MAAP grants ranging from $50,000 to $350,000.

Apply by Aug. 3, at www.moremountainstories.org/commemorate-workshops or the links in our bio.

07/30/2026

How would you rediscover, reshape, and reimagine stories denied in Appalachia’s public memory?

Monuments Across Appalachian Places is searching for those stories, with $50,000–$350,000 available for new and reimagined monument proposals that reclaim and document the collective stories of Appalachians and their environment. Community organizations, government offices, tribal councils, collaborative groups, and other memory keepers should apply.

Not sure where to start or how to apply? Check out the links in our bio or visit moremountainstories.org. Contact us at [email protected]
Applications are due Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 5 PM ET.

We want to hear your story.

07/22/2026

Do you have a monument or undertold story in mind, but not sure where to start or how to share it? Join one of our free workshops!

Monuments Across Appalachian Places invites you to participate in an online Commemorate Workshop on August 22, 2026, 10 - 11:30 AM.

The workshop provides training and support in grant writing, developing community-based commemoration, telling hard stories, preparing budgets, troubleshooting the feasibility of projects, planning digital archive work, and re-imagining what a monument can be.

Applications to participate are due on Aug. 3, 2026. Link to application in our bio.

05/26/2026

Monuments Across Appalachian Places invites proposals for new & re-imagined monuments by community organizations, government offices, tribal councils, collaborative groups, & other memory keepers. $50,000 - $350,000 is available for early and late-stage projects that reclaim & document the collective struggles for the vitality of people and our shared environment, especially by and for people whose stories have been silenced, denied, or excluded. Applications Due: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 5pm ET.

Full Call for Grant Applications available at moremountainstories.org/maap-grants

Want to learn more? Apply to attend a MAAP Commemorate Workshop this summer at moremountainstories.org/commemorate-workshops

Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Appalachian Studies at Virginia Tech Mellon Foundation