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The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has invested nearly $173 million in 80 completed or ongoing monument projects across 37 states since 2020. The arts and humanities philanthropy recently announced that it would double its original commitment and pledge a total of $500 million for its Monuments Project over the next five years, making it the largest multiyear funding initiative in its history. The foundation’s president, Elizabeth Alexander, expressed pride in the role they have played in contributing to a larger conversation in the nation about monuments.

The foundation’s work has been guided by Monument Lab’s 2021 study, which found that women are often commemorated as fictional characters in public statues and that half of the individuals most frequently represented in monuments were slave owners. As communities removed numerous confederate statues, Mellon has supported new projects that are starting to populate the landscape, showcasing a broader range of stories.

Washington National Cathedral had stained-glass windows representing Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson removed and replaced with windows commemorating the resilience of African Americans and protests against racism. In addition, President Biden signed an executive order designating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument at multiple sites in Sumner, Miss., and in Chicago, commemorating the brutal lynching of the 14-year-old boy in 1955 and his role in propelling the civil rights movement forward.

Marvel Parker, executive director of the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, which has received substantial funding from Mellon, expressed that the national monument has exceeded their wildest expectations. Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, described Mellon’s commitment as a significant gesture of change and possibility and believes it has the ability to be a ripple of transformation in communities.

Overall, Mellon’s commitment to funding monument projects across the United States has been instrumental in supporting a more diverse range of narratives in the nation’s public spaces and promoting a broader conversation about who is commemorated in public statues, and what stories are told through monuments. Their efforts have prompted a rethinking of communities and have the potential to be a catalyst for transformation.

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