Trump Administration Cuts Mark Twain Archive Grant, Sparking Censorship Debate

The Trump administration terminated a $450,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to the Mark Twain Papers and Project at UC Berkeley in April 2025, ending one of the longest-running NEH grant relationships. The cancellation, part of a broader purge of projects deemed 'woke,' was challenged in court but upheld by the Ninth Circuit. The essay interweaves this event with a personal reflection on reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the novel's history of censorship, and Twain's complex legacy on race. The author recounts her 1995 classroom experience, the novel's 200+ uses of the N-word, and debates over its teaching. Scholars like Shelley Fisher Fishkin and Toni Morrison defend the book's value when taught with historical context. The essay also discusses Percival Everett's 2024 novel James, which retells Huck Finn from Jim's perspective, and Twain's own anti-racist satire. The archive's director Robert Hirst continues fundraising despite the grant loss.