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January 2009
Welcome to the inaugural edition of NHPRC News! This newsletter will appear every other month and highlight work of the Commission and its grantees.
In This Issue:
Inside the Commission
In December 2008, Allen Weinstein retired as Archivist of the United States and as Chairman of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Adrienne Thomas, who had been the Deputy Archivist, will serve as Acting Archivist until a new Archivist is appointed. She will also serve as Chairman of the NHPRC.
Several new members of the Commission have also been named. Dr. Stuart Rochester, Chief Historian, Office of the Secretary of Defense, has been appointed to the Commission, representing the Department of Defense.
Ray Smock will be representing the Association for Documentary Editing. Dr. Smock is the director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University, a former Historian of the United States House of Representatives, the current president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress, and a board member of the West Virginia Humanities Council.
Julie Saville will be representing the Organization of American Historians. Dr. Saville is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Chicago and an alumnus of Yale University. Her research and teaching are focused on plantation societies of the southern United States and regions of the Caribbean from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
James Ceaser is a Presidential appointee. Dr. Ceaser is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1976. He is the author of several books on American politics and political thought, including most recently as a contributor to Nature and History in American Political Development, and is a frequent contributor to the popular press.
At the November 2008 meeting of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, 23 grants were awarded to projects in 13 states and the District of Columbia for a total of $2.15 million. Among the highlights were six new projects for Digitizing Historical Records, including collections on the Florida Everglades; the Texas Oil Boom; Duke University's collection on Outdoor Advertising; the papers of Henry A. Wallace, FDR's vice president and Progressive Party candidate for President in 1948; the records of the American Social Health Association from World War I and World War II; and the American Institute of Physics papers of Samuel Goudsmit, who headed the team investigating Germany's development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
A new pilot project to transcribe unpublished papers from the Founding Era of the nation was awarded to the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities on behalf of Documents Compass. This new effort will prepare verified and XML-encoded versions of documents and develop a process that can help the Founders editorial projects publish in print and online. Go to http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2009/nr09-20.html for more information.
Dr. Lucy Barber recently was appointed the Deputy Executive Director of the Commission. Formerly the Director of Technology Initiatives, Dr. Barber received a Ph.D. in History from Brown University and was an assistant professor at the University of California, Davis. She later became an archivist with the California State Archives and is the author of Marching on Washington: The Creation of a National Political Tradition (2003).
Legislative Update
The NHPRC is operating under a Continuing Resolution budget. Funds for FY 2009 are at $7.5 million for grants; however, there is a possibility that a new budget for the National Archives will be reached by the new Congress. We will keep you updated.
In October 2008, President George Bush signed the Presidential Historical Records Preservation Act of 2008 which calls for a variety of technical, programmatic, and oversight changes affecting NHPRC and National Archives operations and programs.
Term Limits for Commissioners: Members are now limited to a total of 8 years of service. This translates to up to two, 4 year terms for regular members and four, 2 year terms for the Representative from the U.S. House.
Cooperative Agreement Authority: The Archivist now has authority to enter into cooperative agreements that further efforts to put online the Founding Fathers papers, or the papers of other prominent historical figures.
The Founding Fathers Advisory Committee: The Act calls for the establishment of a Found Fathers Advisory Committee to advise the Archivist on matters pertaining to the Founding Fathers editorial projects, including editorial progress and developing completion goals in consultation with the projects, and conducting formal annual reviews and reports to Congress, including any legislative or executive actions the Advisory Committee may recommend to facilitate project completion. The Act calls for the committee to be comprised of 3 nationally-recognized historians who will serve as its members for up to 8 years.
Grants Program Changes:
Although the Act sets no authorizing levels of funding for the NHPRC, it does specify the creation of two new initiatives:
- Presidential Centers of Historical Excellence:
Allows the Commission to make grants to eligible entities to promote historical preservation and access to archives relating to any former President who does not already have a Presidential Library administered by NARA.
- State and Local Databases for the Records of Servitude, Emancipation, and Post-Civil War Reconstruction: This initiative is linked with the call for the Archivist to establish a national database at NARA to create an online tool which includes Refugees, Freedman, and Abandoned Land Records, Southern Claims Commission Records, Records of the Freedman's Bank, Slave Impressments Records, Slave Payroll Records, Slave Manifest, and others at the Federal level to assist African Americans and others in conducting genealogical and historical research. The companion grants program that is called for, to be administered by the NHPRC, would provide funds for non-Federal records and databases of the same nature.
The Act does not provide any additional funds for these programs nor does it authorize any funding levels for the NHPRC in general. Once Congress provides funding, the NHPRC will develop grant opportunities for these initiatives.
Professional Development Opportunities
- Archives Leadership Institute
The University of Wisconsin - Madison is pleased to announce the second leadership institute for archives professionals to be held July 19-25, 2009. The week-long event will feature presentations by dynamic people in the archival field and relevant leaders outside the profession. The program is directed primarily at mid-level to senior staff and archivists who aspire to leadership roles in their organizations and/or professional associations.
25 archivists will be selected to spend the week at UW - Madison's beautiful lakeshore conference center and guest house. Most of the costs are covered by a grant from the NHPRC, and a registration fee of $550 includes tuition, instructional materials, lodging and some meals. A number of scholarships for travel and tuition will also be awarded. Regional archival organizations are also encouraged to consider sponsoring members who apply and are selected for the institute.
Applications are available on the University of Wisconsin - Madison web site at http://www.slis.wisc.edu/continueed/archivesinst/
Application deadline is January 20, 2009.
- Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents
For individuals interested in receiving training in the editing of Historical Documents, this one-week workshop from June 15-20, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin provides an intensive seminar in all aspects of modern documentary editing techniques, taught by visiting editors and specialists. No tuition is charged to individuals.
An application is available on the NHPRC website at http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/partners/editing-institute.html
Application deadline is March 16, 2009.
Grant Deadlines and the Application Process
The following Grant opportunities are currently available and online. Organizations must use the Grants.gov system to apply by the following deadlines:
- State and National Archival Partnership Grants
Final Deadline: March 6, 2009
- Digitizing Historical Records
Final Deadline: June 5, 2009
- Electronic Records Projects
Final Deadline: June 5, 2009
- Professional Development Grants for Archives and Historical Publishing
Two annual competitions:
- Final Deadline: June 5, 2009
- Final Deadline: October 5, 2009
- Publishing Historical Records
Two annual competitions:
- Colonial and Early National Period Final Deadline: June 5, 2009
- New Republic through the Modern Era Final Deadline: October 5, 2009
- Publication Subventions
Two annual competitions:
- Deadline: March 6, 2009
- Deadline: September 4, 2009
Applicants wishing to submit drafts against the June 5th deadlines must do so by April 1, 2009. Go to http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/ for more information.
Grant Proposal Conference Calls
NHPRC staff will host conference calls for applicants interested in the Digitizing Historical Records and the Electronic Records grant opportunities (Application deadline: June 5, 2009). If you are interested in taking part, please send an e-mail to Nathan Sowry at nathan.sowry@nara.gov and he will provide you with the conference call information. Please make sure to review the grant announcements ahead of time.
- Digitizing Historical Records Projects:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time. - Electronic Records Archives Projects:
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 3:00 p.m., Eastern Time.
Staff are always available to consult with applicants through e-mail or phone calls. Please contact the appropriate person listed in the grant announcement.
NHPRC Project Milestones
Several new volumes of documentary editions have been published recently including:- The Papers of John Adams, Vol. 14 (October 1782-May 1783), Harvard University Press
- The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, Vol. 10: Africa for the Africans, 1923-1945, University of California Press
- The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Vol. 29 (October 1, 1878-September 30, 1880) and Vol. 30 (October 1, 1880-December 31, 1882), Southern Illinois University Press
- The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Vol. 7 (1829), University of Tennessee Press
- The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series, Vol. 6 (February 8-October 24, 1813), University of Virginia Press
- The Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 18 (November-January 1779), University of Virginia Press
- Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, Series 3, Vol. 1: Land and Labor, 1865, University of North Carolina Press
- Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Vol. 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 and Vol. 2: Making Speech Free, 1902-1909, University of Illinois Press
- The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers, Vol. 1 [September 1810 - August 1862] and Vol. 2 [August 1862 - April 1917], University of North Carolina Press
Lincoln, Obama, and the NHPRC
A primary source for Team of Rivals is the collected works of Abraham Lincoln, now the subject of a documentary edition by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. The project receives support from the NHPRC. In addition, Goodwin's work also relies upon several other documentary editions funded by the Commission, including the Papers of Salmon P. Chase, the Papers of Charles Sumner, and the Diary of Charles Francis Adams. Team of Rivals also cites NHPRC-sponsored projects as sources, including the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, the Papers of James Buchanan, the Letters of Jessie Benton Frémont, and the Frederick Douglass Papers.
News from the Field
- The Arizona state archives moved recently out of cramped space at the state Capitol into a $29 million Polly Rosenbaum Archives and History Building at 19th Avenue and Madison Street in Phoenix. The building, named after the longest-serving member of the Arizona Legislature, will be formally dedicated Jan. 15.
- The U.S. Department of Education awarded Clayton State University in Georgia a $310,479 grant to establish a master's degree in archival studies, the first of its kind in the Southeast United States. This new program is the result of a collaboration with the Georgia Archives and the National Archives Southeastern Regional Archives.
- Call for Nominations: 2009 Waldo Gifford Leland Award for "writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, and practice." The Leland Award subcommittee of the Society of American Archivists invites you to nominate a monograph, finding aid, or documentary publication published in North America in 2008. More information is available at http://www.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-leland.asp The deadline is February 28, 2009.
NHPRC News is published every other month and is available online at www.archives.gov/nhprc/newsletter/. If you have news you wish to share or would like to receive an e-mail alert when the next issue is available, please contact Keith Donohue, Director for Communications, at keith.donohue@nara.gov.
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