National Historical Publications and Records Commission Recommends 39 Grants Totaling $3,463,840
Press Release · Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Washington, DC

Press Release
December 3, 2003

CONTACT:
Max J. Evans, Executive Director
National Historical Publications and Records Commission
National Archives and Records Administration
202-501-5600

National Historical Publications and Records Commission Recommends 39 Grants Totaling $3,463,840

Washington, DC. . . At its meeting on November 18 and 19, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission recommended that the Archivist of the United States make grants totaling $3,463,840 for 39 projects.

Highlights included:

• 8 grants for Founding-Era documentary editing projects totaling $1,425,056;
• 3 Founding-Era subvention grants totaling $30,000;
• 1 non-Founding-Era subvention grant totaling $10,000;
• 10 State Board administrative support grants totaling $147,285;
• 8 State Board planning, implementation, and regrant proposals and collaborative projects totaling up to $957,157;
• 4 grants for electronic records and technologies projects totaling up to $653,373;
• 5 grants for education projects totaling $248,719.
• The Commission also recommended the release of previously approved grant funds for the third year of a three-year electronic records and technologies project, providing an additional $2,250 for a regrant project approved at its November 2002 meeting, and the release of $46,864 for an earlier directed grant. The complete list of funded projects appears at the end of this release.

Other business at the November meeting included welcoming new members J. Kevin Graffagnino, representing the American Association for State and Local History, and former Commission member Deanna Marcum, who is again representing the Librarian of Congress. At the meeting, the NHPRC also adopted the following strategies for its Fiscal Year 2004 budget:

1. Adhere strictly to the 50-50 split between publications and records projects for the grant funds available.
2. Fund all four recommended fellowship proposals.
3. Fund the Founding Fathers, State Board, and electronic records projects at the amounts recommended by the staff.
4. At the May 2004 meeting, after all the project proposals for the entire year have undergone peer and staff review, make the final funding decisions, which might include multiple-year grants to Non-Founding-Era editing projects nearing completion and supplemental grants to Founding-Era editing projects.
5. In response to the recent conference at the Newberry Library on the future of editions in the electronic age, allow the Association for Documentary Editing to apply by March 1 for a grant to be considered at the May 2004 meeting.

The Commission passed three resolutions:

• Acknowledging that the Electronic Records Agenda Project report of the Minnesota Historical Society will be a resource for the Commission as it formulates its strategic plan;
• Sending condolences to the Chairman of the Yaqui Tribal Council on the loss of Christine Ramirez, recognizing her leadership and vision in establishing the First Archivists Circle and her other efforts to protect tribal records and culture;
• Saluting the valuable contributions of Roger Bruns, Deputy Executive Director of NHRPC, who will retire from Federal service in December after a career with the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission that spanned 36½ years.

The following is the complete listing of grant recipients:

Founding-Era Documentary Editing Projects

Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA: A grant of $159,800 to support the preparation of a comprehensive book edition of The Adams Papers.

Yale University, New Haven, CT: A grant of $170,000 to assist its work on a comprehensive book edition of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin.

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ: A grant of $168,938 to support its work on a comprehensive book edition of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA: A grant of $143,595 to continue work on a comprehensive book edition of The Papers of James Madison.

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA: A grant of $151,890 to edit a comprehensive book edition of The Papers of George Washington.

The George Washington University, Washington, DC: A grant of $208,993 to continue editing The Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791.

Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI: A grant of $180,000 to continue editing a selective book edition of The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution.

Supreme Court Historical Society, Washington, DC: A grant of $241,840 to edit a selective book edition of The Documentary History of the Supreme Court, 1789-1800.

Founding-Era Subventions

State Historical Society of Wisconsin: A subvention grant of $10,000 for The Ratification of the Constitution, Vol. XX.

University of Virginia Press: A subvention grant of $10,000 for The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14.

Harvard University Press: A subvention grant of $10,000 for The Papers of John Adams, Vol. 12.

Non-Founding-Era Subventions

University of Illinois Press: A subvention grant of $10,000 for The Samuel Gompers Papers, Vol. 10.

State Board Administrative Support Projects

Florida Division of Library and Information Services, Tallahassee, FL: A grant of $10,000 to support the Florida Board's work for one year.

Idaho State Historical Records Advisory Board, Boise, ID: A grant of $10,000 to support the Idaho Board's work for one year.

Kansas State Historical Records Advisory Board, Topeka, KS: A grant of $19,800 in partial support of the board's activities for two years.

Kentucky State Historical Records Advisory Board, Frankfort, KY: A grant of $10,000 in partial support of the board's activities for one year.

Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board, Boston, MA: A grant of $18,800 in partial support of two regional meetings of the New England boards.

Montana Historical Society, Helena, MT: A grant of $8,715 in partial support of the Montana Board's activities for one year.

New Jersey State Historical Records Advisory Board, Trenton, NJ: A grant of $19,970 in partial support of the board's administrative expenses for two years.

Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, NV: A grant of $20,000 in partial support of the Nevada Board's administrative expenses for two years.

Oklahoma Department of Archives, Oklahoma City, OK: A grant of $10,000 in partial support of the Oklahoma Board's activities for one year.

Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, Cheyenne, WY: A grant of $20,000 in partial support of the Wyoming Board's activities for two years.

State Board Planning, Implementation, and Regrant Projects; Collaborative Projects

Council of State Historical Records Coordinators, Dover, DE: A two-year grant of $298,430 for a project to strengthen state archival and records programs, State Historical Records Advisory Boards, and the Federal-State partnership with the NHPRC.

Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board, Boston, MA: A conditional two-year grant of $100,000 for a regrant project to continue to assist local repositories, increase the accessibility of historical records, improve the documentation of Massachusetts history, develop networks that can have a long-term impact on records and the historical records community, and implement the SHRAB's'1999 strategic plan.

Maine State Archives, Augusta, ME: A two-year grant of $99,582 to continue to improve preservation of and access to Maine's historical records by establishing a matching grant program for the state's small and medium repositories.

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Raleigh, NC: A conditional two-year grant of $50,621 to support the North Carolina Board's activities and to address the need for basic archival education for non-professional records caretakers and for intermediate-level specialized workshops for practicing archivists.

New Mexico Commission on Public Records, Santa Fe, NM: A conditional two-year grant of $71,164 to continue implementing the New Mexico Board's 1998 strategic plan and to augment the board's grant and scholarship program through a SHRAB regrant project.

Oklahoma Historical Records Advisory Board, Oklahoma City, OK: A conditional 20-month grant of $137,360 to provide training and support to 15 small to mid-size archival repositories in order to demonstrate the potential of such institutions to develop model archival programs.

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA: A conditional two-year grant of $100,000 ($20,000 matching) to continue the Pennsylvania Board's efforts to implement its 10-year strategic plan to preserve and provide access to the Commonwealth's documentary heritage.

South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board, Columbia, SC: A conditional 30-month grant of $100,000 for a regrant project to preserve and make accessible historically significant records, provide training for records custodians, and encourage archival and records program development and enhancement.

Electronic Records and Technologies Projects

The Regents of the University of California, San Diego, CA: A two-year grant of $242,500 on behalf of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the Michigan Historical Center, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, and the Ohio Historical Society for a project entitled Persistent Archive Testbed, which will allow the participating archival institutions to test SDSC's data grid and persistent archives technologies using a variety of archival collections.

The Regents of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN: A conditional 17-month grant of $86,732 on behalf of the Charles Babbage Institute, the University of Minnesota Libraries, the University of Michigan School of Information, and the administration of Internet2 to survey the electronic records of Internet2's administrative offices, develop appraisal criteria for these records, conduct pilot projects to test these criteria, develop a "blueprint" for an electronic records program for the Babbage Institute, and publish lessons learned from their experiences.

Montana Secretary of State's Office, Helena, MT: A conditional two-year grant of up to $40,000 to hire a consultant to assist the State of Montana in developing a strategic plan for the creation, management, and preservation of the state's electronic records.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC: A conditional three-year grant of up to $284,141 to continue the NHPRC Archival Research Fellowships program established by the Boston consortium consisting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the WGBH Educational Foundation, Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, Northeastern University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, modifying the program to focus exclusively on electronic records research, and renaming it the NHPRC Electronic Records Research Fellowship program.

Reconsideration of a Proposal from the November 2002 Meeting

New York State Archives, State Education Department, Albany, NY: An increase of $2,250 in the requested grant amount for its SHRAB regrant project to accommodate a higher fringe benefit rate for the project archivist.

Education Proposals

Wisconsin History Foundation, Inc., Madison, WI: A one-year grant of $32,719 to support the 33rd Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents.

Host/Fellow for Fellowship in Archival Administration: A one-year grant of $51,500 to the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Host/Fellow for Fellowship in Archival Administration: A one-year grant of $51,500 to the George Meany Memorial Archives.

Host/Fellow for Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing: A one-year grant of $51,500 to Princeton University for the Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

Host/Fellow for Fellowship in Historical Documentary Editing: A one-year grant of $51,500 to New York University for the Papers of Margaret Sanger.

Release of Previously Approved Grant Funds

The Research Foundation of the State University of New York: Release of third-year funding for its Preserving Authentic Non-Textual and Interactive Records project (InterPARES 2).

Directed Grant

Three Affiliated Tribes Museum, Inc., New Town, ND: A six-month grant of $46,864 to record and transcribe oral history interviews.

Information on NHPRC objectives and activities is available at our Web Site. Application materials for all Commission grants, including fellowships, may be requested by telephone, fax, mail, or e-mail, or downloaded from our Web site:

NHPRC
NARA
700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 111
Washington, DC 20408-0001

Telephone: (202) 501-5610
FAX: (202) 501-5601
e-mail: nhprc@nara.gov
Web Site: www.archives.gov/grants/

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