National Archives Awards $2.5 Million In Grants For Historical Records Projects
Press Release · Thursday, January 5, 2012

Washington, DC

Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero today awarded 40 grants totaling $2.5 million for historical records projects in 27 states and the District of Columbia. The National Archives grants program is carried out through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Nearly $700,000 in funding went for State and National Archives Partnership (SNAP) grants to enable 23 state historical records advisory boards to carry out their mission to support archival education and strengthen the nation’s archival network.  One of the most important parts of the SNAP program is to enable states to “regrant” funds, providing opportunities for small historical records repositories to carry out local projects.  In addition, the Oregon State Archives received an Electronic Records grant to support a two-year project to manage and preserve the records of the Governor’s office and to work with the Washington State Digital Archives to create a regional system of managing state government electronic records from creation to final disposition.

Publishing Grants totaling $1.27 million were recommended for 10 publishing projects from the U.S. Colonial and Early National Period, including the papers of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Jay. Two projects that exist solely as digital editions—The Dolley Madison Digital Edition and the Papers of the War Department—also received support, and the Commission endorsed the Jonathan Edwards Collaborative Online Publication Project as a way of encouraging private sector support for its efforts.

Digitizing Historical Records grants, totaling $400,000, went to six projects, including a partnership among the Atlanta Historical Society, the Digital Library of Georgia, the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Historical Society to digitize 81,319 documents pertaining to the American Civil War. The University of Washington will digitize its J. Willis Sayre Photograph Collection, documenting American vaudeville, theater, and other performing arts; the Minnesota Historical Society will digitize 32,000 pages of annotated speeches and 200 audio recordings by U.S. Senator and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978); and Texas Tech University will digitize approximately 250,000 pages of Orderly Departure Program Application Files of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection.

Kathleen Williams, Executive Director of the NHPRC, presented the grant applications and policy issues to the full Commission, including an update on the cooperative agreement with the University of Virginia Press to create a new website featuring the papers of the Founders of the United States of America. The Commission also welcomed its newest member, Judge Jeremy D. Fogel, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to represent the Federal judiciary.

The Archivist of the United States is the Chairman of the 15-member Commission, which includes representatives from all three branches of the Federal government as well as the leading archival and historical professional associations. Established in 1934 with the National Archives, it awards grants for preserving, publishing, and providing access to the nation’s historical documents.

A complete list of grants follows.

PUBLISHING HISTORICAL RECORDS –Colonial and Early National Period

Massachusetts Historical Society
Boston, MA                                         $148,246
To support a project to edit The Papers of John Adams.

Yale University
New Haven, CT                                   $172,104
To support a project to edit The Papers of Benjamin Franklin.

University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI                                        $151,238
To support a project to edit The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution.

Trustees of Columbia University
New York, NY                                    $121,707
To support a project to edit The Papers of John Jay.

University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA                                $135,540
To support a project to edit The Papers of George Washington.

George Washington University
Washington, DC                                  $169,536
To support a project to edit The Documentary History of the First Federal Congress.

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ                                       $135,098
To support a project to edit The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.

University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA                                $116,923
To support a project to edit The Papers of James Madison.

University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA                                  $50,203
To support a project to edit the Dolley Madison Digital Edition.

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA                                            $67,712
To support a project to prepare an electronic image edition of The Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800.

Yale University
New Haven, CT                            Endorsement
For the Jonathan Edwards Collaborative Online Publication Project.

ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Oregon Secretary of State, Archives Division
Salem, OR                                            $134,419
To support a two-year project to integrate the Governor’s office into the Oregon Records Management Solution and to work with the Washington State Digital Archives to create a regional system of managing electronic records from creation to final disposition. 

STATE AND NATIONAL ARCHIVAL PARTNERSHIP GRANTS

Friends of California Archives
Sacramento, CA                                     $29,400
To support the efforts of the California State Historical Records Advisory Board to create curricula for workshops and webinars on the topics of electronic records and the digitization of records.

South Dakota Department of Tourism
Pierre, SD                                                $5,431
To support the South Dakota State Historical Records Advisory Board and its educational and statewide regrant programs.

Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul, MN                                          $36,500
To support the Minnesota State Historical Records Advisory Board and a statewide regrant program.

Colorado State Historical Records
  Advisory Board
Denver, CO                                           $35,000
To support the Colorado State Historical Records Advisory Board and a statewide regrant program.

Alaska Department of Education
  and Early Development
Juneau, AK                                            $61,055
To support the Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board. Archival workshops will be offered to 30 rural archivists across the state, and a records processing manual will be developed to meet the needs of remote, culturally diverse archival repositories.

Vermont State Archives
  and Records Administration
Montpelier, VT                                      $15,000
To support the Vermont State Historical Records Advisory Board and its efforts to design an effective regrant program.

Florida Department of State
Tallahassee, FL                                        $8,300
To support the Florida State Historical Records Advisory Board’s work to create a new strategic plan to guide the board over the next five years.

North Carolina Department
  of Cultural Resources
Raleigh, NC                                           $14,730
To support the North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board’s “Getting Ready to Go” Program, which will train and educate individuals working in archives, museums, and other repositories about creating the infrastructure critical to institutional success and longevity.

Ohio Historical Society
Columbus, OH                                      $31,577
To support the Ohio State Historical Records Advisory Board and a statewide regrant program.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Madison, WI                                          $29,345
To support the Wisconsin State Historical Records Advisory Board’s efforts to promote training related to electronic records best practices, provide training in archival management, and improve collaboration among archivists.

Secretary of the Commonwealth
  of Massachusetts
Boston, MA                                           $15,000
To support the Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board and its Roving Archivist Program. An archivist will work with as many as 17 institutions to assess their collections and provide advice on records processing, access, preservation, and institutional management.

Washington Office of the
  Secretary of State
Olympia, WA                                         $50,000
To support the Washington State Historical Records Advisory Board and its efforts to provide 20 technical assistance workshops and regrants for digitizing local government records.

Indiana Commission on Public Records
Indianapolis, IN                                     $35,000
To support the Indiana State Historical Records Advisory Board’s workshop series, outreach program, and statewide regrant program.

Library of Virginia Foundation
Richmond, VA                                       $12,688
To support the Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board and its “Where History Begins” conference for the promotion of collaboration among historical societies.

Utah State Archives and Records Services
Salt Lake City, UT                                  $34,760
To support the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board and a statewide regrant program.

Missouri Office of the
  Secretary of State
Jefferson City, MO                                 $70,000
To support the Missouri State Historical Records Advisory Board and a statewide regrant program.

State Historical Society of North Dakota
Bismarck, ND                                         $6,988
To support the North Dakota State Historical Records Advisory Board’s efforts to enhance the state’s National history Day program.

Kentucky State Historical Records
  Advisory Board
Frankfort, KY                                        $30,000
To support the Kentucky State Historical Records Advisory Board and continuing education workshop and webinars.

Georgia Office of
  Secretary of State
Morrow, GA                                         $24,696
To support the Georgia State Historical Records Advisory Board’s strategic planning process and outreach programs.

Connecticut State Library
Hartford, CT                                         $55,000
To support the Connecticut State Historical Records Advisory Board, an archival management symposium, a series of workshops, and a traveling archivist program that will provide training and advice to repositories across the state.

Montana Historical Society
Helena, MT                                            $13,140
To support the Montana State Historical Records Advisory Board and its traveling student archivist program.

Maine State Archives
Augusta, ME                                          $70,000
To support the Maine State Historical Records Advisory Board’s training program, Civil War Sesquicentennial project, and statewide regrant program.

State Historical Society of Iowa
Des Moines, IA                                     $11,615
To support the Iowa State Historical Records Advisory Board and its technical assistance program.

DIGITIZING HISTORICAL RECORDS

University of Washington
Seattle, WA                                            $34,926
To support a project to digitize and make available the J. Willis Sayre Photograph Collection of over 24,500 late 19th and early 20th century photographs depicting images from American vaudeville, theater, and other performing arts.

Regents of the University of
  California, San Diego
San Diego, CA                                       $56,571
To support a two-year project to digitize the Herman Baca Papers (1964-2006), and related oral interviews, documenting the Chicano movement and organizations in San Diego and the American Southwest.

Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul, MN                                          $46,063
To support a project to digitize and make available 32,000 pages of annotated speeches and 50 audio recordings by U.S. Senator and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978).

Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX                                       $144,120
To support a three-year project to digitize approximately 250,000 pages of Orderly Departure Program Application Files of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association Collection documenting the immigration experience of thousands of Vietnamese who migrated to the United States following the end of the Vietnam War.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Amherst, MA                                         $42,950
To support a one-year project to digitize the records of Horace Mann Bond (1904-1972), African American historian, college president, writer, and social science researcher.

Atlanta Historical Society, Inc.
Atlanta, GA                                           $74,831
To support a project, in partnership with the Digital Library of Georgia, the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Historical Society to digitize 81,319 documents pertaining to the American Civil War.

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