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Commission Recommends $4.66 Million in Grants for Documentary Editing and Archival Projects
Press Release · Friday, May 16, 2008

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Washington, DC…At its spring meeting, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) recommended to the Archivist of the United States 78 grants of $4.66 million for projects across the nation. These recommendations include 32 grants through the new State and National Archival Partnership grants, totaling just over $1 million, that will enable archives in the states to expand programming. A new program for Archival projects resulted in 19 archives and records projects, including grants for the Child Drama Collection at Arizona State University, an archival program for the City of San Antonio and for the Wiyot, Sitka, and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, the processing of Cold War Era documents at Princeton, and digitization of audio tapes that document Hawaiian cultural traditions, language and history at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. A grant to New York University will enable the development of its new Digital History Across the Curriculum project.

Grants totaling $2.3 million were recommended for 24 documentary editing projects—from the Frederick Douglass Papers to the Papers of John Jay. Two new projects were also included: The St. George Tucker Law Papers, detailing the career of this 18th century jurist who advocated states’ rights and a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and “Walt Whitman and the Civil War,” a selected edition of the poet’s papers to be published through the University of Nebraska. Two subventions were awarded to university presses to defray the cost of publishing new volumes, including volume 14 of the Presidential Series of George Washington and the first volume of the Civil Rights leader Howard Thurman, entitled The Sound of the Genuine. A complete list of all grants is attached.

Kathleen Williams, the new Executive Director of the NHPRC, presented the applications and policy issues to the full Commission, which also welcomed its newest member, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), who represents the U.S. Senate. Following the National Archives’ recently issued report, The Founders Online: A Report to Congress,The Founders Online the Commission also agreed to consider a proposal for a pilot project to prepare unannotated documents from America’s Founding Era for publication on the web.

The Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein, is the Chairman of the Commission. The NHPRC is the sole Federal funding agency whose only focus is the documentary heritage of the United States. Established in 1934, it has awarded grants for preserving, publishing, and providing access to vital historical documents. Twice each year, in May and November, the Commission recommends grants to the Chairman.

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Recommended Grants ~ May 2008

Professional Development
For projects to improve training and education of archival professionals.

Digital History Across the Curriculum    $83,100
New York University
New York, NY
To support a two year project to incorporate digital technology skills into the university’s Archives and Public History course curriculum.

Publishing Historical Records
These long-term projects document major historical figures, records groups, and important eras and social movements from the history of the nation.
 
The Selected Papers of Jane Adams                 $78,347
Duke University
Durham, NC

Documentary Relations of the                 $66,438
   Southwest: the O’odham-Pee Posh Communities
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ

St. George Tucker Law Papers         $20,000
Omohundro Institute of
Early American History & Culture
Williamsburg, VA

Clarence Mitchell, Jr. Papers            $55,000
SUNY College at Old Westbury
Old Westbury, NY 

Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers                    $70,819
Regents of the University of California
Los Angeles, CA

Papers of Charles Carroll of Carrollton             $15,000
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA

Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton        
   & Susan B. Anthony                      $90,000
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway, NJ

Freedmen and Southern Society           $163,438
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD

The Papers of Abraham Lincoln        $75,000
Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation
Springfield, IL

Emma Goldman Papers                                    $130,000
Regents of the University of California
Berkeley, CA

Frederick Douglass Papers                               $74,656
Indiana University
Indianapolis, IN

Thomas A. Edison Papers Project                    $124,320
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway, NJ

Walt Whitman & the Civil War             $75,000
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE

Howard Thurman Papers                                   $67,000
Morehouse College
Atlanta, GA

The Samuel Gompers Papers            $105,965
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

The Papers of Andrew Jackson                        $108,560
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN

The Selected Papers of John Jay                       $150,000
Columbia University
New York, NY

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers                         $104,328
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

 

The Presidential Recordings Project      $127,843
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers                          $260,896
George Washington University
Washington., DC

Papers of the War Department                          $95,210
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

The Papers of Jefferson Davis               $89,495
Rice University
Houston, TX

Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger                 $89,480
New York University
New York, NY

The Papers of George C. Marshall        $44,000
George C. Marshall Foundation
Lexington, VA
           

Publication Subventions
Grants to publishers to help defray the printing costs of individual volumes of documentary editions.

University of Virginia Press                               $10,000
Charlottesville, VA
Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, Vol. 14

University of South Carolina                              $6,195
 Columbia, SC
The Sound of the Genuine: Papers of Howard Thurman, Vol. 1

 

Archives-Basic Processing
Grants to reveal hidden collections in archives and to create archives.

San Jose University Research Foundation
San Jose, CA                   $151,704
To support a two-year project to create catalog records and EAD finding aids for all of the manuscript collections and university records in its holdings. 

Connecticut Historical Society
Hartford, CT                    $88,959
To support a two‑year project to catalog and improve access to 900 manuscript and archival collections from 1714-2004.

Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa
Suttons Bay, MI                               $12,000
To support a one-year project to assess its archival needs and develop an archives management and preservation plan.

Longue Vue House & Gardens
New Orleans, LA             $20,800
To establish an archives and records management program for the Longue Vue House and Gardens documenting its history and the family of Edgar and Edith Stern.

Kansas State Historical Society, Inc
Topeka, KS                     $161,187
To support a two‑year project to create or verify high-level content information for its holdings of 42,000 cubic feet of records and 20,000 rolls of microfilm. 

Georgia Historical Society
Savannah, GA                                  $75,189
To support a two-year project to cut in half its backlog of unprocessed collections, including a survey of collections and processing of at least 500 cubic feet of records.

Atlanta Historical Society
Atlanta, GA                      $87,465
To support a two-year project to reduce its backlog of unprocessed collections and providing access to 528 cubic feet of records contained in 23 collections.

Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ                        $30,800
To support a project to describe 68 collections that document the history of children’s theatre in the United States in the Child Drama Collection. 

University of Idaho
Moscow, ID                      $60,000
To support the arrangement and description of 22 collections related to the history of environmental conservation in the Pacific Northwest. 

San Antonio Public Library
San Antonio, TX                              $52,000
To support the continued development of an archival program for the City of San Antonio. 

 

Forest History Society
Durham, NC                    $44,648
To support a year long project to eliminate its existing processing backlog of six collections, create collection level catalog records for every archival collection, and convert all existing finding aids to EAD.

Wiyot Tribe
Loleta, CA                      $12,000
To support a 12‑month project to assess its current holdings and procedures, and make recommendations for developing a comprehensive records program.

Sitka Tribe of Alaska
Sitka, AK                         $12,000      
 To support a strategic plan for establishing an archives for this Southeast Alaska tribe.

 

Archives-Detailed Processing
Grants to conduct detailed processing and preservation of collections of national significance.

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ                   $57,133
To support the processing of the George F. Kennan Papers and the James Forrestal Papers, two important collections of Cold War Era documents.

University of Illinois, Chicago
Chicago, IL                      $27,874
To support a 16-month project to arrange, describe, and make available 700 linear feet of records from the university’s Chancellor’s Office dating from 1936 to 1995.

Bishop Museum
Honolulu, HI                     $149,750
To support a two‑year project to preserve through digitization 1,734 audio recordings that document Hawaiian cultural traditions, language, and history.

Denver Public Library
Denver, CO                     $49,840
To support the processing of five collections held by its Western History and Genealogy Department that document social activism by minorities in the American West.

Fund for Innovative TV
Chicago, IL                      $65,900
To support the digitization of 361  videotapes that document life in Chicago during the past 35 years.

Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY                  $79,440
To support detailed description and preservation rehousing of 134 collections documenting American cartoons and cartoonists from the 20th century.

State and National Archival Partnership Grants
Basic grants support the operations, programs, and activities of State Historical Records Advisory Boards (SHRABs)—made either directly to the SHRAB or a fiscal agent.

Friends of California Archives                           $20,000
State Historical Society of Iowa                    $13,500
Illinois State Archives                                    $19,580
Kansas State Historical Society                         $20,000
Pennsylvania Heritage Society                           $ 8,500
Texas State Library & Archives Commission     $16,500
State Historical Society of North Dakota                       $20,000
Wisconsin Historical Society                         $16,586
Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History                        $16,000
Indiana Commission on Public Records               $20,000
Kentucky SHRAB                        $12,583
Missouri Office Secretary of State                 $19,466
Washington Office Secretary of State                            $16,870
Colorado SHRAB                                        $19,200
Virgin Islands Div. Libraries, Archives & Mus.  $5,000
New Mexico Commission on Public Records    $9,803
Alaska Dept. of Education                            $16,280
South Dakota Dept. of Tourism & State                        $10,173

Supplemental Partnership grants support efforts to improve statewide, regional, or national collaborations and services.

South Carolina Dept. of Archives                      $70,000
To support basic activities, disaster planning and recovery workshops, local archives management workshops, and an ongoing regrant program.

Georgia Office of Secretary of State                  $65,000
To support basic activities, a probate court regrant program, and three disaster plan templates.

Minnesota Historical Society             $22,394
To support basic activities and a regrant program.

Oklahoma Dept of Libraries              $65,000
To support basic activities and a regrant program for projects to help mitigate threats to historical records collections.

Idaho State Historical Society                           $40,484
To support basic activities, regrants to local records managers, and projects for records to be transferred to the Idaho Public Archives and Research Library.

Arizona SHRAB               $26,826
To support basic activities and a regrant program.

Michigan Dept. History, Arts & Libraries          $45,000
To support basic activities, promote increased usage of the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL), and partner with institutions to add MARC records to the MeL.

Tennessee State Library & Archives                 $67,000
To support basic activities and regrants to non-governmental repositories to conduct needs assessments, education, and training.

Wyoming Dept. of State Parks &
    Cultural Resources                        $66,000
To support basic activities and a regrant program for training, along with a Circuit Rider Archivist program.

New Jersey Div. Archives &
   Records  Management                     $56,642
To support basic activities and expand the scope of its statewide Connecting to Collections Project.

New York State Education Department            $41,000
To support basic activities and collaboration with institutions on workshops for basic preservation of electronic records.

Utah State Archives & Records Services           $70,000
To support basic activities and regrants to augment the state legislature’s appropriation of $150,000 over three years.   

Maine SHRAB                 $65,000
To support basic activities and a regrant program for up to 25 small and medium repositories.

Alabama Dept of Archives & History                $66,964

To support basic activities and a regrant program for preservation activities, equipment, and supplies to 10-12 repositories.

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