Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects | ARCHIVAL 201810

Opportunity Information: Apply for ARCHIVAL 201810

Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects is a discretionary grant opportunity from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), part of the National Archives and Records Administration, focused on helping organizations improve online public discovery and use of historical records collections. The core aim is to move important archival materials further along the path from being held in repositories to being findable, understandable, and usable by the public through the internet. The Commission places special emphasis on collections that illuminate the development of American legal history, particularly early legal records such as colonial, territorial, county, and early statehood documentation, as well as records connected to tribal proceedings. While that early legal focus is highlighted, the program is not limited to paper court documents; it supports a wide range of formats including textual records, photographs, born-digital materials, and analog audio and moving image media.

Funded projects generally fall into two practical categories: (1) preserving and processing collections to produce new online finding aids that help users discover what exists and how to access it, and (2) digitizing historical records and making the digital content freely available online. In other words, applicants can propose work that improves intellectual control and description (so people can locate and understand collections) and/or work that increases direct access by putting digital surrogates online. The NHPRC also encourages applicants to build in public engagement, meaning projects are stronger when they include ways to involve or reach audiences beyond the host institution, such as outreach, community participation, or other strategies that connect the public to the records and the work being done.

Awards are relatively modest but meaningful for discrete archival projects. Grants can run for one or two years, with a maximum award of $100,000 per project. The Commission anticipated making up to 10 awards in this category, totaling up to $700,000 across all recipients. For this cycle, projects were expected to start no earlier than July 1, 2019. Recipients must also acknowledge NHPRC support in publicity, publications, and other products that result from the grant, which is a standard federal requirement tied to visibility and accountability for public funds.

Eligibility is broad across the public, nonprofit, academic, and tribal sectors. Applicants may include nonprofit organizations and institutions, colleges and universities (including public and private institutions of higher education), state or local government agencies, and federally acknowledged or state recognized Native American tribes or groups. The source information also lists eligible applicant types in grants.gov terms, such as state governments, county and city/township governments, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits (other than higher education institutions), and federally recognized tribal governments.

Cost sharing is required, and applicants need to plan their budgets accordingly. The NHPRC will cover no more than 75 percent of total project costs for this category, meaning the applicant must provide at least 25 percent of the total cost through cash and/or allowable contributions. The applicant share can include direct expenses, allowable indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-federal third-party support, and income earned directly by the project. However, a key restriction is that NHPRC grant funds cannot be used to pay indirect costs (per 2 CFR 2600.101). If an applicant includes indirect costs in the overall project budget, those indirect costs must be counted under the applicant’s cost share rather than charged to the federal portion.

There are also administrative compliance requirements that determine whether an application is even considered. Applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before submitting, must keep that registration active through the application and award period, and must include a valid DUNS number in the application materials (noting that DUNS was the identifier used at the time of this opportunity). A complete submission must include specific federal forms and program materials: Standard Form 424 (Application for Federal Assistance), Standard Form 424B (Assurances for Non-Construction Programs), along with a project narrative, summary, supplementary materials, and a budget. Applications missing required components will not be considered, and proposals consisting entirely of ineligible activities will not be reviewed, with the NHPRC pointing applicants to its published list of what it does and does not fund for further guidance.

From the posted opportunity data, the funding opportunity title is Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects, the opportunity number is ARCHIVAL 201810, the CFDA number is 89.003, the activity category is Humanities (Cultural Affairs), the award ceiling is $100,000, and the agency is the National Archives and Records Administration. The original closing date listed for this cycle was October 4, 2018, with the opportunity initially created on June 18, 2018.

• The National Archives and Records Administration in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Access to Historical Records: Archival Projects" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 89.003.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 18, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 04, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for ARCHIVAL 201810

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