for Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions | EDITIONS 201710

Opportunity Information: Apply for EDITIONS 201710

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), part of the National Archives and Records Administration, is offering competitive, one-year grants to support the publication of documentary editions of historically significant records. The program is designed to expand public access to primary source materials that help tell the American story, along with the editorial context readers need to understand them. Proposed editions can center on the papers of major figures in U.S. history or document wider movements and themes such as politics, the military, business, social reform, and the arts. A key expectation is that the historical importance of the documents and their usefulness to broad audiences are strong enough to justify the time and expense involved in editing and publishing them.

A major emphasis of this opportunity is digital access. NHPRC encourages projects to make materials freely available online in an open environment whenever feasible, while still allowing projects to pursue additional publication formats, including print. However, applicants must have clear, definitive plans for digital dissemination and long-term digital preservation at the time they apply; proposals lacking those concrete plans will not be considered. If a project produces print volumes, the NHPRC also expects the contents of those volumes to be made available online within a reasonable time after print publication. Applicants are expected to show that their editorial approach follows recognized professional standards, particularly best practices associated with the Association for Documentary Editing (ADE) or the Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions.

Funded activities are tightly focused on documentary source materials and the practical work required to turn them into a usable edition. Grants can support collecting and compiling materials, describing and preserving records, transcribing and annotating documents, editing and encoding content for digital presentation, and publishing editions online and/or in print. Because the program is aimed at primary sources, it does not support projects that mainly produce critical editions of already-published works, unless those works represent only a minor component of a larger documentary edition.

The award ceiling is up to $200,000 for a one-year period, and the Commission anticipated making up to 25 awards in this category, totaling up to $2.5 million. For the cycle described, awards were expected to start no earlier than January 1, 2018, with an original application deadline of October 5, 2017. Recipients must acknowledge NHPRC support in any publications, publicity, and other products resulting from the grant.

Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based organizations, including nonprofit organizations and institutions, U.S. colleges and universities (public or private), state and local government agencies, and federally acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups. The funding model requires cost sharing: NHPRC will provide no more than 50 percent of total direct project costs in this category. Indirect costs cannot be charged to NHPRC funds, but they may be counted as part of the applicant’s cost share. Cost share can include a mix of direct and indirect expenses contributed by the applicant, in-kind support, qualifying third-party non-federal contributions, and project-generated income, as long as it directly supports the project.

Administrative compliance is also a firm requirement. Applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before applying, maintain active registration throughout the process, and include a valid DUNS number in the application (noting that this opportunity’s text reflects the registration identifiers used at the time). A complete application package must include Standard Form 424, Standard Form 424B, a project narrative and summary, supplementary materials, and a detailed budget; incomplete applications are not considered. The NHPRC also notes that the competition is highly selective and advises applicants to review the Commission’s published limitations on what it will and will not fund, since proposals dominated by ineligible activities will be rejected without review.

For applicants with ongoing documentary editing projects, the expectations are even more specific. They must demonstrate they met the performance goals tied to any prior NHPRC awards, provide up-to-date information on progress, clearly identify what new work will be completed during the proposed grant year, explain the content and historical significance of the materials to be edited in that period, show concrete progress toward completing the overall edition, and present a budget that credibly justifies the requested funds and the cost-share commitments.

• The National Archives and Records Administration in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "for Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions" 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 Dec 09, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 05, 2017. (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 $200,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 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 EDITIONS 201710

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