Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals to publish documentary editions of historical records. Projects may focus on the papers of major figures from American history or cover broad historical movements in politics, social reform, business, military, the arts, and other aspects of the national experience. The historical value of the records and their expected usefulness to broad audiences must justify the costs of the project.
The goal of this program is to provide access to, and editorial context for, the historical documents and records that tell the American story. Applicants should demonstrate familiarity with the best practices recommended by the Association for Documentary Editing or the Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions.
All new projects (those which have never received NHPRC funding) must publish a digital edition which provides online access to a searchable collection of all documents. (Ebooks or volumes in PDF do not qualify for the purposes of this grant program.) New projects may also prepare print editions as part of their overall publishing plan, but the contents of those volumes must be published online within a reasonable period of time following print publication. The NHPRC encourages projects to provide free access to online editions. Projects that do not have definitive plans for digital dissemination and preservation in place at the time of application will not be considered.
Grants are awarded for collecting, describing, preserving, compiling, transcribing, annotating, editing, encoding, and publishing documentary source materials online and in print. Because of the focus on documentary sources, grants do not support preparation of critical editions of published works unless such works are just a small portion of the larger project. All applicants should be aware that the application process is highly competitive.
For a comprehensive list of Commission's limitations on funding, please see What We Do and Do Not Fund. Applications that consist entirely of ineligible activities will not be considered.
Ongoing projects:
Applicants from ongoing projects must demonstrate that they have successfully achieved the performance objectives associated with previous NHPRC awards; provide updated, current information, including a description of the new activities; describe the content and historical significance of the specific materials to be edited during the proposed grant period; show progress towards completing the edition; and justify costs in a new budget.

Award Information
A grant is for one year and for up to $200,000. The Commission expects to make up to 25 grants in this category for a total of up to $2,500,000. Grants begin no earlier than January 1, 2019.
The Commission requires that grant recipients acknowledge NHPRC grant assistance in all publications, publicity, and other products that result from its support.
Eligibility
• U.S. nonprofit organizations or institutions
• U.S. colleges, universities, and other academic institutions
• State or local government agencies
• Federally-acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups
Cost Sharing
The total costs of a project are shared between the NHPRC and the applicant organization.
The Commission provides no more than 50 per cent of total direct project costs in the Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions category. NHPRC grant recipients are not permitted to use grant funds for indirect costs (as indicated in 2 CFR 2600.101).
Cost sharing is required. The applicant’s financial contribution may include both direct and indirect expenses, in-kind contributions, non-Federal third-party contributions, and any income earned directly by the project. Indirect costs must be listed under the applicant’s cost sharing contribution.
Other Requirements
Applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting an application, maintain SAM registration throughout the application and award process, and include a valid DUNS number in their application. Details on SAM registration and requesting a DUNS number can be found at the System for Award Management website at https://sam.gov. Please refer to the User Guides section and the Grants Registrations PDF.
A complete application includes the Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424), Assurances -- Non-Construction Programs (Standard Form 424B), a Project Narrative, Summary, Supplementary Materials, and Budget. Applications lacking these items will not be considered.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.