State Archives Announces $91,000 In Grants To Make New York's Historical Records Available

The New York State Archives awarded $91,828 in Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) grants to eight not-for-profit organizations and higher education institutions across the state to help identify, collect and make available New York State’s historical records, State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia announced today.

“We’re proud to support projects that preserve New York’s unique documentary heritage,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa. “These grants will fund important projects across the state that will make historical records accessible to our students and teachers so they can learn about New York’s history using original source materials and primary documents.”

“It’s critical that we preserve our state’s history,” Commissioner Elia said. “These grants will enable non-profits and higher education institutions to make valuable historical records accessible to the public today and in the future. I thank the applicants for valuing the importance of preserving our history and their commitment to making that history available to all.”

Bob Clark, Chair of the State Historical Records Advisory Board, added, “The Documentary Heritage Program Grants are critical to ensuring that stories of under-documented groups, events, locations, and peoples are fully woven into the rich tapestry that is New York State. Through programs like the DHP, New York State history can belong to all of us.”

Awards range from $3,710 to $24,993. Awards by organization are below:

Organization	Project	Award Amount
Adirondack Historical Association	Arranging and Describing Adirondack Economic History	$7,447
Brooklyn Historical Society	New York Activists Working for Change in the Modern Era	$14,590
Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CUNY Hunter College)	From Community Projects to Academia Presence, Puerto Rican Educators and Cultural Leaders	$11,526
Rochester General Hospital	Arrangement and Description of Rochester Regional Health Corporation Collection	$3,710
Rochester Public Library	Arrangement and Description of Social Reform and Activism Collections	$7,920
SUNY Albany	Arrangement and Description of Collections on Women and Politics	$9,803
SUNY Buffalo	East Side History Project	$24,993
SUNY Maritime	Arranging and Describing the Early Records of SUNY Maritime College	$11,839

The State Archives, part of the State Education Department, administers the DHP grants, which provides financial support to New York State not-for-profit organizations that hold, collect, and make available New York’s historical records. It is a competitive program with grants awarded based on the merits of the applications.

Since its inception in 1988, the program has provided over $3 million in competitive grant funds to not-for-profit organizations statewide. These funds support a variety of projects that help build a more comprehensive and equitable documentation of New York’s history and culture. Project categories include:

Documentation: projects that build a comprehensive record that more fully and fairly represents all New Yorkers and their history. These projects identify and collect unique, original source materials about people, groups, events, and/or on the political, economic, and social conditions in New York, to pave the way toward making these materials accessible to all.

Arrangement and Description: projects that make publicly available the unique, original records of traditionally under-represented groups and topics of New York State. Applications to arrange and describe historically valuable born-digital materials as well as paper-based materials are encouraged.

Grant projects may start on July 1, 2017 and all work on grant projects must be completed by June 30, 2018. For more information about DHP grants please visit: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/grants/grants_dhp.shtml

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