Archival Projects
NHPRC grant seeks projects improving online access to historical records, especially those focused on early legal history and underrepresented communities.
This grant was recently cancelled by National Archives and Records Administration
Funder: National Archives and Records Administration
Due Dates: August 15, 2025 (Draft, optional) | November 5, 2025 (Final Deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to $150,000 per grant for 1–2 years; up to 14 grants awarded annually
Summary: Supports archival projects that improve online public access to historical records, emphasizing early legal history and underrepresented communities.
Key Information: Applicants must be registered in SAM with a valid Unique Entity ID; draft proposals are strongly encouraged for feedback.
Description
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), offers the Archival Projects grant to support projects that significantly enhance online public discovery and use of historical records collections. The program encourages projects that engage the public, expand civic education, and promote understanding of U.S. history, democracy, and culture from the founding era to the present.
Priority is given to projects focusing on America's early legal records, including colonial, territorial, county, early statehood, and tribal proceedings that document the nation's legal history. Projects that center the voices and histories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are especially welcomed.
Eligible projects may involve:
- Arranging, rehousing, and describing archival collections
- Converting existing descriptions for online access
- Creating new online finding aids
- Digitizing historical records and making them freely available online
All types of historical records are eligible, including documents, photographs, born-digital materials, and analog audio and moving images.
Successful applications must demonstrate the collection’s value to public understanding of U.S. democracy and culture, adhere to archival best practices, be staffed with qualified archivists, propose cost-effective budgets, and include activities to attract researchers to the collections.
