National Digital Newspaper Program
NEH supports digitizing historically significant newspapers published from 1690 to 1963 across all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions for a free, searchable Library of Congress database.
Funder: National Endowment for the Humanities
Due Dates: January 13, 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $1–$325,000 per cooperative agreement for up to two years; approximately $3 million total
Summary: Supports digitization of historically significant U.S. newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 for free public access through Chronicling America.
Key Information: Projects must include an advisory board and digitize approximately 100,000 public-domain newspaper pages to Library of Congress specifications.
Description
The National Digital Newspaper Program is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LOC), administered by NEH’s Division of Collections and Infrastructure. It creates a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1690 and 1963 across all 56 states and U.S. jurisdictions. LOC permanently maintains the freely accessible, searchable Chronicling America database and an accompanying newspaper directory.
Recipients select newspapers and convert approximately 100,000 pages into digital files, preferably from microfilm. Projects also produce newspaper title essays and may include educational materials or other digital initiatives. NEH welcomes collaboration between state and jurisdictional partners. Limited dissemination activities may engage scholars, students, educators, and the wider public, but newspaper digitization remains the program’s primary purpose.
