Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions | EDITIONS 202006

Opportunity Information: Apply for EDITIONS 202006

The Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions grant opportunity is offered by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), part of the National Archives and Records Administration. It supports projects that publish carefully edited documentary editions of historical records that help tell the American story. Proposed editions can be thematic (centered on major movements or topics in U.S. history such as law, politics, social reform, business, military affairs, or the arts) or biographical (focused on the papers of significant individuals). In either case, applicants are expected to make a strong case that the records have clear historical value and will be useful to broad audiences, and that this public value justifies the overall project costs.

A major emphasis in this program is public-facing access and interpretation. The Commission is especially interested in proposals that help commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, including projects that use documentary collections to explore the ideas associated with the founding of the United States and how those ideals have been interpreted, contested, and debated over the last 250 years. The program welcomes projects that actively engage the public, strengthen civic education, and deepen understanding of U.S. history, democracy, and culture from the founding era to the present. The central purpose is not simply to reproduce documents, but to provide meaningful editorial context so that readers can understand what the records are, why they matter, and how they fit into larger historical narratives.

Projects funded under this opportunity are expected to follow established professional editorial standards. Applicants should demonstrate familiarity with best practices in documentary editing, including guidance associated with the Association for Documentary Editing (ADE) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) Committee on Scholarly Editions. The work supported typically includes locating and assembling documentary source materials; describing and preserving them; transcribing and annotating; editing and encoding (often for digital publication); and ultimately publishing the edition online and, optionally, in print.

Digital publication is a core requirement, particularly for new applicants. Any project that has never received NHPRC funding must have definitive plans to publish and preserve a digital edition that provides online access to a searchable, fully transcribed, and annotated set of documents. Print volumes can be part of the plan (including ebooks or searchable PDFs posted online), but the expectation is that print content will also appear in a fully searchable digital edition within a reasonable timeframe after print publication. The NHPRC encourages free public access to these online editions. Applications that lack clear, concrete plans for digital dissemination and long-term digital preservation at the time of submission are not eligible for consideration.

The program is designed for collaborative, multi-role teams. Grant-supported projects typically involve at least two scholar-editors and may also include archivists, digital scholarship staff, data curators, and other technical or support personnel as needed. While most editions focus on original manuscript or typewritten documents, projects may also incorporate other formats such as analog audio and born-digital records when they are appropriate to the historical edition. However, the program is not intended for critical editions of already-published works, unless those published materials are only a minor component of a broader documentary corpus. It also does not fund film or video documentary production, and proposals made up entirely of ineligible activities will not be reviewed.

Ongoing projects that have received prior NHPRC support can apply, but they must show strong performance and forward momentum. These applicants are expected to document that they met objectives from earlier NHPRC awards, provide updated details on the new work to be accomplished during the next grant period, identify and explain the historical significance of the specific materials to be edited, demonstrate progress toward completing the edition, and submit a budget that clearly justifies the requested costs.

Funding is structured as a one-year grant with an award ceiling of up to $175,000 per year. The Commission anticipated making up to 25 awards in this category, with total program funding up to $3,000,000. For this cycle, grants were expected to begin no earlier than January 1, 2021. Recipients must acknowledge NHPRC support in publications, publicity, and other products developed with grant assistance.

Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based organizations, including nonprofit organizations and institutions, colleges and universities (public or private), state or local government agencies, and federally acknowledged or state-recognized Native American tribes or groups. The program requires cost sharing: NHPRC will cover no more than 50 percent of total project costs in this category. Applicants must provide the remaining share through a mix of allowable contributions, which can include direct and indirect expenses, in-kind support, non-federal third-party contributions, and project-generated income. A key restriction is that NHPRC funds may not be used for indirect costs (per 2 CFR 2600.101), though indirect costs can be counted toward the applicant’s cost-share portion if properly listed there.

Finally, there are standard federal registration requirements. Applicant organizations must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) before applying, maintain an active SAM registration throughout the application and award process, and include a valid DUNS number in the application materials (noting that this opportunity reflects the requirements listed at the time of posting). The original closing date listed for this funding opportunity was June 10, 2020, under Funding Opportunity Number EDITIONS 202006 and CFDA 89.003.

• The National Archives and Records Administration in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "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, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 10, 2020. (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 $175,000.00 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 202006

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