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What is the Documentary Heritage Program?
The Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) is a New York Statewide records program designed to locate, organize, and make available the state's
historical records that are critical to ensuring the survival of New York's heritage. Established by law in 1988, the DHP is administered by the New York State Archives, State Education Department, and is
funded through the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund. The DHP offers regional services and a statewide comprehensive grants program.
Who Does the DHP Serve?
Any organization that holds historical records and makes them publicly accessible may use the DHP's regional services and apply for a DHP grant.
Such organizations include non-for-profit archives, libraries, historical societies and local historians, museums, and similar institutions within New York State.
What Regional Services Does the DHP Provide?
Regional services are provided through Greater Hudson Heritage Network and serve the counties of Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam,
Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
Coordinating historical records training workshops;. Working with regional organizations, businesses, ethnic and racial groups, libraries, archives and museums to ensure the
identification of, and permanent care for, historical records; Raising public awareness of the importance of historical records, especially for under-documented groups and topics; Working with regional repositories and organizations to seek local, state, and federal funding for projects to support historical
records programming; Providing advice to historical records repositories on how to strengthen their programs.
What Statewide Services Does the DHP Provide?
Offering competitive grants for projects that address the DHP priorities; Providing statewide coordination of regional services and documentation projects; Encouraging the development of finding aids and access to information bout historical record holdings; Developing workshop curricula and publications on historical records techniques and issues; Encouraging coordinated efforts to seek federal and private funding; New York State Archives.
2010-2011 DHP Grants
Application Deadline February 1, 2010
Legislative Authority
The Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) is a statewide program established in 1988 under Education Law, ** 140, 207; L.
1988, ch. 679. The DHP is administered by the New York State Archives to ensure the identification, sound administration and accessibility of New York*s historical records.
Purpose
One component of
the DHP is the grants program. DHP Grants are designed to encourage more comprehensive documentation of New York State*s history and culture by supporting projects that identify, survey, collect, and make
available important records relating to groups and topics traditionally under-represented in the historical record. DHP is administered by the New York State Archives, a unit of the New York State Education
Department (NYSED).
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants include not-for-profit community organizations, archives, libraries, historical societies, and similar institutions within New York State and
consortia or partnerships of such agencies. Also eligible are service providers such as historical service agencies, colleges and universities, professional associations, or other not-for-profit institutions or
systems that provide services to historical records programs.
Funding
A total of $92,000 is expected to be available for grants projects. Grants will be available in amounts up to $25,000. Applicants may
seek support for personnel; purchased services, including qualified consultants; supplies; materials and equipment costing less than $5,000; and travel as required to directly support project activities and outcomes.
Important Dates
Grants in this cycle are for up to 12-month projects, from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. Applications must be postmarked by Monday, February 1, 2010. Tentative date for the
announcement of grant awards is June 30, 2010.
Grant Project Types
Documentation - The purpose of a documentation project is to identify and ensure the systematic preservation of papers and records not
currently in historical records repositories that provide information on the people, groups, events or changing political, economic or social conditions of New York State. A documentation project typically
consists of three phases - planning, surveying, and collecting – and usually takes at least two years to complete. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required for Documentation projects.
Arrangement &
Description - Arrangement and description are the processes used to obtain physical and intellectual control over materials held in historic records repositories. Arrangement is the process of organizing materials
with respect to their provenance and original order, to protect their context and to achieve physical and/or intellectual control over the materials. Description is the creation of an accurate representation of a
unit of archival material by the process of capturing, collating, analyzing, and organizing information that serves to identify archival material and explain the context and records system(s) that produced it. The
objective of archival description is the creation of access tools that assist users in discovering desired records. Cost sharing of at least 50% is required for Arrangement & Description projects.
Archival Needs Assessment - Historical records repositories undertake needs assessments to evaluate and plan for archival program development. As a result, a comprehensive needs assessment, carried out by an
experienced archivist with the requisite expertise, will pinpoint problems, recommend solutions, set priorities, and guide the development of archival activity. Cost sharing of at least 50% is required for Archival
Needs Assessment projects.
Ineligible Projects
Several types of historical records projects are not eligible for funding under the DHP. These include:
* Projects that do not have primary focus on New York State
* Digitization (projects to create digital records)
* Item-level description and/or indexing
* Oral history and/or video taping
* Newspapers (these are not considered to be historical records under the DHP law)
* Preservation (i.e., the physical work to conserve, restore, or repair records, or
reproduction for preservation purposes such as microfilming)
Topical Priorities
In order to insure that the DHP addresses the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board*s mandate to identify, survey,
collect, and make available historical records that relate to under-documented groups or subjects, the State Archives has identified and given priority to specific topical areas for DHP funding. These topics are
listed in Priority Levels One and Two below. Although applications for projects that focus on any under-documented group or subject are eligible for funding, they will receive fewer points during grants review than
those in Levels One and Two.
Priority Level One
* Population groups in the 20th and 21st centuries
* Economic change in the 20th and 21st centuries
* World Trade Center disaster, September 11, 2001
* Education policy
Priority Level Two
* Environmental affairs
* Mental health
Priority Level Three
* Other under-documented topics in New York State history
Application Process
Grant application forms and guidelines
will be available in October 2009. They may be obtained by emailing the State Archives dhs@nysed.gov or by visiting the State Archives Web site http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/grants/grants_dhp.shtml.
For further information, please contact:
Pamela Cooley/Documentary Heritage Program
New York State Archives
Room 9C71 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Telephone: 518-474-6926
Email: dhs@mail.nysed.gov
The State Education
Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, martial status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual
orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portion of any publication designed for distribution can be made available in a variety of formats, including Braille, large print or
audiotape, upon request. Inquiries regarding this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department*s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.
FREE Site Visits
The Hudson Valley DHP offers free advice and on-site consultations with a regional archivist to area non-for profits.
To speak with a regional archivist about your archival needs, or schedule an appointment, call 914-592-6726 or e-mail lowerhudson@msn.com. Organizations of any size are invited to participate. Historical
societies, museums, libraries and archives are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.
DHP Survey
A survey was developed to help identify the Hudson Valley region's historical records keepers and determine which DHP
services would best serve their needs.
Knowing what exists in our Hudson Valley will help us plan ways we can offer support, advice, and continuing education to historical societies, archives, museums, and libraries. The results of this survey will also help us connect places and people doing similar work with historical materials. Survey Form available here. Please return completed form to DHP/GHHN, 2199 Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford, NY 10523.
Click here for the DHP Newsletter.
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