Grants & Awards: DHP: Grant Application & Reference Material:
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.
Applications are scored, in part, based on the priority level of the topic, with the highest score going to projects that address Level One topics. They are also scored on how effectively applicants make the case that their project fits within one (and only one) topical priority. Applicants are cautioned to make their case for a particular priority topic carefully. A poorly justified case for a priority Level One topic will receive a lower score than a well-presented case for a priority Level Two topic.
Note: Archival Needs Assessment project applications are not required to declare a Topical Priority. The topical priority, if any, will not be a factor in scoring the application. The point score for Archival Needs Assessment applications will be adjusted accordingly to compete fairly with other grant project types.
Priority Level One
Population groups in the 20th and 21st Centuries
New York’s history during the 20th and 21st centuries has been shaped substantially by the arrival, emergence, and growth of a great diversity of groups united in varying degrees by shared culture, ethnic or racial background, socioeconomic status, beliefs or values, or experience. Most groups include both concentrations of individuals in neighborhoods or communities and individuals spread in small clusters throughout the state. Most will also share and nurture particular ways of life or other cultural expressions that help define the group and shape its contributions to New York’s history.
These population groups include, but are not limited to:
- People of African, Latino/a, Native American, European, or Asian/Pacific-Islander descent who have immigrated to rural or urban New York State or have moved within the state in search of more stable economic, political, and/or social conditions.
- People whose members have long been in New York but who have emerged and coalesced as active communities during this period, for example, the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community.
Projects should focus primarily on records that document the social, cultural, political, and economic lives of these communities and their engagement with the broader history and culture of the state.
Applicants who have questions about whether a particular group fits within this category should contact the DHP office before beginning work on an application.
The State Archives has published A Guide to Documenting Latino/Hispanic History & Culture in New York State (Pub. #67) which can be used as a model for how to create a comprehensive historical record of a population group. A summary of the guide is available on the New York State Archives website. For a paper copy of the complete guide, email dhs@mail.nysed.gov.
Economic Change in the 20th and 21st Centuries
New York’s history over the past century has encompassed vast and sometimes turbulent changes in the economic life of the state, such as the decline of heavy industry, the changes in agricultural technology and practice, and the explosion of tourism. These changing economies, whether of individual towns and cities, various regions, or the state as a whole, are one of the defining themes of New York’s history.
Projects in this topical area should focus on changes in New York State’s economic base or in agriculture; de-industrialization; or efforts at economic revitalization including the development of new industries and businesses in the State.
Projects in this topical area may involve working with records of businesses that have been dissolved or absorbed by other businesses. Also, projects may involve records for businesses that are currently operating provided these records are, or are intended to be, accessioned and made available in a publicly accessible not-for-profit historical records repository.
The following are examples which could be included in this topical area: the decline of manufacturing in a region; the loss of family farming and growth of agribusiness; or the emergence of new industries such as tourism, the arts and culture, health care, higher education, and/or high technology.
World Trade Center disaster, September 11, 2001
The significance of the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001 is incalculable. Although the media has stressed the impact of the terrorist attacks on the nature of war and on the cultural climate of this country, the disaster also has had immense and lasting effects on the social, economic, cultural, and political life of New York City and the greater New York region.
Documenting these social, economic, cultural and political impacts is the challenge that projects in this topical area should address. Specifically, projects should focus on relevant records of organizations that were affected by the attacks directly or whose records were affected; or organizations whose missions were affected during the course of the response and recovery.
Education policy
Universal K-12 education is the foundation of citizenship in a democracy and essential to the social, economic, and cultural health of our society. Although the policies that establish and govern the practice of education in our schools are determined in large part by governmental entities at the local, state, and federal levels, citizens acting through a range of non-governmental groups and associations influence education policymaking in important ways.
Projects in this topical area should focus on the development, implementation, and assessment of educational policy in New York State as it relates to K-12 public and private education.
The following kinds of organizations might be included under this topical area: PTAs, education advocacy groups, private schools, home-schooling organizations and networks, teachers’ unions, or professional associations.
NOTE: Many of the state’s educational organizations, including local school districts, are part of state or local government. Although not available through DHP, funding for projects related to local government records is available from the State Archives’ Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grants program.
Priority Level Two
Environmental affairs
The past half century has seen human impact on the environment emerge as one of the most critical issues of our age, and citizens, scholars, organizations and governments in New York have played enormously important roles in this history, often providing leadership for the nation and the world. But much of the documentation essential to a full and accurate telling of this remarkable history in New York is being lost.
Documenting the relationship, past and present, of humankind to the natural environment in New York State is the challenge that projects in this topical area should address. This vast topic includes the use, management, and development of natural resources; the conservation of natural
resources and related environmental issues; the effect of environmental hazards on human populations and other life forms; and/or the development and implementation of public policy and planning related to the environment.
Projects may include the records of businesses, industries, non-governmental and community organizations, ethnic groups, or individuals; especially the poorly documented records which represent activities of individuals and organizations with very different points of view.
Projects in this topical area should reflect the priorities and criteria outlined on pages 16-18 in A Guide to Documenting Environmental Affairs in New York State (Pub. #73), published by the State Archives. A summary of the guide is available on the State Archives website. For a complete paper copy of the guide, email dhs@mail.nysed.gov.
Mental health
The story of mental health in New York State is a compelling and critical part of our history as New Yorkers. However, significant elements of that history are in danger of being lost. This is the issue that this topical area was designed to address. Projects in this area should focus on the records of organizations and programs that promote mental health in New York State.
Such organizations and/or programs may be involved with the following: treatment and care for recipients of mental health services (through research, intervention, and education); protection of the rights of mental health consumers (advocacy groups, government watch-dog groups); assistance in coping with the problems of daily life for both individuals with psychiatric histories and their caregivers; and training of mental health professionals.
Projects in this topical area should reflect the criteria and priorities summarized in A Strategic Plan for Documenting Mental Health in New York State, a publication of the State Archives.
A summary of the guide is available on the State Archives website.
For a complete paper copy of the guide, email dhs@mail.nysed.gov.
Priority Level Three
Other under-documented topics in New York State history
Projects in Level Three address records of significance to the history of New York, either statewide or local, that directly relate to under-documented topics not covered in the first two priority levels.
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