Managing Records: Documentary Heritage Program

What is the Documentary Heritage Program?

The Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) is a statewide program established by law to ensure the survival of New York's documentary heritage by providing financial support and guidance to the not-for-profit organizations that hold, collect and make available the state's historical records.

Who does the DHP serve?

New York State-based not-for-profit organizations including, but not limited to, archives, libraries, historical societies, museums, and other organizations that hold historical records, and collect and make them publicly accessible, may use the DHP's regional services and apply for DHP Grants.

What are the DHP's 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. Many of these records are in serious danger of being lost or neglected, yet they document major change in local communities, the State, and the Nation. An explanation of the reasoning behind each of DHP’s Topical Priorities follows.
DHP Top Priority Areas include:

• Population groups in the 20th and 21st Centuries
  New York’s history during the 20th and 21st centuries has been substantially effected 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.
• 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.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.
• 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, citizens acting through a range of non-governmental associations influence education policymaking in important ways.
• 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.
• Mental health
  The story of mental health in New York State is a compelling and critical part of our history as New Yorkers. Significant elements of that history include: treatment and care for recipients of mental health services; protection of the rights of mental health consumers; assistance to both individuals with psychiatric histories and their caregivers; and training of mental health professionals.
• 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.

What regional services does the DHP provide?

Nine regional archivists, working through the 3Rs library systems or through historical service agencies, are responsible for:

• Coordinating historical records training workshops
• Working with regional organizations, businesses, ethnic and racial groups, libraries, archives and museums to ensure the identification of, permanent care for, and availability of historical records for previously underdocumented groups and topics particularly in the two priority areas noted above;
• Raising public awareness of the importance of historical records, especially for underdocumented groups and topics;
• Working with repositories and organizations regionally to seek local, state, and federal funding for projects to support historical records programming, and
• Providing advice to historical records repositories to strengthen their programs.

The nine regional service providers have web pages with further information about their DHP services and other services they offer:

• Capital District (Capital District Library Resources Council): http://www.cdlc.org/Programs_And_Services/dhp/dhp.shtml
• Central New York (Central New York Library Resources Council): http://www.clrc.org/dhp2006/index.php
• Hudson Valley (Greater Hudson Heritage Network): http://www.greaterhudson.org/Programs/DHP/dhp.html
• Long Island (Long Island Library Resources Council): http://www.lilrc.org/progsvce/dhp.php
• Metropolitan New York (Metropolitan New York Library Council-METRO): http://www.metro.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=106
• Northern New York (Northern New York Library Network): http://www.nnyln.org/archivalprograms.html
• Rochester (Rochester Regional Library Council): http://www.rrlc.org/DHP/tabid/423/Default.aspx
• South Central New York (Upstate History Alliance): http://www.upstatehistory.org/index.html
• Western New York (Western New York Library Resources Council): http://www.wnylrc.org/index.asp?orgid=77&sID=&storyID=27

What statewide services does the DHP provide?

The DHP office of the State Archives is responsible for:

• Offering competitive grants for projects that address the DHP priorities;
• Providing statewide coordination of regional services and documentation projects;
• Encouraging development of finding aids and access to information about historical records holdings;
• Developing workshop curricula and publications on historical records techniques and issues;
• Encouraging coordinated efforts to seek federal and private funding.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT YOUR REGION'S DHP ARCHIVIST
Or contact:
Archival Services
New York State Archives
9C71 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
518-474-6926
fax: 518-473-4941
email: dhs@mail.nysed.gov