New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Grants

Adk Museum Universal Access Project Funded

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The Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York has received a restricted grant in the amount of $20,000 from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. The funds will be used to bring museum programs to a wider audience, including those with disabilities, by making the museum’s Auditorium universally accessible. The Auditorium is the venue for lectures, films, and community programs such as the museum’s popular Cabin Fever Sunday series.

The funds will also be used to meet a challenge grant from the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust for the same initiative. The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, based in New York City, promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions that transmit cultural heritage.

The Adirondack Museum has been the grateful recipient of support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation since 1995. Committed to an ongoing program to provide full access to its resources, the Adirondack Museum is a museum of history, art, and material culture. It is nationally recognized for extensive collections, exhibits, and a research library that together reflect stories of life, work, and play in the
Adirondack Park and northern New York State.

New York State Archives Research Grants Available

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The Archives Partnership Trust and the New York State Archives have announced the availability of awards for applicants to pursue research using the New York State Archives. The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency program is intended to support product-related research in such areas as history, law, public policy, geography, and culture by covering research expenses. Award amounts range from $100 to $4,500.

Academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers are encouraged to apply. Projects involving alternative uses of the State Archives, such as background research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels, are eligible. The topic or area of study must draw, at least in part, on the holdings of the New York State Archives.

Information on the 2009 Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program is available on‑line at www.nysarchivestrust.org or by contacting the Archives Partnership Trust, Cultural Education Center, Suite 9C49, Albany, New York 12230; (518) 473‑7091; hackmanres@mail.nysed.gov.

Deadline for receipt of application: January 15, 2011.

National Archives Regional Residency Fellowship

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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), with the support of the Foundation for the National Archives, has announced a new program designed to give researchers the opportunity to conduct original research using records held at National Archives locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Seattle. This is an opportunity for researchers to explore often overlooked records held by NARA and to experience what many researchers have discovered – that you do not have to go to Washington, D.C. to do research at the National Archives.

For 2011, one fellow will be assigned to each of the participating National Archives facilities, for a total of five fellowships. Each fellow will receive a $3,000.00 stipend to assist with travel and research expenses.

Stipend recipients will be expected to complete a research project that results in a publishable work product. In addition, within one year of receiving the fellowship, recipients will be asked to prepare a short report for publication by NARA that describes the research experience – the discovery, method, and use of the records at whatever facility the fellow is working at.

The use of social media tools to spread information about the experience is encouraged. Fellows will also be asked to conduct a staff briefing at the end of their research visit to share information regarding what was found during the research process.

Academic and independent historians, public and local historians, and writers are encouraged to apply. Current NARA employees and contractors or their immediate family members are not eligible.

Submit proposals by e-mail or mail. Either must be postmarked by NOVEMBER 15, 2010.

What to Send:

* A description and justification for the project, not to exceed six pages. This proposal should include:

o a description of consultation with a regional archivist regarding the records to be used for research (there should be enough records to warrant a research visit of at least one week);

o a listing of the records that will be used at the region;

o the proposed final product; and

o the significance of the project to historical scholarship.

* Please also include the following with your proposal:

o Copy of Vita (no more than three pages) including current contact information; and

o Two letters of recommendation

Proposals should be sent by mail or electronic mail directly to the NARA facility the researcher intends to use for the fellowship:

Documentary Heritage Program Grants Offered

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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.

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, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Applications must be postmarked by Tuesday, February 1, 2011. Tentative date for the announcement of grant awards is June 30, 2011.

Grant Project Types

Documentation projects identify and ensure the systematic preservation of papers and records that shed light on the people, groups, events or changing political, economic or social conditions of New York State. The ultimate goal of a documentation project is to contribute to the building of a comprehensive and equitable historical record in repositories which make unique original source materials available to researchers and citizens. Typically consisting of three phases – planning, surveying, and collecting, documentation projects usually take at least two years to complete. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required.

Arrangement & Description projects – 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.

Ineligible Projects

Several types of historical records projects are not eligible for funding under the DHP. These include:

· Projects that do not demonstrate a primary focus on New York State

· Digitization (projects to create digital records)

· Item-level description and/or indexing

· Oral history and/or video taping

· Newspaper collections (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 may be obtained by emailing the State Archives dhs@mail.nysed.gov or by visiting the State Archives Web site www.archives.nysed.gov and clicking on Grants and Awards.

For further information contact:

Pamela Cooley/Documentary Heritage Program
New York State Archives
Room 9C71 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Telephone: 518-474-6276
Email: dhs@mail.nysed.gov

Adk Museum Receives NEH Planning Grant

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York has been awarded a grant in the amount of $40,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The funds will be used in the planning and development phase of the museum’s new long-term exhibition “Mining in the Adirondacks,” scheduled to open in 2013.

NEH has designated the Adirondack mining exhibit a National Endowment for the Humanities “We the People” project. Support comes in part from funds the agency has set aside for this special initiative.

The goal of the “We the People” initiative is to encourage and strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture through the support of projects that explore significant events and themes in our nations history and culture, and advance knowledge of the principles that define America.

The National Endowment for the Humanities is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States.

The Endowment accomplishes its mission by providing grants for high-quality humanities projects in four funding areas: preserving and providing access to cultural resources, education, research, and public programs.

NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television and radio stations, and to individual scholars.

Photo: Garnet miners at Barton Mines, North River, N.Y.: ca. 1915.


New York State Archives Research Grants Available

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The NYS Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust announce the availability of awards to qualified applicants, including students, teachers and public historians, to pursue research using historical records at the New York State Archives. Awards generally range from $100-$4,500 for advanced research in New York history, government, or public policy.

The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program supports applicants from a variety of backgrounds with awards for advanced research in New York State history, government, or public policy. Previous residents have included academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers. The project must draw on the holdings of the New York State Archives. Projects may involve alternative uses of the Archives, such as research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels.

The Quinn-Archives Research Residency provides financial support for an individual to spend up to a year in Albany, New York, working in the rich collections of the New Netherland Institute and the New York State Archives. The program is offered because of the generous support of the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute www.nnp.org at the New York State Library and the New York State Archives.

Endowment earnings and private contributions to the Archives Partnership Trust provide the financial basis for the Hackman Research Program. Contributors have included The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Inc., Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and The Lucius N. Littaur Foundation. Contributions and endowment earnings enable the Trust to maintain prior years’ award levels, as well as to continue with invitational fellowships to complete priority projects.

New Netherland: Scholar in Residence Programs

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The New Netherland Research Center (NNRC), a joint endeavor of the New Netherland Institute (NNI) and the Office of Cultural Education, New York State Education Department (NYSED/OCE), with financial support from the Government of the Netherlands, announces a Senior Scholar in Residence program and two NNRC Student Scholar Research Grants for 2011.

Student Scholar Research Grants

The grant covers a period of up to three months in residence and provides a stipend of $5,000. A time frame for fulfilling the grant requirements will be established in consultation with the Director of NNRC. No housing or travel funds are provided but
office space is included.

Scholars beyond the undergraduate level and actively working on a thesis, dissertation, or scholarly article are invited to apply. Research must be conducted at the New York State Library and Archives, Albany, NY, in the field of New Netherland history and the Dutch Atlantic World utilizing the Records of New Netherland. Candidates must indicate their research topic in their application. Genealogical research topics are excluded. Considering that much of the secondary, as well as the primary, source materials are in 17th century Dutch, it would be to the student scholar’s advantage to have a working knowledge of the language.

The $5,000 stipend is payable in equal installment upon submission and acceptance by the Director of NNRC of a monthly progress report. At the conclusion of their residency, the student scholar must submit a written report based on their work and deliver a public lecture on their research findings prior to receipt of their final installment.

Applications, consisting of a curriculum vita, two letters of recommendation, and a cover letter outlining the research topic and work plan, must be submitted to the Grants Committee, New Netherland Institute, Box 2536, Empire State Plaza Station, Albany, NY 12220-0536.

Applications must be submitted by October 1, 2010 with awards announced on December 1, 2010.

Senior Scholar in Residence Program

Pre–and post-doctoral students, including independent, non-university-affiliated persons, are invited to apply for a 12-month residency beginning not earlier than January and not later than September 2011 with the specific time frame to be established in consultation with the Director of NNRC. The proposed research will occur at the New Netherland Research Center in Albany, utilizing the resources of the New York State Library and Archives for research in the field of Dutch Colonial America and the Atlantic World. Scholars are expected to include the primary sources of the Records of New Netherland in their research, so a reading knowledge of seventeenth-century Dutch is necessary.

The recipient will be required to produce a minimum 5000 word manuscript based upon his or her research in the primary sources in the field, with NNI/ NNRC having the first option to publish it and holding the copyright. In addition, a public lecture on an aspect of the research for delivery at Siena College, Loudonville, NY, is also mandated. Both requirements must be met no later than the final month of residency and are subject to the approval of the Director of NNRC.

No housing or travel funds are provided, but office space at NYSED/OCE is included.

The stipend is $30,000, to be distributed monthly in equal installments upon submission of a written progress report acceptable to the Director of NNRC. The final payment will be contingent upon meeting the terms cited above.

The application must consist of two copies of a curriculum vitae; one copy of a thesis, dissertation, published article(s) or book; two letters of recommendation; and a cover letter outlining your research interest and work plan. It should be submitted to the Grants Committee, New Netherland Institute, P.O. Box 2536, Empire State Plaza Station,
Albany, NY 12220-0536.

Applications must be received by September 15, 2010. The grant will be awarded and announced by November 1, 2010.

Adirondack Museum Receives Challenge Grant

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York is the recipient of a challenge grant in the amount of $20,000 from the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust. The funds will be used in support of a major renovation that will make the museum’s Auditorium universally accessible.

Director of Institutional Advancement Sarah Lewin says that with the gratifying news of the award comes the hard work of raising a matching $20,000 by December 15, 2010.

The accessibility project will provide a wheel-chair entrance to the Auditorium – the site of lectures, films, and special programs such as the museum’s popular Cabin Fever Sunday series — from the campus side of the building.

By re-designing one of the doors at the rear of the Auditorium and creating an attractive, covered, ramped entrance, the museum will eliminate the need for those with a disability to leave the grounds and enter the program space from the parking lot.

The renovation will allow the interior of the Auditorium to be easily accessed by wheelchair, enabling everyone, regardless of mobility, to present or enjoy museum programs.

Lewin says that every dollar toward meeting the challenge will help; no contribution is too small. For further information or to make a donation, contact Sarah Lewin at (518) 352-7311, ext. 125 or via email at slewin@adkmuseum.org .

The mission of the Syracuse-based John Ben Snow Memorial Trust is to make grants within specific focus areas to enhance the quality of life in many geographic regions.

Historically, the Memorial Trust has made grants in the program areas of arts and culture, community development, education, the environment, historic preservation, and journalism.

Illustration: Proposed renovation of the Adirondack Museum Auditorium.

@adkmuseum.org>

NY Council for the Humanities Grant Deadline

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New York Council for the Humanities grants provide support for public programs presented by tax exempt organizations across New York State that bring humanities scholars and scholarship to a general public audience. The New York Council for the Humanities invites organizations from New York State to apply for a Council Major Grant (up to $20,000) by the September 15th post-marked deadline.

Applicants can apply for support of the implementation of a public project grounded in the humanities. Council grants have funded a variety of projects including the implementation of exhibitions, discussion programs, walking tours, and podcasts in communities across the state, from Buffalo to Fayetteville to Geneva to New York City.

For more information, visit nyhumanities.org/grants and review the list of past grantees along with brief descriptions of their awarded grant projects, or send an email to grants@nyhumanities.org.

The Council also has several other programs available, including Reading Between the Lines an adult reading discussion group, and Speakers in the Humanities an affordable speakers bureau with a variety of topics. For more information visit their website at www.nyhumanities.org.

Preserve New York Grants Deadline May 17

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Applications are now available to eligible municipalities and not-for-profit organizations to compete for funds through Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

A total of $109,149 is available for historic structure reports, historic landscape reports and cultural resource surveys. Grants are likely to range between $3,000 and $15,000 each. The application deadline is May 17, 2010.

Examples of eligible projects include: historic structure reports for public buildings or historic sites; historic landscape reports for municipal parks; and cultural resource surveys of downtowns and residential neighborhoods.

In 2010, the Preservation League especially encourages projects that advance the preservation of neighborhoods and downtowns that qualify for the NYS Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit; preserve architecture and landscapes of the recent past; and continue the use of historic public buildings.

For Preserve New York Grant Program guidelines, visit the League’s website at www.preservenys.org. Prospective applicants should contact the Preservation League to discuss their projects and to request an application form.

The Preservation League of New York State is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to protect and enhance the Empire State’s historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods. The New York State Council on the Arts is the state’s arts funding agency. The Preservation League and NYSCA have collaborated on this grant program annually since 1993.