The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has issued a proposed rule that would remove individuals from eligibility for NHPRC grants, and change the time for posting of grant opportunity announcements from four to three months before the application deadline.
The NHPRC’s rationale is that it is more effective for eligible institutions to offer professional opportunities and manage Federally-funded grant projects than for the Commission to award grants to individuals directly. The NHPRC currently has only one program, Publishing Historical Records, in which individuals are eligible to apply. The NHPRC cites the fact that the last successful application from an individual under that program was in 2003 and that they have not received any eligible applications since then.
For grant opportunity announcements, the NHPRC asserts changing the posting time from four months to three months before the application deadline will provide the Commission with greater flexibility.
Comments on the rule must be filed on or before June 7, 2010.
Comments may be submitted, identified by RIN 3095-AB67, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail (laura.mccarthy@nara.gov). Include RIN 3095-AB67 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: The National and Archives Records Administration; Policy and Planning Office; ATTN: Laura McCarthy; Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740 (For paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions. Include RIN 3095-AB67 on the submission).
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this rulemaking. All comments received may be published without changes, including any personal information provided.
For further information contact: Lucy Barber, Deputy Executive Director, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 106, Washington, DC 20408-0001, 202-357-5306.
I may have been the last individual to receive an individual award from NHRPC, or close to the last if not. The award allowed publication of a manuscript edition of records pertaining to the Salem witch trials. At the time of the award I was under contract with Cambridge University Press to publish the edition. However, the economic situation of the press meant that the publication was in jeopardy. The award from NHRPC allowed me to publish the book with Cambridge, and the years of work by me and my colleagues who worked with me on the book reached print. I offer no false modesty. This edition brings more new information to the subject than anything in print on it. Had I needed to go through my university at the stage when I applied, it would have presented enormous bureaucratic problems–almost certainly a demand for “overhead.” The chances of such a route working at such a stage would have been minimal. I am deeply grateful to NHRPC, and I hope that individual applications will continue to be accepted. I see no harm in adding institutional routes, but see no benefit, and great risk of loss, if individual applications are not permitted. Thank you for reading my comments. Sincerely, Bernard Rosenthal