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    Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Announces Microgrant Program for Community Records

    November 14, 2023

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    Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) is now accepting applications for a limited-term microgrant entitled Empowered History. The application deadline is January 31, 2024. Funding for this initiative is provided through a National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC) State Board Programming Grant to the Pennsylvania State Archives, a bureau within PHMC. Funding is intended to help community groups gather, preserve, and share their history and stories, and to better position community-based archives to later apply for larger PA State Archives Historical and Archival Records Care (HARC) Grants or other external funding opportunities. Individual grants will be funded up to $1,000 with no match required.

    Any community group or member of a community with historical materials located in Pennsylvania can apply.  Empowered History aims to inspire and enable communities to preserve and share their history (records, photos, oral histories, etc.) and engage community members with it. Funding will help protect and share the history and stories of communities, foster more connections to local history, and support efforts to preserve and share community history. Empowered History primarily supports communities that have been historically underrepresented in traditional archives.

    Grants will be awarded based on a review of applications by members of the Pennsylvania State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) and others active in the Pennsylvania State Archives’ Community History Dialog initiative.

    Grant program guidelines and application instructions are available on the Empowered History webpage at https://bit.ly/EmpoweredHistory. Applications will be submitted via email as a fillable PDF. 

    A webinar will be held at 11:00 a.m. on November 29, providing an overview of eligibility, guidelines. See the Empowered History webpage or email RA-PHARCHIVESGRANTS@pa.gov for registration information.

    The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Learn more by visiting PHMC online or following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

    The SHRAB operates under federal regulations governing the National Historical Publication & Records Commission (NHPRC) and serves as the central advisory body for historical records planning in the state.

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