Author: kdonohue

There is a lot of “pitching” that goes on at the NHPRC each summer. But alas, I am not referring to baseball. Summer is a particularly valuable time for us to describe our grants programs to potential applicants. What’s the same and what’s new? What does it take for an application to be really competitive? … Continue reading The Art of Pitching

From the very first year of NHPRC funding, the Commission has embraced new technologies to increase public access to historical records. In the beginning, the strategy was to fund both historical documentary editions in print publications and the microfilming of collections of historical records. Microfilm editions were effective ways for editors to assemble records from … Continue reading The rise of digital historical resources

On June 17, 1963, President John Kennedy hosted a luncheon at the White House for the editors and sponsors of the historical documentary editions of the papers of the Founders and other leading figures in American history. At the luncheon, he endorsed the idea of funding for the National Historical Publications Commission (as the NHPRC … Continue reading JFK on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission

A week after the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower sent the following message on June 13 to the Troops of the Allied Expeditionary Forces after touring the Normandy beachhead: "One week ago this morning there was established through your coordinated efforts, our first foot-hold in Northwestern Europe. High as was my … Continue reading Ike’s Thank You

The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh received an NHPRC grant to support a two-year project to process 13 collections that document business and industries in western Pennsylvania, 1844-2002. The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania was established in 1879 and began doing business as the Senator John Heinz History Center (HHC) in 1996. HHC … Continue reading Pickles and Steel!