Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), as part of its mission to promote planning initiatives addressing statewide historical records needs and issues, funded the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board (MHRAB)'s 1997-1999 project to write a historical records strategic plan for the Commonwealth. The resulting plan (A community treasure: strategic plan for Massachusetts historical records) served as a road map for the 1999-2001 Massachusetts Documentary Heritage Grant Program, a competitive regrant program funding local projects to promote the documentation, preservation, and use of historical records in Massachusetts.

To fund the program, the MHRAB received $150,000 from the NHPRC in Jan. 1999, matched by $50,000 from the Secretary of the Commonwealth, a $50,000 NHPRC grant with a $50,000 match appropriated from the Massachusetts General Court in Oct. 2002, and a $100,000 NHPRC conditional grant matched by the legislature in Nov. 2003. The MHRAB sponsored Annual Community Forums on Historical Records from 1998-2003, and led grant application workshops throughout the Commonwealth,1999-2005, in connection with each of five grant cycles. Grants totaled $400,000 over the life of the regrant program. They were awarded in five cycles: (1) Jan. 2000, $62,515 for 11 projects (2) June 2000, $48,980 for 6 projects (3) Oct. 2000, $88,505 for 14 projects (4) July 2003, $100,000 for 21 projects (5) June 2005, $100,000 for 22 projects.

Grants funded reflected MHRAB strategic planning priorities of the identification of, preservation of, access to, awareness of, and education regarding historical documentation in Massachusetts, and of community documentation and collaborations among municipal clerks, public libraries, museums, educators, and historical societies. Projects included: hiring of consultants to survey records and develop local documentation plans, statewide documentation of ethnic and immigrant groups, statewide teacher archival education, community church/religious societies documentation, community economic/manufacturing documentation, agriculture documentation, and appraising municipal video/audio/media collections.

The Archives Advisory Commission (AAC) was established in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts per St 1973, c 711 (MGLA c 9, s 2A). The commission is mandated to advise the state secretary on archival matters and, with the Archivist of the Commonwealth, to act as Massachusetts's central advisory body for historical records planning and to serve as a coordinating body to facilitate cooperation and communication among historical records repositories and information agencies within the state, both public and private.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making affiliate of the National Archives and Records Administration, in 1976 required each state to establish a state historical records advisory board (SHRAB) in order to receive federal grants under its records program. The Massachusetts AAC served as the model for the National Archives when it established the SHRABs, and in Massachusetts, it serves as the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board (MHRAB). The MHRAB was organized under the provisions of 36 CFR pt 1206 to serve as the state-level review body for proposals submitted to the NHPRC grant program.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1976-present--Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board. Additional access points as needed may be provided under: 1973 and later years--Massachusetts. Archives Advisory Commission.