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.

...