The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites community-based archives in the United States and its territories to submit applications for its 2021 Call for Proposals to Community-Based Archives.

Over the course of two open calls for proposals in direct support of archives, the foundation has awarded almost $3 million to over thirty organizations. This year, the foundation plans to make $1.5 million in grants for a third and final cohort of archives through the program, with preference given to those organizations planning to activate their archive through community-led advocacy and activation efforts.

Grants awarded through the call will provide support to archives in one or more of the following areas of need: operational costs, including staff, space, and utilities; collections care, including the acquisition of new materials, physical and digital storage fees, and access and preservation efforts; programming activities, including events, exhibitions, and publications; and activation and advocacy efforts, including resident community activist/archivist positions, ethical preservation of social media, and increased community use.

Two-year grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 will be awarded, with the grant period beginning January 1, 2022, and ending December 31, 2023. The foundation plans to convene representatives from the awarded archives both in person and online over the course of the grant term to build a cohort of organizations that would help and learn from each other.

Applications are due by Friday, July 2 at 9:00am ET. Applications will be evaluated by a panel that includes foundation staff, external reviewers, and members of the 2019 cohort. All applicants will be notified of the status of their submission by Friday, September 3. If selected, additional information and materials will be requested in a final proposal to be reviewed and approved by the foundation’s board of trustees.

For more information, see the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation website.

Deadline: July 2, 2021

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.

For the purposes of this call, community-based archives are defined as collections of materials gathered, collected, and shared primarily by members of a marginalized community to document their collective histories. These archives play an important role in combatting what UCLA assistant professor of archival studies Michelle Caswell calls the “symbolic annihilation” of marginalized communities from mainstream memory institutions and in recognizing that they are essential to the creation of a more inclusive and poly-vocal American story.

To that end, awards ranging between $50,000 and $100,000 for up to two years will be awarded in support of community-based archives that represent and serve communities marginalized due to oppression based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, class, sexuality, religion, or ability.

The following areas of need will be supported: operational support for the organization, including general support for staff, space, and utilities; collections care, including the acquisition of new materials, physical and digital storage fees, and access and preservation efforts; and programming activities, including events, exhibitions, and publications.

To be eligible, organizations must be located in the United States or one of its territories; be tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or have an organization with 501(c)(3) status serve as a fiscal sponsor; and have an annual operating budget of no more than $1 million.

See the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: July 1, 2020

Learn more and apply: https://mellon.org/programs/scholarly-communications/call-for-proposals-community-based-archives/

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and the well-being of diverse and democratic societies.

Since 2013, the foundation’s Scholarly Communications program has been making a series of grants designed to support and strengthen a body of archival practice called community-based archiving with the goal of helping to diversify the body of primary source evidence available to activists, artists, and researchers in humanities fields, community historians, genealogists, teachers, and students.

Through the program, the foundation will award grants ranging between $25,000 and $100,000 in support of community-based archives that represent and serve communities marginalized due to oppression based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, class, sexuality, religion, ability, and/or geographic location.

Grant funds may be used for operational support, including general support for staff, space, and utilities; collections care, including storage, cataloging, description, and preservation; and programming and outreach activities, including the collection of new materials, exhibitions, publications, or other uses of the collections.

For the purposes of this Request for Proposals, community-based archives must demonstrate that the community members being served and represented actively participate in their archival processes and make key decisions about what to collect and how.

To be eligible, organizations must be located in the United States or one of its territories; be tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or have an organization with 501(c)(3) status serving as a fiscal sponsor; and have an annual operating budget of no more than $1 million.

See the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Deadline: July 1, 2019

Read more and apply: https://mellon.org/programs/scholarly-communications/call-for-proposals-community-based-archives/