The Ohio Archives Grants are funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), an arm of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) through their State Board Programming Grants. Grants of $500 to $5,000 are available to archival institutions to fund projects to preserve and/or provide access to Ohio’s historical records.
2025 Grant Recipients
City of Bay Village. Preservation of Municipal Records for Availability on City Website ($5,000.00). This project will digitize and make publicly available online ordinances, resolutions and minutes from 1924 to 1987. These records represent a crucial primary source for understanding the city’s development and governance over a significant period.
City of Circleville. Preservation and Digitization of Records of Legislation ($5,000.00). The Circleville City Council will engage a government records preservation consultant to assist in crafting and executing a strategic plan to preserve, organize, digitize and enhance access to their historic records of ordinances, resolutions and minutes. Additionally, the Council will establish an online database to digitize the past 30 years of legislation (1995-2025).
Dayton Metro Library. Progressive Wolf Creek Neighborhood Association Processing Project ($2,890.00). This project will arrange and describe the records of the Progressive Wolf Creek Neighborhood Association. The collection will be stabilized through manual and digitization preservation methods and will be accessible in the Dayton Room. In addition, a finding aid will be available on the Dayton Remembers website.
Oakwood Cemetery Association. Oakwood Cemetery Archival Project ($1,873.23). This project will preserve and digitize approximately 45,000 internment records and make them publicly accessible through an online catalog. Oakwood Cemetery, active since 1848, is the final resting place for many notable figures from Warren and Trumbull County as well as numerous American veterans with service dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition. Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition Institutional Archives ($3,817.97). This grant will enhance the organization and preservation of materials documenting the development of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and National Heritage Area. This includes hiring a student intern to assist in the processing of the materials, developing a finding aid, and digitizing priority materials.
Olmsted Historical Society. Taking the Society into the 21st Century through Digitization ($4,900.00). The society will hire an intern to digitize its Family files into PastPerfect, increasing access to this collection.
Shaker Historical Society. Shaker Historical Society Photograph Archives: Phase II ($1,695.99). This project will continue the development of the Shaker Historical Society’s photograph archive to improve preservation and accessibility of photographic media spanning 150 years of Shaker Heights history. Phase II will focus on rehousing additional materials and updating the finding aid completed in Phase I to reflect newly processed items.
Sinclair Community College. Large Format Materials Digitization and Accessibility Project ($2,752.81). This project will help Sinclair Community College Archives digitize large format items, making the items more accessible to the public.
City of Toledo. Archiving Toledo’s Early History: Plat maps from 1880s ($2,480.00). This grant will preserve and make public approximately 10 cubic meters of antique plat maps from Toledo’s early history. These original, hand drawn, linen maps from the 1880s provide vital insight and detail into the landscape of Toledo in the years in which it began to rapidly expand from a settlement town into one of the industrial powerhouses of the Midwest.
2025 Grant Opportunity
OHRAB is now accepting applications for its 2025 grant program. Grant applications are due March 31, 2025.
Projects eligible for funding in 2025 include:
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
- Projects focused on under-documented communities and topics, as well as underserved communities, are encouraged.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit draft grant applications for feedback. Draft applications must be received by February 24 and must include all of the components of the application. Comments and recommendations on the drafts should not be construed as guaranteeing a grant award.
2024 Grant Recipients
- Baldwin Wallace University. Archival Disaster Readiness and Environmental Monitoring Initiative ($2,644.67). Through this project the university archives will purchase and deploy environmental monitoring equipment and disaster response supplies. This includes equipment to monitor temperature, humidity, leaks and pests.
- City of Gahanna. Digitizing, Indexing, and Making Accessible Village of Gahanna Records ($2,940). The City of Gahanna City Council Office will digitize and index council records from 1881-1970, including meeting minutes, ordinances and resolutions.
- International Women’s Air & Space Museum. Arrangement of International Women’s Air & Space Museum Institutional Records ($1,374.00). This project will arrange, describe and improve access to the museum’s institutional records documenting the first 20 years of the museum (1976-1996). These records include correspondence, board meeting minutes and records of exhibitions.
- Kettering Medical Center. Kettering Health Archive Center Project. ($1,507.32). This project will organize, process and catalog 25 boxes of records documenting the history of the medical center.
- Lakeside Heritage Society. Lakeside Chautauqua national Historic District Housing Stock Record Conversion ($4,800). This project will increase public access to architectural and remodeling records relating to 990 Lakeside cottages located within the Lakeside Historic District. These records will be added to PastPerfect and made available publicly through the Lakeside Heritage Society’s website.
- Sauder Village. Organizing the Sauder Village Institutional Archive. ($4,500). This project will organize and rehouse the Sauder Village institutional archives. A finding aid for the collection will be created and made available on the institution’s website.
- Shaker Historical Society. Improving the Preservation and Accessibility of Shaker Historical Society Photograph Collection. ($1,532). This grant will create a photograph archive and accompanying finding aid to improve the preservation and accessibility of Shaker Historical Society’s photographic media spanning 150 years of history related to Shaker Heights and the surrounding communities.
- Solon Historical Society. Update of Archives Collections. ($1,848.35). This project will rehouse and catalog the collections of the historical society, including cemetery records, village and city records, and documents of civic organizations, businesses and churches.
- Strongsville Historical Society. Archive Preservation and Digitization. ($2,784). This project will digitize and make accessible online archival records documenting the history of the community, including government and genealogical records.
- Trumbull County Historical Society. Digitization of Old Mahoning Cemetery Records at Trumbull County Historical Society. ($4,570). This grant will preserve and share the history of Warren, Ohio’s oldest designated cemetery by digitizing cemetery records and headstone surveys.
- Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown. Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown Collection. ($1,541.58). This project will process and catalog records documenting the history of the religious community, including letters, diaries and photographs.
2024 Grant Program
OHRAB is now accepting applications for its 2024 grant program. Grant applications are due March 31, 2024.
Projects eligible for funding in 2024 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
- Projects focused on under-documented communities and topics, as well as underserved communities, are encouraged.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit draft grant applications for feedback. Draft applications must be received by February 23 and must include all of the components of the application. Comments and recommendations on the drafts should not be construed as guaranteeing a grant award.
2024 OHRAB Regrant Application Packet
2024 OHRAB Regrant Summary Page
2024 OHRAB Regrant Budget Form
2023 Regrant Recipients
- Canal Fulton Public Library. Canal Fulton Archives Preservation Needs Assessment. ($2,500). Through this project the public library will hire a consultant to advise on implementing archival best practices through an assessment of the library’s local history/genealogy room and develop a phased strategic growth plan to preserve, organize, access and promote the collections for use by the public. The plan will also include a development strategy for partnering with the Canal Fulton Heritage Society, whose collections are similar in scope, mission and vision, to share resources and amplify their impact on a local and regional level.
- Dublin Historical Society. Organization & Preservation of Dublin Historical Society Collection. ($5,000). The Dublin Historical Society will prepare a detailed inventory of its library and archives collection and post this inventory on the Society’s website. It will also continue to rehouse its collections in archival containers. The project will stabilize its library and archives holdings while making the collections more accessible to the public.
- Fallen Timbers Union Cemetery District. Preservation and Digitization of Historical Records at Fallen Timbers Union Cemetery District. ($4548.57). This project will organize, environmentally secure and digitally preserve the records of the cemetery district.
- Kinsman Free Public Library. Inventory, Storage and Digitization of the Kinsman Historical Archival Collection. ($2,429). This project will inventory, rehouse and digitize the Kinsman Historical Collection, including the records pertaining to local families, churches, schools and railroads.
- Lakeside Heritage Society. Continuing the Digitization of Lakeside Chautauqua’s Annual Programs and Bulletins. ($520). This project will increase public access to the Lakeside Annual Programs and Bulletins collections by digitizing the programs and bulletins and adding them to the Society’s online database.
- Ohio Humanities Council. Digitizing Ohio Humanities’ Archives. ($4,782). This project will organize, catalog and digitize the Council’s collection of public outputs created as part of projects that were funded by the organization, including pamphlets, brochures and photographs.
- Ohio University. Columbus Hocking Coal and Iron Company Records Processing and Remediation. ($2,783.17). This grant will clean, rehouse and inventory the records of the Columbus Hocking Coal and Iron Company. This company operated in the Hocking Valley from 1883 to the 1920s and among the topics documented in the records are coal mining, labor history and miners’ health and nutrition.
- Poland Historical Society. Rehousing of Archives at the Little Red Schoolhouse. ($2,939). This project will rehouse and create a digital finding aid for the Historical Society’s local history collection, including letters from Poland residents during the Civil War and World War II and land deeds.
- Shaker Historical Society. Organizing a Shaker Historical Society Institutional Archive. ($2,850). This project will identify, organize and improve access to institutional records preserving, collecting and telling the story of the Shaker Historical Society. These records document the history of the Historical Society, including its governance, collections, exhibitions and programs.
- Spring Hill Historic Home. Improving the Preservation and Accessibility of the Rotch-Wales Papers. $1,659.05. This project will process, rehouse and inventory the Rotch-Wales Papers. These papers include personal and business correspondence, diaries, ledgers and other records documenting the Rotch and Wales families and their contributions to the social, cultural and economic development of the county and beyond. Among the topics covered by the papers are the Underground Railroad, Ohio agriculture, colonial-European trade and Quaker settlements.
2023 Grant Program
OHRAB is now accepting applications for its 2023 grant program. Grant applications are due March 31, 2023.
Projects eligible for funding in 2023 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
- Projects focused on under-documented communities and topics, as well as underserved communities, are encouraged.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit draft grant applications for feedback. Draft applications must be received by February 24 and must include all of the components of the application. Comments and recommendations on the drafts should not be construed as guaranteeing a grant award.
2023 OHRAB Grant Application Packet
OHRAB-Regrant-Summary-Page-2023
2022 Grant Recipients
- American Industrial Mining Company Museum. Organization and Preservation of Archival Materials from the Atlas Car & Manufacturing Company ($1,614.43).
- Ashville Area Heritage Society. Digitization of the Ashville Area Heritage Society Library and Website Redesign ($4,867.98).
- Brethren Church Archives. Brethren Church Archives Online Access Restoration ($750).
- Clark County Historical Society. Oral History Website Development Project ($2,500).
- Maritime Museum of Sandusky. “Friends of the Boeckling” Organization, Preservation & Accessibility ($2,151.91).
- Olmsted Historical Society. The Olmsted Historical Society Archive Restoration and Preservation Project ($3,432).
- Plain Township Historical Society. Reorganization, Standardizing Storage and Digitization of PTHS Archive for Selected Segments ($1,621).
- Rocky River Historical Society. Rehousing of the Rocky River Community Archives ($1,419).
- Sinclair Community College. Processing and Describing Sinclair’s Archival Collections ($3,000.00).
- Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Lifting the Veil: Tracing the Expansion of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati through Story and Picture ($4809.48).
- Waterville Historical Society. Digitizing and Providing Online Access to WHS’s Archives of the Waterville Interurban Bridge ($1965).
- Wright State University Libraries. Digitization of Dr. Arthur E. Thomas’ program “Like It Is” interviewing Leaders on Black America ($4,200).
- YWCA Alliance. Preserving Alliance Women’s History ($1,052).
2022 Grant Program
OHRAB is now accepting applications for its 2022 grant program. Grant applications are due March 31, 2022.
Projects eligible for funding in 2022 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
- Projects focused on under-documented communities and topics, as well as underserved communities, are encouraged.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to submit draft grant applications for feedback. Draft applications must be received by February 25 and comments and recommendations on the drafts should not be construed as guaranteeing a grant award.
**PLEASE NOTE: OHRAB is awaiting formal notification from the NHPRC on the funding for the regrants. While it is necessary for OHRAB to announce this grant opportunity and begin to receive your proposals, all awards are contingent on OHRAB receiving the funds from the NHPRC.
OHRAB 2022 Grant Application Packet
OHRAB-Regrant-Summary-Page-2022
Questions? Please contact: Stephen Badenhop, Records and Archives Coordinator, Union County Records Center (937-645-4177; [email protected]).
***A Short Video with Helpful Hints for Regrant Applications***
2021 Grant Recipients
- Auglaize County Historical Society, Wapakoneta, OH: Protecting Archives Materials ($739.18)
- Congregation Rodef Sholom, Youngstown, OH: Improving the Organization, Preservation and Accessibility of the Congregation Rodef Sholom Archives ($4,081.12)
- Lakeside Heritage Society, Lakeside, OH: Describing and Digitizing the Lakeside Chautauqua’s Seasonal Programming Records ($4,334.00)
- Mantua Historical Society, Mantua, OH: Making Preservation and Accessibility Improvements to Mantua Historical Society’s Archival Collection ($1,065.08)
- Marlboro Township Historical Society, Hartville, OH: Digitize and Archive Historical Documents ($1,672.02)
- Muskingum University, New Concord, OH: Organizing, Preserving, and Improving Access to the Social and Historical Muskingum University Archives ($4,435.30)
- Oberlin Heritage Center, Oberlin, OH: Digitizing OHC’s VHS Collection ($2,582.87)
- Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH: Preserving and Amplifying Diverse Voices at ONU ($1,000.00)
- Wyandot County Historical Society, Upper Sandusky, OH: Wyandot County Government Documents Storage Project ($1,000.00)
- Village of Yellow Springs, Yellow Springs, OH: Council Record Modernization Project ($1,687.47)
2021 Grant Program
OHRAB is now accepting applications for its 2021 grant program. Grant applications are due March 31, 2021.
Projects eligible for funding in 2021 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
2021 Grant Application Materials
- OHRAB Grant Application Packet (Updated February 1, 2021)
- OHRAB-Regrant-Summary-Page-2021
- OHRAB-Regrant-Budget-Form
2020 Grant Recipients
- Bay Village Historical Society, Bay Village, OH Preservation and Digitization of the Early Settlers’ Papers ($1,131.00)
- Boardman Township, Boardman, OH Digitization and Preservation of Zoning Department Records ($3,837.00)
- Cleveland Police Historical Society, Cleveland, OH Historic Cleveland Police Photographs Digitization Project ($750.00)
- Delhi Historical Society, Cincinnati, OH Improving the Preservation, Organization and Accessibility of Large Documents, Drawings and Photographs ($2,984.00)
- Lakewood Historical Society, Lakewood, OH Improving Access to the Lakewood History Collection ($975.00)
- Rodman Public Library, Alliance, OH Digitizing Alliance’s Newspaper for Online Access ($4,050.00)
- Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Mount Saint Joseph, OH Digitizing the Microfilm Archive of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati ($3,196.00)
REVISED 2020 REGRANT PROJECT DATES
Due to COVID-19, the 2020 grant application deadline has been extended until April 30, 2020. The revised timeline for grant projects is now:
- Application deadline: April 30
- Grants Announced: May 22
- Projects Begin: June 1
- Interim Reports Due: September 30
- Grant Funding Must Be Spent By: December 31, 2020
- Projects Completed: January 31, 2021
- Final Reports Due: February 7, 2021
Questions? Please contact [email protected].
Projects eligible for funding in 2020 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
2020 Application Materials
Example of a funded grant application: Union County Records Center & Archives Reorganization and Preservation of Clerk of Court’s Records 2011
June 2019 Grant Recipients
- Clark County Board of Elections, Springfield, OH Preserving Clark County’s Election History ($1,022)
- Clark County Historical Society, Springfield, OH Oral History Digitization Project ($1,043)
- Licking County Records & Archives, Newark, OH Cleaning and Rehousing Courthouse Attic Records ($1,226)
- Village of Lockington, Lockington, OH Organization of Village Historical Records ($850)
- Village of Sugar Grove, Sugar Grove, OH Preserving Sugar Grove’s Legacy ($2,538)
March 2019 Grant Recipients
- Belmont County District Library, Martins Ferry, OH Local History Scanning Station for Belmont County ($1,428)
- Boardman Township Department of Planning and Zoning, Boardman, OH Digitization and Preservation of Zoning Department Records ($2,516)
- Cleveland Grays Armory Museum, Cleveland, OH Archiving the Archives: Finally Getting It Right ($2,341)
- Fairfield County Heritage Association, Lancaster, OH Preservation, Organization and Digitization of Records from the Boys’ Industrial School and the Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross ($1,222)
- Kent Historical Society, Kent, OH KHS Oral History Transcription Project ($650)
- Laurel School, Shaker Heights, OH Blazing the Trail: 125 Years at Laurel School ($1,465)
- Ravenna Township, Ravenna, OH Grandview Memorial Park Cemetery Records Preservation ($3,400)
- Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, Mount Saint Joseph, OH Digitizing Rare Published Resources from the College of Mount St. Joseph and the Good Samaritan Hospital of Nursing ($2,299)
June 2019 Grant Opportunity
Grant applications are due June 14, 2019.
Application Materials:
- June 2019 Regrant Application Packet
- OHRAB Regrant Summary Page (PDF editable pages 12 &13 of above document)
- OHRAB Regrant Budget Form (xlsx)
Projects eligible for funding include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
2019 Grant Opportunity
Grant applications are due February 28, 2019.
Projects eligible for funding in 2019 include:
- Assessment and Strategic Planning: hiring consultants to identify needs and priorities for improving the organization, description, preservation and access to collections.
- Access, Arrangement and Description: identifying, organizing, and improving access to historical records.
- Preservation: purchasing archival file folders, archival boxes, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, hygrothermographs, or HEPA vacuum cleaners.
- Website Development: Adding collections to online catalog, developing virtual archives, or creating an on-line database. Websites designed to support access to researchers (e.g., online catalogs, finding aids, and digitized collections, rather than curated web exhibits) will receive preference in funding.
Please Note: all projects should produce some type of online content, such as a finding aid, report or digital images.
**PLEASE NOTE: OHRAB is awaiting formal notification from the NHPRC on the funding for the regrants. While it is necessary for OHRAB to announce this grant opportunity and begin to receive your proposals, all awards are contingent on OHRAB receiving the funds from the NHPRC.
2019 Grant Application Materials
- OHRAB 2019 Grant Application Packet
- OHRAB Regrant Summary Page (PDF editable pages 12 &13 of above document)
- OHRAB Regrant Budget Form (xlsx)
OHRAB Regrants FAQs and Application Tips
Prior Recipients: 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011