Chair’s Disaster Recovery Grants for Humanities Collections

The Chair’s Disaster Recovery Grants for Humanities Collections program helps humanities organizations that steward collections respond to and recover from local, state, regional, and federally declared disasters, including fires, floods, hurricanes, mudslides, and climate-related disasters. NEH will consider applications only if the NEH Chair specifically invites an organization affected by a disaster to apply or issues an open call for applications from organizations affected by a disaster. 

This page is an open call for applications from organizations affected by the Maui Wildfires, Typhoon Mawar in Guam and Tropical Storm Bolaven in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. No other applications will be considered. 

Emergency response and recovery activities may include salvaging humanities collections such as rare books, documents, photographs, artwork, sculptures, historical objects, audiovisual media, and digital collections. 

Preservation field services networks and consortia that support collecting institutions’ efforts to respond to and recover from emergencies impacting cultural heritage collections are also eligible to apply. 

Applications to this open call for the Chair’s Disaster Recovery Grants for Humanities Collections will be accepted on a rolling basis until April 26, 2024. 

Application materials

Chair’s Disaster Recovery Grants for Humanities Collections Notice of Funding Opportunity 2023 

Grants.gov application package for Chair’s Disaster Recovery Grants for Humanities Collections

Photo caption

Marine salvage of fragments of the Barge, including the Calder Herm, underway in February 2018, by Underwater Engineering Services Inc. 

Grant PB-261324-18 to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc, Preserving Vizcaya’s Barge: Addressing Damage from Hurricane Irma - Phase I

Credit: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc.

Photo caption

The Calder Herm, re-assembled, standing proudly in a secure location in the Vizcaya Village. 

Grant PB-261324-18 to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc, Preserving Vizcaya’s Barge: Addressing Damage from Hurricane Irma - Phase I

Credit: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc. (Miami, FL)

Photo caption

Helen Thomas-Haney, conservator with Jablonski Building Conservation Inc., preparing base fragment for re-assembly of the Calder Herm, in March 2019.

Grant PB-261324-18 to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc, Preserving Vizcaya’s Barge: Addressing Damage from Hurricane Irma - Phase I

Credit: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, Inc. (Miami, FL)