Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition 

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s principles of equality, liberty, and government by consent, the Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition program supports activities to preserve and improve access to primary source materials—including archival records; documents and rare publications; art and material culture; and photographs and sound recordings that document:  

1) The history of American independence and establishment and/or expansion of the nation, including the experiences of states, territories, and communities—in the original colonies and beyond—joining the nation;

 or  

2) The history of American government in federal, state, and local contexts, including the federal Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, state constitutions, governors’ papers, charter documents, court and legislative records, and other foundational documents. 

Applications may be submitted for projects that address one or more of the following activities: 

• providing conservation treatment for and/or rehousing original items or groups of items;
• cataloging or arranging and describing collections of archival records, documents, and rare publications; art and material culture; and photographs, sound recordings, and other primary sources;
• digitizing collections and making them available for public use through websites, portals, or local, state, or national repositories;
• using advanced imaging and associated data to promote the research value of primary sources;
• transcribing or translating primary source materials, including through crowdsourced means;
• updating previously digitized resources to improve access and preserve digital surrogates or other digital assets; and
• developing indexes, databases, or other project-specific digital resources to codify information on a subject or to aggregate selected humanities materials.