Common Heritage | 20170601 PY

Common Heritage (NEH) Grant Opportunity: FAQs

1) What is the NEH Common Heritage grant program?

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Common Heritage program supports community-driven projects that preserve and interpret local and family history. Projects combine public digitization events (where residents bring personal historical materials to be digitized) with humanities-based public programming that helps the community understand and discuss its history and culture.

2) What kinds of community history does this program focus on?

Common Heritage emphasizes records of American life that often are not found in formal archives, such as materials kept in private homes. These items can reflect everyday experiences, community changes, and personal stories that collectively document local culture and memory.

3) What types of materials can be digitized at a Common Heritage event?

The opportunity description highlights family photographs, letters, documents, artworks, and audiovisual recordings. In general, projects should be prepared to handle a wide variety of historical materials and formats brought in by the public.

4) What happens at a typical Common Heritage digitization event?

A cultural institution (such as a library, museum, archive, or historical organization) hosts one or more community events where members of the public bring historical items. Trained project staff digitize the items on site and collect descriptive information from participants so the items can be understood in context (for example, who is pictured, what event is shown, and why a document or object matters).

5) Do participants give up their original items?

No. Participants leave with their original items. The event is designed to preserve materials digitally while respecting private ownership.

6) Do participants receive copies of the digitized materials?

Yes. Participants receive a free digital copy of the items digitized at the event.

7) Can the hosting institution keep a copy of the digitized files?

Yes, if the owner agrees. The institution may retain a digital copy for its collections only with the participant's consent, which helps expand the community record while respecting private ownership and permission.

8) Is digitization the only required activity in a Common Heritage project?

No. NEH emphasizes that digitization is only half of the project. Each project must also include outreach and public humanities activities that interpret and contextualize the materials and support learning, conversation, and reflection.

9) What kinds of public humanities programming does NEH expect?

Examples listed in the opportunity include lectures, panel discussions, reading and discussion groups, gallery tours, film screenings with discussion, presentations by historians, curator-led interpretation of materials brought in by residents, workshops on preserving family and heritage materials, and activities designed for families and children.

10) When can public programming take place relative to the digitization event?

Programs can happen before, during, or after the digitization day. The key expectation is that the activities help audiences understand shared histories and differing experiences within the same community.

11) Does a project need a theme?

No. Applicants may choose to organize the project around a theme, but a theme is not required.

12) If a theme is used, what are examples of acceptable themes?

The opportunity provides examples such as an industry that shaped the town, a cultural tradition, neighborhood history, military service, immigration and settlement, civil rights activity, or local arts.

13) How does having a theme help a project?

A theme can guide both the public programming and the digitization event, helping the project tell a clearer story and attract participation.

14) Who typically leads and hosts the project?

The applicant institution is expected to take the lead in planning, promotion, and logistics, and to ensure the event can handle diverse materials and formats while providing meaningful interpretation through public programs.

15) Are partnerships required or encouraged?

The program is structured around partnerships. While the lead applicant is responsible for the overall project, applicants are expected to enlist additional partners as needed to support outreach, provide expertise, broaden participation, and contribute resources and capacity.

16) What types of organizations can be partners?

Examples mentioned include local libraries, museums, historical societies, and other community organizations.

17) What is the funding agency and program classification?

This is a discretionary grant in the humanities offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The opportunity references CFDA 45.149.

18) Who is eligible to apply (based on the published opportunity data provided)?

Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions).

19) What is the maximum award amount mentioned?

The listed award ceiling in the provided opportunity data is $12,000.

20) What were the dates for the specific posting described?

The referenced opportunity was created March 23, 2017, and had an original closing date of June 1, 2017. This indicates the specific posting described is from that cycle, even if the program concept appears in later NEH offerings with updated deadlines and guidance.

21) What is the overall goal of Common Heritage in plain terms?

Common Heritage is a public-facing preservation and storytelling effort. It helps communities safeguard at-risk personal and local historical materials through digitization, and it uses those materials to create humanities programs that strengthen public knowledge, community memory, and intergenerational connection.