Vermont State Archives and Records Administration Receives State Programming Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission

January 27 2023

Montpelier, VT – Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and State Archivist Tanya Marshall announced today that the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA), a division of the Secretary of State’s Office, has been awarded a $34,000 state board programming grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration. The grant supports the work of VSARA’s Vermont Historical Records Program (VHRP), which is a collaboration between VSARA and the Vermont Historical Records Advisory Board to build statewide capacity to preserve, and provide access to, Vermont’s rich documentary history.

“The records of Vermont teach us critical lessons about our state’s remarkable and unique past,” said Copeland Hanzas. “I am proud of the important work carried out by the Vermont Historical Records Program and grateful for this funding opportunity from NHPRC.”

Initiated in 2017 to provide sustainable archival assistance to Vermont’s historical records repositories, the mission of VHRP is to improve public access to, and engagement with, Vermont’s historical records and to encourage and facilitate collaborative efforts. VHRP will use the grant to develop a strategic plan for prioritizing, defining, and funding statewide historical records projects.

The grant also provides continuing support to established services of the VHRP, which include temperature and humidity monitoring for record storage areas, disaster recovery for historical records infested by pests or impacted by a water event, mobile scanning digitization, and a wide range of workshops.

“The Vermont Historical Records Program continues to grow and expand each year with the support we receive from the NHPRC. Being able to continue our services and look ahead and plan for the next three to five years are very exciting next steps to our providing sustainable archival assistance to historical records repositories throughout the State of Vermont,” says Marshall.

To learn more about VHRP, visit sos.vermont.gov/vsara/partner or contact VHRP Director Rachel Onuf at rachel.onuf@vermont.gov or 802-622-4092.