To obtain a
printed version of these |
guidelines, call
202-606-8446, send an |
e-mail to info@neh.gov, or
write to |
NEH, Office of Public
Affairs, |
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, |
Washington, DC
20506. |
| |
Date posted: February 1, 2008
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.164
Questions?
Contact the staff of NEH's Division of Public Programs at at 202-606-8269 and
publicpgms@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired
applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
The Small Grants to Libraries program brings traveling exhibitions and other
types of public programming to libraries across the country.
"Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience" is a collaboration
between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Library Association
(ALA), and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The exhibition is based
upon a permanent exhibition of the same name on display at the National Baseball Hall
of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.
The traveling exhibition and tour are funded by a major grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to the American Library Association.
"Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience" has been designated
as part of the NEH’s We the People program, exploring significant events and
themes in our nation’s history and culture and advancing knowledge of the principles
that define America.
The story of African Americans in baseball is a remarkable and fascinating slice
of American history. It parallels the failures of the greater American society in
solving the racial problems resulting from slavery, the Civil War, and the confusion
of Reconstruction. Baseball was played on Southern plantations as far back as the 1850s,
and a quote from the New York Clipper newspaper in 1869 tells of a game between the
leading black and white baseball teams in Philadelphia. Although early baseball was
segregated for the most part, there are many examples of blacks and whites playing the
game together. However, racial prejudice escalated in the latter half of the nineteenth
century, and baseball reflected this development in the larger society. The captain of
the leading black team in Philadelphia was murdered in riots that occurred on the first
day black men were legally allowed to vote in October 1871. Black players on the rare
integrated teams, such as the Toledo Blue Stockings, were sometimes threatened by people
in the stands and by players on opposing teams. When the National League was founded in
1883, blacks were shut out, and the black players on the Toledo team in the mid-1880s were
the last to play on an integrated team until Jackie Robinson in 1947. This early baseball
history will be both a revelation and a surprise to most viewers of the traveling exhibition,
and it adds a fascinating dimension to late nineteenth-century U.S. history.
"Pride and Passion" gives libraries many perspectives from which to develop programs for
public audiences. Besides exploring the history of baseball and examining how the treatment
of black players reflected conditions in American society, public programs can focus on
individual players, barnstorming, the Negro Leagues, the conditions players faced when they
traveled, baseball rules and how they changed through the decades, and a myriad of other sports
and history topics. Through a cultural timeline of American history that will be part of the
exhibition, visitors will be able to place the African American baseball story into the larger
context of American history and see how it intersects with major events such as the Supreme
Court decisions in the Dred Scott case, the case of Plessy versus Ferguson, and the case of
Brown versus the Board of Education; the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the
Fifteenth Amendment, the Jim Crow laws, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Great
Migration to the North.
One copy of the exhibition will travel to libraries from November 2008 to November 2012.
The traveling exhibition content is arranged in six thematic sections, a breakdown that
separates the story into cohesive chronological sections and allows flexibility to
participating libraries in the display of the exhibition.
- 1860-1887: "Finding a Way in Hard Times" covers the years after the Civil War,
during which baseball was affected by the deepening of racial prejudice throughout the
nation.
- 1887-1919: "Barnstorming on the Open Road" describes how black baseball
players formed their own professional teams and traveled to towns and cities throughout
the nation.
- 1920-1932: "Separate Leagues, Parallel Lives" looks at the first black baseball
leagues, including the Negro National League and the Eastern Colored League, and how they
fared until the Great Depression.
- 1933-1946: "Paving the Way to Integration" examines the revival of Negro League
baseball after the Depression, the introduction of night baseball, and the success of teams
such as the Kansas City Monarchs and the Homestead Grays.
- 1947-1959: "Signpost for Opportunity" deals with the career of Jackie Robinson,
the black player who joined the all-white Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, and the 12 years it took
for all Major League teams to field at least one black player.
- 1959-Present: "The Post-Integration Era" looks at the progress of integration and
how it has affected baseball on the field, in the executive offices, and at the managerial
level.
Exhibition physical details: The exhibition consists of six separate, free-standing
sections; each section is approximately 18 feet wide and 7½ feet high (108 running feet).
Text and illustrations appear on only one side of the sections. The entire exhibition requires
approximately 1,000 square feet of space for optimal display. Libraries that apply are strongly
encouraged to make a computer station or stations available near the exhibition so that viewers
can access Web sites with additional educational activities for all ages.
Requirements for libraries: All libraries chosen for the exhibition tour are required
to:
- Sign an agreement with the American Library Association to fulfill exhibition hosting and
display requirements.
- Sponsor an opening event for the public.
- Present a minimum of two programs featuring a lecture and discussion by a scholar in the
humanities and focusing on exhibition themes (one of these programs may be combined with the
opening event). These programs must be free and open to the public. Exhibition sites are
encouraged to apply to state humanities councils for honoraria for lecturers and discussion
leaders.
- In the case of academic and special libraries, present at least one program that is open
to and marketed to public audiences beyond the library’s customary user groups. Academic and
special library applicants are asked to contact the local public library to discuss possible
collaborations on programming and publicity.
- Demonstrate that they have sufficient space to display the exhibition (1,000 square feet
in one area of the library or other display area is preferred), and that they can provide
security for the exhibit, i.e., monitor the exhibition at least every half-hour during peak
times and every hour at less busy times when institution is open. A description of the
exhibition space or floor plan should accompany the application.
- Charge no fees for viewing the exhibition.
- Provide required reports, including an exhibition condition report and a final report,
to the American Library Association by the specified deadline. Sites that fail to provide
a final report in a timely manner may forfeit opportunities to participate in future
American Library Association-managed traveling exhibition projects.
- Appoint one staff member as the local coordinator of the exhibition. The coordinator is
required to attend an exhibition planning workshop to held in Cooperstown, N.Y., in September
2008.
Benefits for libraries: Libraries selected for the tour will receive:
- A $2,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for exhibition-related
expenses, e.g., expenses for travel and accommodations for the exhibition coordinator's
attendance at the planning workshop and exhibition programming.
- The traveling exhibition for a six-week loan period (shipping costs included).
- Exhibition brochures and posters.
- Two banners that will travel to each site for display with the exhibition.
- Educational support materials.
- Insurance coverage for reasonable damages to the exhibition. Sites may be held
responsible for extensive damages or loss of the exhibition when it is under their
control. Some previous exhibition sites have put a rider on their insurance for the
exhibition display period, although this is not required.
- Both print and online Site Support Resources with press materials, art, shipping
and installation instructions, and suggestions for programming.
- Technical and programming support from the ALA Public Programs Office throughout
the tour, including participation in an online discussion list and a Wiki for tour
sites.
- Travel and accommodation expenses for exhibition coordinators to attend a planning
workshop at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., in
September 2008. Attendees will be able to view the original "Pride and Passion" on
exhibit at the museum.
The Endowment currently sponsors one agency-wide program, We the
People, and two special initiatives: Rediscovering Afghanistan and
the Digital Humanities Initiative. Below is information on each. The NEH
encourages applications in these three special areas of interest. Proposals
will be evaluated through NEH's established review process and will not
receive special consideration.
We the People Grant Program
To help Americans make sense of
their history and of the world around them, NEH established the We the
People program. NEH encourages applications that explore significant
events and themes in our nation's history and culture and that advance
knowledge of the principles that define America. To learn more about
We the People, visit the
program's Web site.
Rediscovering
Afghanistan
NEH invites applications for
projects that focus on Afghanistan's history and culture. The special
initiative is designed to promote research, education, and public programs
about Afghanistan and to encourage United States institutions to assist
Afghanistan in efforts to preserve and document its cultural resources.
Learn more about the initiative.
Digital Humanities
Initiative
NEH is interested in receiving applications for projects that use or study
the impact of digital technology. Digital technologies offer humanists new
methods of conducting research, conceptualizing relationships, and presenting
scholarship. Digital humanities projects deploy these technologies and methods
to enhance our understanding of a topic or issue. NEH is also interested
in projects that study the impact of digital technology on the humanities—exploring
the ways in which it changes how we read, write, think, and learn. Proposals
will be evaluated through NEH's established review process and will not
receive special consideration. Learn
more about the initiative.
Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds. Awards
of $2,500 are normally made for a period of 24 months.
Cost sharing
Cost sharing is not required.
(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
Applications are invited from public, academic, and special libraries with
IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.
Individuals are not eligible to apply. NEH generally does not award grants to other
federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a
federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity's own
authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from,
or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
REGISTER OR VERIFY REGISTRATION WITH GRANTS.GOV
Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using
Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register there to create an
institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any
government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.
If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your
registration is still valid, you may skip this step. If
not, please see our handy checklist to guide you through the registration
process. We strongly recommend you complete or verify your registration
at least two weeks prior to submitting the application, as it takes time
for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering
with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE ADOBE READER SOFTWARE
To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download
and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader,
which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular
operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe Web site
(www.adobe.com).
Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov
application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it
may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many
organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact
your system administrator.
DOWNLOAD APPLICATION PACKAGE | | |
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov Web site.
You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.)
Click the button at the right to download the package.
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Save the application package to your computer's hard drive. To open the application
package, select the file and double click.
You do not have to be online to work on it.
You can save your application package at any time by clicking the "Save" button at the top of your screen.
Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive an error
message indicating that your application is not valid if all of the forms have not been completed. Click "OK" to
save your work and complete
the package another time. You can also use
e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains three forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short)—this
form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
- Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional
information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
- NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and
the other parts of your application.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL DOMESTIC
ASSISTANCE SF-424 SHORT FORM
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
- Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with "National
Endowment for the Humanities."
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically
with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
- Date Received: Please leave blank.
- Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
- Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address,
employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional
district of the institution. Also choose the "type" that best describes your institution (you only
need to select one).
If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put
a "5." If your institution doesn't have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S.
territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a "0" (zero).
All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number,
issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their
institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS
number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711.
(Learn more about the requirement.)
- Project Information: Use the following as the title
of your project: Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball
Experience—A Traveling Exhibition to Libraries. Use the following
description for your project under Project Description: The
1,000-square-foot panel exhibition examines baseball as a reflection
of race relations in the United States, asking how baseball has shaped,
and been shaped by, national identity and culture. Photographs, broadsides,
team rosters, scorecards, and other baseball memorabilia would tell
the story of black participation in baseball, from the integrated amateur
leagues of the nineteenth century and the creation of segregated Negro
Leagues in the Jim Crow era to Jackie Robinson's now-famous breaking
of the color barrier in 1947.
- Project Director: Provide the Social Security Number, name, title, mailing
address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers for the project director.
Disclosure of Social Security Numbers is optional. NEH uses them for internal application
processing only.
- Primary Contact/Grants Administrator: Provide the contact information for
the official responsible for the administration of the grant (e.g., negotiating the project budget
and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award). This person is often a grants
or research officer, or a sponsored programs official. Normally, the Institutional Grants
Administrator is not the same person as the Project Director. If the project director and the grant
administrator are the same person, skip to item 9.
- Authorized Representative: Provide the contact information for the Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution.
This person, often called an "Authorizing Official," is typically the president, vice president,
executive director, provost, or chancellor. In order to become an AOR, the person must be designated
by the institution's E-Business Point of Contact. For more information, please consult the Grants.gov
user guide, which is available at: http://www.grants.gov/help/help.jsp.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY COVER
SHEET FOR NEH GRANT PROGRAMS
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the
following information:
- Project Director: Select H3: Library Science as the major
field of study for the project director.
- Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select
your type of institution.
- Project Funding: Enter $2,500.
- Application Information: Indicate that the proposal will not
be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities
for funding.
For Type of Application, check "new."
For Project Field Code, select A3: American History.
You will prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you
would a paper application. Your application should consist of the following
parts:
Narrative description:
The narrative should not exceed 5-7 pages single-spaced with one-inch margins
and should be in at least 11-point font. Repeat the number and first sentence of
each item below. It should contain the following information, in this order:
NOTE: The narrative of your application covering questions 1 through 10
will be submitted to Grants.gov as a single PDF file.
- Why would your institution like to display "Pride and Passion: The African
American Baseball Experience"? Please describe unique collections and local resources
and interests related to the exhibition.
- What local partners will help you to support the exhibition and what will their
roles be? Support letters from partners strengthen your application.
- Libraries must commit themselves to at least two public programs led by a humanities
scholar and based upon the exhibition themes. Please describe your plans for programs
and include information about possible scholars and their credentials (resumes are not
required). Beyond that, what other ideas do you have for programs related to the exhibition
themes? Letters of intent from scholars or other program presenters are encouraged.
Institutions chosen for past exhibitions have proposed an average of five or more public
programs.
- Describe the audience you will target and how you will publicize the exhibition to
that audience. If your institution is an academic or special library, describe how you
will ensure that the public beyond your own user community will see the exhibition and
attend at least one humanities program (saying only that the public will be invited to
all programs is not sufficient for academic and special libraries). Academic and special
libraries should provide in their applications a letter from a local public library
offering program and promotional support.
- Describe the space your institution has available for exhibitions or provide a floor
plan. This exhibition will require 1,000 square feet of space or about 125 running feet
if placed along a wall.
- Can your library provide a computer station near the exhibition for access to Web sites
with interactive educational materials? If not, can you provide any other type of computer
access?
- What is the scope of your current (i.e., within the past year) adult cultural programming,
including type and frequency (e.g., book discussion weekly, annual fall lecture series on
local history).
- Has your library participated in (in last five years), or is it scheduled to participate in
any other program sponsored by the ALA Public Programs Office? If so, please tell us which
programs.
- Are there any dates between November 2008 and November 2012 that you would prefer to display
the exhibition, or cannot display the exhibition? Selected sites will have the exhibition for six
weeks. Requests will be considered, but REQUESTED DATES CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. Sites that
have the exhibition near major holidays will have an eight-week display period.
- Include the institution's ALA membership number if applicable and the library director's name
(if not the same as the project director). Is the Library Director aware of this application and
committed to supporting its implementation? Yes or no.
HOW TO USE THE NEH ATTACHMENT FORM
You will use this form to attach the file that makes up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments
in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don't already have software
to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available.
To learn more, go to
http://www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find 15 attachment buttons, labeled
"Attachment 1" through "Attachment 15." By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose
the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the
proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as
listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your narrative. Please
name the file "narrative.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach any supplementary materials. Please
name the file "supplementary.pdf".
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your letters of commitment. Please
name the file "lettersofcommitment.pdf".
UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION TO GRANTS.GOV
When you have completed all three forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the
"Mandatory Documents for Submission" column. Once they have been moved over, the "Submit" button
will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization
Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution's Sponsored Research Office or Grants
Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application,
using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the
submission process, click the "submit" button. A page will appear asking you to sign and submit your
application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the
"sign and submit application" button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please
note that it may take some time to upload your application package depending on the size of your files
and the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear
indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your
records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern
Time on the day of the deadline. That way, should you encounter a technical
problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov
help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday
from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also
send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.
DEADLINES
Applications must be received by Grants.gov by April 4, 2008. Grants.gov
will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded.
The application submitted to Grants.gov must contain all the required elements.
No material missing from the Grants.gov submission may be submitted in hard copy
after the deadline.
Evaluation Criterion
Relying upon review by the American Library Association and the National Baseball
Hall of Fame and Museum, the NEH will select libraries for the exhibition tour
based upon the following criteria:
- Excellent ideas and plans for public programs, including an agreement that
at least two programs for adults will feature a lecture and discussion by a qualified
scholar on exhibition themes. Applications from institutions previously selected for
traveling exhibitions have included ideas for five or more programs.
- Available and appropriate exhibition space and ability to provide security for
the exhibition.
- Location of the sites. The selection committee would like the exhibition to
visit all regions of the country.
- Size and demographics of the community. The selection committee seeks a mix
of communities of different size and varied demographics.
- Evidence that the site has the support of community groups and other
organizations in planning for the exhibition. Support letters from partner
organizations and potential speakers who describe specific ideas and support for
the exhibition help to strengthen applications. Selectors welcome programming
collaborations among academic, public, and special libraries in a community.
However, sending the exhibition to more than one venue in a community during the
six-week exhibition period is not encouraged.
- Evidence of the site’s ability to reach target audiences and market the
exhibition and related programs effectively. For academic and special libraries,
examples of contact with the local public library and of programs that have
reached public audiences successfully are helpful.
- Commitment of the library for the staff time required for a successful
display of the exhibition in the community and development of related
programming.
Review and Selection Process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the
agency about its merits. The Endowment’s staff comments on matters of fact or
on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then
makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National
Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on
grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process
and, by law, makes all funding decisions.
Award notices
Applicants will be notified of the decision by e-mail in August 2008. Institutional
grant administrators and projects directors of successful applications will receive award
documents by mail from the National Endowment for the Humanities in September 2008.
Applicants may obtain the reasons for funding decisions on their applications by sending
a letter or e-mail to NEH, Division of Public Programs, Room 426, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave.,
N.W., Washington, DC 20506 or PublicPgms@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their
responsibilities as an award recipient and
the lobbying certification requirement.
Award conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the
General Terms and Conditions for
Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the
award document, and the applicable OMB
circulars governing federal grants management.
Reporting requirements
An exhibition condition report and a final narrative report must be submitted
to the American Library Association by the specified deadline.
Applicants are encouraged to address questions about the selection guidelines, process,
and requirements to the Public Programs Office, American Library Association, phone
(312) 280-5045, fax (312) 280-5759, or e-mail
PublicPrograms@ala.org.
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Division of Public Programs
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 426
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20506
202-606-8269
PublicPgms@neh.gov
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: www.grants.gov
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals: www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp
Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
Privacy Policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on
the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which
the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be
used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to
provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application Completion Time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply
information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments
on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this
application is three hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing
instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed,
and completing and reviewing the application. Please send any comments regarding
the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including
suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Director of the Office
of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C.
20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project
(3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information
unless it displays a valid OMB number.
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