Developing a Grant-Writing Guide for Public Historians
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DEVELOPING A GRANT-WRITING GUIDE FOR PUBLIC HISTORIANS A Project Presented to the faculty of the Department of History California State University, Sacramento Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History (Public History) by Sonya D. Lovine FALL 2013 © 2013 Sonya Denise Lovine ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii DEVELOPING A GRANT-WRITING GUIDE FOR PUBLIC HISTORIANS A Project by Sonya D. Lovine Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Dr. Patrick Ettinger __________________________________, Second Reader Dr. Lee Simpson ____________________________ Date iii Student: Sonya D. Lovine I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the university format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the library and credit is to be awarded for the project. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Dr. Patrick Ettinger Date Department of History iv Abstract of DEVELOPING A GRANT-WRITING GUIDE FOR PUBLIC HISTORIANS by Sonya D. Lovine This project was developed based on a recognized need in the public history field for assistance in finding grant money and guidance in grant writing and constructing successful grant proposals. This resource is specifically designed to assist public history and related professionals in the process of grant writing. One purpose of this project is to provide grant seekers with a list of potential funding sources for public history projects. Although time-sensitive by nature, the guide covers standard procedures, terminology, and examples that will remain relevant. The project relies on a variety of grant-writing resources, articles and books focused on historic preservation, public memory, and museum studies, as well as oral interviews conducted with public history professionals. The guidebook, entitled Taking Public History for Granted: A Grant-Writing Guide for Public Historians, can be used in public historians’ pursuit of external funding from federal, state, and private funding sources for a multitude of public history projects. _______________________, Committee Chair Dr. Patrick Ettinger _______________________ Date v DEDICATION This project is dedicated to my parents, Richard and Stella Lovine, whose love and support helped me get through this most challenging time. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to thank David Earwicker, Assistant Vice President of Research Administration at Sacramento State. Over the course of 25 years after receiving my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and working at Sac State, I tried several times to return to school to pursue a graduate degree. Never did I have a supervisor who provided me with as much enthusiasm and motivation to continue my education until I began working for you. “Get a master’s degree,” you said, “it will be fun!” Over the past five years, I frequently grumbled “I am only doing this for you!” As I approach graduation, I realize now that you were only helping me do this for me. For that, I thank you. Thank you to Kim Harrington, Professional Development and Training Coordinator, who has championed my slow but diligent efforts to complete my graduate degree. You gave me confidence that I could reach what often felt like an unobtainable goal. To my supervisor, Shannon Rexin, thank you for teaching me everything I know about proposal development, budgets, grant writing, and how to find the often elusive funding source! The knowledge you shared with me contributes to the foundation of this project. I would be remiss to not acknowledge my first history professor at the beginning of this journey here at Sac State, Dr. Al Holland. Thanks to you I have come a long way from the first historiography I ever wrote! Dr. Jim Rose, thank you for the support you gave me when life knocked me off my feet, and for reminding me not to let the trauma I vii endured define me. To my advisors, Dr. Patrick Ettinger and Dr. Lee Simpson, the both of you have consistently believed in me – at times more than I believed in myself. I could not have accomplished all that I have without the incredible guidance, knowledge, and experience the two of you have shared with me. Thank you for steering me in the right direction to do this project. It is meaningful to me to give something back to fellow colleagues in the public history field and to also give back to the university. My hope is that I have achieved that with this guidebook. Thank you to many friends who gave me endless support. Melani Wilkie, thanks for always being my source of inspiration. Susan Rice, thank you for helping me out when I needed it most. To Steven Campbell, you are still here and for that I am deeply grateful. Finally, thank you to the two people to whom this project is dedicated – Mom and Dad. When I first started this journey, you thought I was crazy! You applauded every “A” in class that I earned. You calmed my nerves before every presentation. You were there for me no matter what. I love you both. Thank you for giving me the means, the brains, and the passion to achieve one of my greatest goals. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication ................................................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ……………...……………………………………………………….. 1 2. THE HISTORY OF PUBLIC HISTORY ............................................................................ 6 Defining the Term ........................................................................................................ 6 Chronological Development ........................................................................................ 8 Academic Training .................................................................................................... 14 3. DEVELOPING THE GUIDE ........................................................................................... 19 4. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE FIELD .................................................................... 28 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 39 Appendix. Taking Public History for Granted: A Grant-Writing Guide for Public Historians……………………………………………………………………..... 42 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 208 ix 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Grant writing represents an art form and those capable of mastering it realize the value in this skill. Unless employed at a research institution or establishing a career in grant writing, for most people learning to write grants does not rank as a high priority. Grant writing requires hard work, and a great amount of time, dedication, and resilience. I chose to develop this project – a grant-writing guidebook for the public history field – based on a recognized need for a public history-specific guide to obtaining grant money. Of course, grant-writing books do exist; some written in a generic fashion establish a broader relevancy to all aspects of grant writing in any discipline. Others specifically focus on grants in specific fields, such as education, social services, sciences, or health. To date, it appears a guidebook specifically for history or public history does not exist. For my thesis project, I developed a working guide particularly for researchers in the public history field who might be new to grant writing, for those unaware of where to locate funding programs, and for those simply seeking tips on how to prepare the best research proposal possible. This guide ought to help in the development of a proposal, regardless of whether seeking funding from federal, state, or local government, or private or corporate foundations. This project evolved out of my professional responsibilities as a Sponsored Research Officer at California State University, Sacramento and my enrollment in the Capital Campus Public History Master’s Program. Employed at the Research Administration and Contract Administration office while completing my studies, I was 2 responsible for identifying funding opportunities, preparing budgets, editing proposals, reviewing proposals for compliance, and interpreting agency guidelines. My agency expertise is with programs in the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. I provided support to faculty from Academic Affairs, the departments within the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Education, the library, Student Affairs, Environmental Studies, the Center for California Studies, Family and Consumer Sciences, Gerontology, the Institute for Social Research, Government, Social Sciences, and Women’s Studies During my graduate studies at Sacramento State, I served one internship with the Special Collections department at the university library in the spring of 2009. My responsibilities included gaining knowledge, skills, and experience related to the development of a grant proposal to support preservation of digital reproductions of archival sources. My duties also entailed carrying out a survey of grant literature relevant to preservation of and access to archival sources, surveying the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) website, and identifying significant digital projects. In conjunction with this,