NCPH-NPS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

In 2020 the National Council on Public History signed a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. On this page we’ll be occasionally releasing RFPs or Requests for Letters of Interest in search of principal investigators for contracts in fulfillment of this cooperative agreement. While the requirements and qualifications for submission will vary and will be included in individual RFPs, all letters of interest should be sent to [email protected].

While you do not need to be a member of NCPH to submit a letter of interest, if selected for a project through this NCPH-NPS collaboration we will ask principal investigators to join NCPH for the duration of your contract.

We also plan to build this section of the website out to update you on ongoing projects.

OPEN RFPS

Stay tuned–more RFPs coming in 2023!

PAST RFPS

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – Historic Resource study of african american communities on the antietam battlefield and in sharpsburg

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History seeks a qualified historian (or team of historians) to conduct a Historic Resource Study of African American experiences on the Antietam National Battlefield and National Cemetery and in Sharpsburg, MD. This study will incorporate historical research and community and descendant engagement efforts to understand the meaning of freedom for African Americans at Antietam throughout the history of the battlefield and cemetery. Please read the full narrative in PDF or Word format for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest and professional writing sample. Please note that we are particularly looking for PIs or project teams with experience with African American history and community engagement work. 

Project Budget: $77,812 (this is the total compensation for the principal investigator(s), RAs, Section 508 Compliance, travel, and research expenses)
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH:  November 1, 2022
Expected Date to Award Project:  December 1, 2022
Anticipated Start Date:  January 2023
Timeline for Completion:  March 2025

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – COLTSVILLE HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History seeks a qualified historian (or team of historians) to conduct the first Historic Resource Study (HRS) for Coltsville National Historical Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The HRS will expand earlier analyses of park resources and will provide essential information which will inform decisions about the preservation, management, and interpretation of historic and cultural resources at the park. The study will synthesize all available cultural resource information from multiple disciplines in a narrative designed to serve managers, planners, interpreters, cultural resource specialists, and the interested public as a reference for the history of the region and the resources within the park. It will build on thematic work accomplished to date and provide the necessary historical contexts for completing key park plans and reports, including a Long-Range Interpretive Plan, cultural resource inventories, and updating National Register documentation. Please read the full narrative in PDF or Word format for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget:  $84,739 (this is the total compensation for the principal investigator(s), RAs, Section 508 Compliance, travel and research expenses)
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH:  November 1, 2022
Expected Date to Award Project:  December 1, 2022
Anticipated Start Date:  January 2023
Timeline for Completion:  May 2025

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – Special History Study of Black History at the Vassal Estate

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History seeks a qualified historian (or team of historians) to conduct a Special History Study for Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site in Cambridge, MA. Focusing on Black history, this study will document and analyze the Black experience during and after John and Elizabeth Vassall’s occupancy (about 1769-1861). This project will uncover the lives and communities of enslaved and formerly enslaved people who worked at the Vassall House and lived in the surrounding community of Cambridge before, during, and after the American Revolution. The information produced from this study will greatly expand existing baseline information and will influence different aspects of the park, including interpretation and education programming, and influence how the park’s significance is presented to visitors and the public. In addition to a complete, peer-reviewed, edited, formatted, and publication-ready manuscript of a Special History Study, this project will also involve engagement with the site’s known descendant community (about a dozen individuals) and, we hope, identification of more descendants for future outreach. Please read the full narrative in PDF or Word format for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget: $80,650 (This is the total compensation for the principal investigator(s), RAs, Section 508 Compliance, travel, copy editing and formatting, and research expenses)
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH:  November 1, 2022
Expected Date to Award Project:  December 1, 2022
Anticipated Start Date:  January 2023
Timeline for Completion:  September 2025

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – NPS DISABILITY HISTORY HANDBOOK LEAD EDITOR

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History’s objective with this Request for Letters of Interest (RLoI) is to select a Lead Editor who will oversee the research, writing, and editing of a scholarship-based official National Park Service (NPS) Handbook on the history of people with disabilities in the United States. The Handbook is not a manual or how-to guide. Rather, it will be an anthology comprised of thematic and chronological essays, an introduction, an afterword, and a bibliography. Please read the full narrative in PDF or Word form for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget for Lead Editor Compensation: $17,500.00
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH: January 21, 2022
Expected Date to Award Project: February 7, 2022
Anticipated Start Date: February 2022
Timeline for Completion: September 1, 2023

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN NATIONAL MONUMENTS GROUP

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History seeks a qualified historian (or team of historians) to research and write a monograph-length narrative about the Southwestern National Monuments group, 1923-1957, using primary and secondary source research and working closely with the NPS Western Archeological and Conservation Center and the legacy Intermountain Regional Office. The project historian(s) will also collect research documents that relate to museum collections and resources projects. Lastly, the project historian(s) will prepare a Transfer of Knowledge (TOK) product, to be decided upon between the historian, NCPH, and NPS staff. Please read the full narrative for the description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget: $115,765.00 (this is the total compensation for the principal investigator(s), including all travel and research expenses)
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH: August 1, 2021
Expected Date to Award Project: September 1, 2021
Anticipated Start Date: October 2021
Timeline for Completion: By December 31, 2024

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – AMERICAN WORLD WAR II HERITAGE CITIES CRITERION ESSAYS

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History seeks subject matter experts in the history of the World War II home front or mid-twentieth century American history to research the Congressionally-established criteria for the American World War II Heritage City program and develop historic context for these criteria that can be used to aid the National Park Service in the evaluation of Heritage City nominations. We seek authors to write essays for each of the eight criteria; a ninth essay on trends in memorialization and historic preservation of the home front; and a tenth and final essay to be mutually decided upon between the author, NPS, and NCPH. Each of the ten essays will be about 2,500 words in length and will be compensated at the rate of $2,500 per essay. Potential authors or teams are welcome to submit letters of interest for the full run of essays or as few as one. Please read the full narrative for a description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as a brief exploration of Congress’s criteria and instructions for submitting your letter of interest.

Project Budget:  $2,500 per essay for each of ten essays; authors will be paid per-essay upon completion of the essay and should specify in their letter of interest how many essays they want to take on
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH: August 15, 2021
Expected Date to Award Project:  September 15, 2021
Projected Start Date:  October 1, 2021
Timeline for Completion:  October 1, 2022

REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTEREST – WORLD WAR II HOME FRONT PARK UNIT WORKING GROUP FACILITATORS

Via our cooperative agreement with the National Park Service (NPS), the National Council on Public History seeks two historians with subject matter expertise on the World War II home front or 20th century U.S. history to facilitate a working group that will convene representatives of NPS sites related to the World War II Home Front for sustained conversation and connect them with home front scholars outside NPS. An iteration of this working group will convene virtually in the fall and meet in-person or virtually concurrently with NCPH’s annual meeting in the spring for the next three years (spring 2022, spring 2023, and spring 2024). While ideally at least one of the two facilitators will see the project through for the full three years to provide continuity (with $27,000 compensation over three years), we anticipate some turnover in working group participation from year to year. For this reason, we ask prospective facilitators to let us know what your ideal commitment would be; you can indicate interest for just this year or for multiple years. Please read the full narrative for a description of the project’s scope of work and timeline, as well as instructions for submitting your letter of interest and more information about the NCPH working group format.

Project Budget:  $9,000 per facilitator per year, for up to three years
Deadline for Letter of Interest to NCPH: September 1, 2021 extended to September 10, 2021
Expected Date to Award Project:  September 15, 2021
Projected Start Date:  October 1, 2021
Timeline for Completion:  June 2022 (for the first year); June 2024 for the full run of three annual working groups