The American Historical Association brings together historians from all specializations and all work contexts, embracing the breadth and variety of activity in history today.
The American Historical Association’s recent grantmaking is anchored by a large cluster of project-specific support for SHARP subgrants, including $173,840 to the John Gardner Institute for a History Gateways subgrant and $130,160 to NORC at the University of Chicago for a mapping subgrant. That combination points to a funder that supports historical work through named initiatives rather than broad general giving. The foundation also backs research and interpretation across museums, archives, historical societies, and scholarly organizations, with recent awards to groups such as the American Museum of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History and Cultu and the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture. Its active programs include the Phillips Fund for Native American Research, which supports research in Native American history and related fields through competitive awards, and a Teaching with Primary Sources regional subgrant program for the Mid-Atlantic and U.S. Territories. The grant list shows both larger program awards and smaller research grants, reflecting support for scholarship, teaching, and public history work across different institutional settings. In practice, the foundation funds organizations that preserve, interpret, and teach history through discrete projects and program-level initiatives.
In public history and interpretation, the foundation supports museum and archive work through SHARP subgrants such as $65,634 to Sing Sing Prison Museum and $53,419 to South Asian American Digital Archive. It also funds local historical organizations, including $50,935 to Cayuga Museum of History and Art and $48,297 to Lane County Historical Society. For historical research, the Phillips Fund for Native American Research is a competitive grant program for scholars and researchers working in Native American history and related fields. Teaching and education show up through the Teaching with Primary Sources Mid-Atlantic and U.S. Territories Regional Subgrant Program, and related mapping and history-gateways work appears in awards to education and research partners. Across these areas, the foundation supports specific projects, not unrestricted awards.
Typical grant size sits at a p25 of $13,845, a median of $24,178, and a p75 of $49,800. Recent grants show repeat programmatic funding within the same initiative areas: SHARP subgrants appear across many recipients, while mapping subgrants recur for NORC at the University of Chicago in 2024. The foundation is a regular funder and does not fund individuals. Its pattern is subgranting and restricted support for discrete initiatives, including program-level multi-award funding and operational or program support tied to specific projects. The Phillips Fund also accepts unsolicited applications, which signals an open competitive grant channel within at least one program.
$38K
$11.2M
$4.8M
$4.6M
Most grants fall between $14K and $50K, with a median of $24K.
25th Percentile
$14K
Median
$24K
75th Percentile
$50K
About 2% of grants go to recipients in NY.
DANA SCHAFFER
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Grantmaking is national, with all listed recent grants going to U.S. recipients. Maryland stands out as the top state by grant count, while the foundation’s headquarters are in Washington, DC. Recent awards reach a wide spread of cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Charlottesville. The strongest concentration in the provided list is in the Mid-Atlantic and nearby states, but grants also go to places such as Ossining, Auburn, Eugene, and Chickamauga.
Recent grants go to museums, archives, historical societies, and scholarly or education-focused nonprofits. Examples in the data include the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture, the South Asian American Digital Archive, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the Society for the History of Children and Youth.
The listed focus areas are history, historical research, higher education, K-12 history education, and public policy related to history. Active programs also point to Native American history research and Teaching with Primary Sources regional subgrants.
Yes. The Phillips Fund for Native American Research accepts unsolicited applications, and the Teaching with Primary Sources Mid-Atlantic and U.S. Territories Regional Subgrant Program is also marked as accepting unsolicited applications.
The grant-size distribution is p25 $13,845, median $24,178, and p75 $49,800. Recent awards include both smaller research grants and larger program subgrants, so the distribution is fairly wide within that range.
The recent grant recipient country distribution is entirely U.S., with 86 grants and 100.0% to U.S. recipients.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Current and upcoming funding from American Historical Association that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Organizations may submit proposals; multiple applications may be submitted by different organizational departments. The program is not currently accepting new proposals.
Deadline: Upcoming round anticipated in September 2026
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Create a free accountDeadlines and eligibility are summarized from public sources and may change — always confirm the details on the funder's official application page before applying.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES | SILVER SPRING, MD | $37,959 | 2025 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| NORC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $130,160 | 2024 | MAPPING SUBGRANT |
| AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MOUNT ST MARY'S UNIVERSITY | EMMITSBURG, MD | $75,000 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| AMERICAN MUSEUM OF LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER HISTORY AND CULTU | NEW YORK, NY | $75,000 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| ABLEMARLE CHARLOTTESVILLE HISTORIAL SOCIETY | CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA | $75,000 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY | NAZARETH, PA | $75,000 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| PEALE CENTER FOR BALTIMORE HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE | BALTIMORE, MD | $74,910 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| SING SING PRISON MUSEUM | OSSINING, NY | $65,634 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| PUTNAM HISTORY MUSEUM | COLD SPRING, NY | $65,090 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| ROEBLING MAIN GATE MUSEUM | ROEBLING, NJ | $62,040 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| RECKONING INC | LOUISVILLE, KY | $60,053 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| URBAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION | ANN ARBOR, MI | $59,435 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| MADISON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC | EDWARDSVILLE, IL | $59,352 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| CHARNLEY-PERSKY HOUSE MUSEUM FOUNDATION | CHICAGO, IL | $57,335 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| THE WEB DU BOIS CENTER FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY INC | GREAT BARRINGTON, MA | $55,642 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES | SILVER SPRING, MD | $54,142 | 2024 | MAPPING SUBGRANT |
| SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN DIGITAL ARCHIVE | PHILADELPHIA, PA | $53,419 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| MT ZION MEMORIAL FUND FOR BLUES MUSIC AND JUSTICE | WATER VALLEY, MS | $52,982 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY | KEENE, NH | $51,389 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| CAYUGA MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ART | AUBURN, NY | $50,935 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| NORC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $50,726 | 2024 | MAPPING SUBGRANT |
| BERKSHIRE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN HISTORIANS | COLUMBIA, MD | $49,850 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| ASSOCIATION CULTURELLE ET HISTORIQUE DU MONT CARMEL | LILLE SURSTJEAN, ME | $49,650 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| BLACK ARCHIVES OF MID-AMERICA IN KANSAS CITY | KANSAS CITY, MO | $48,801 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| REFUSING TO FORGET | CHICAGO, IL | $48,800 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY | EUGENE, OR | $48,297 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| COLLECTIONS AND STORIES OF AMERICAN MUSLIMS INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $39,070 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH | PHILADELPHIA, PA | $36,999 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| WALKER COUNTY AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INC | CHICKAMAUGA, GA | $36,864 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| SOUTHEASTERN COUNCIL OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES | WINGATE, NC | $36,813 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| VERMONT GRANITE MUSEUM OF BARRE | BARRE, VT | $36,246 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| OVER-THE-RHINE MUSEUM | CINCINNATI, OH | $35,527 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY UIC DEPT OF HISTORY | CHICAGO, IL | $34,278 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL OF NEW HAMPSHIRE | PORTSMOUTH, NH | $31,057 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN HISTORIANS | LONG BEACH, CA | $30,096 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| HISTORY CENTER IN TOMPKINS COUNTY | ITHACA, NY | $29,582 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| BAPTIST HISTORY AND HERITAGE SOCIETY | MACON, GA | $28,215 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| INTERNATIONAL BIG HISTORY ASSOCIATION | ALLENDALE, MI | $27,923 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| AMERICAN SOCIAL HISTORY PRODUCTIONS INC | NEW YORK, NY | $26,736 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| DENNYS RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY | DENNYSVILLE, ME | $26,700 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| BERKSHIRE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN HISTORIANS | COLUMBIA, MD | $25,150 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| SING SING PRISON MUSEUM | OSSINING, NY | $24,732 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY UIC DEPT OF HISTORY | CHICAGO, IL | $23,623 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| HISTORY CENTER OF LAKE FOREST LAKE BLUFF | LAKE FOREST, IL | $22,721 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| BUENA VISTA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY | STORM LAKE, IA | $22,317 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| WINDOW SEAT MEDIA | OLYMPIA, WA | $22,010 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| REFUSING TO FORGET | CHICAGO, IL | $21,997 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| THE WEB DU BOIS CENTER FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY INC | GREAT BARRINGTON, MA | $21,822 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| SOUTH END HISTORICAL SOCIETY | BOSTON, MA | $21,307 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
| NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN HISTORIANS | BUFFALO, NY | $19,797 | 2024 | SHARP SUBGRANT |
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES
$37,959SHARP SUBGRANT
NORC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$130,160MAPPING SUBGRANT
AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MOUNT ST MARY'S UNIVERSITY
$75,000SHARP SUBGRANT
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF LESBIAN GAY BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER HISTORY AND CULTU
$75,000SHARP SUBGRANT
ABLEMARLE CHARLOTTESVILLE HISTORIAL SOCIETY
$75,000SHARP SUBGRANT
MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$75,000SHARP SUBGRANT
SING SING PRISON MUSEUM
$65,634SHARP SUBGRANT
PUTNAM HISTORY MUSEUM
$65,090SHARP SUBGRANT
ROEBLING MAIN GATE MUSEUM
$62,040SHARP SUBGRANT
RECKONING INC
$60,053SHARP SUBGRANT
URBAN HISTORY ASSOCIATION
$59,435SHARP SUBGRANT
MADISON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
$59,352SHARP SUBGRANT
CHARNLEY-PERSKY HOUSE MUSEUM FOUNDATION
$57,335SHARP SUBGRANT
THE WEB DU BOIS CENTER FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY INC
$55,642SHARP SUBGRANT
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES
$54,142MAPPING SUBGRANT
MT ZION MEMORIAL FUND FOR BLUES MUSIC AND JUSTICE
$52,982SHARP SUBGRANT
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY
$51,389SHARP SUBGRANT
CAYUGA MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ART
$50,935SHARP SUBGRANT
NORC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$50,726MAPPING SUBGRANT
BERKSHIRE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN HISTORIANS
$49,850SHARP SUBGRANT
ASSOCIATION CULTURELLE ET HISTORIQUE DU MONT CARMEL
$49,650SHARP SUBGRANT
BLACK ARCHIVES OF MID-AMERICA IN KANSAS CITY
$48,801SHARP SUBGRANT
REFUSING TO FORGET
$48,800SHARP SUBGRANT
LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$48,297SHARP SUBGRANT
COLLECTIONS AND STORIES OF AMERICAN MUSLIMS INC
$39,070SHARP SUBGRANT
SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH
$36,999SHARP SUBGRANT
WALKER COUNTY AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INC
$36,864SHARP SUBGRANT
SOUTHEASTERN COUNCIL OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
$36,813SHARP SUBGRANT
VERMONT GRANITE MUSEUM OF BARRE
$36,246SHARP SUBGRANT
OVER-THE-RHINE MUSEUM
$35,527SHARP SUBGRANT
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY UIC DEPT OF HISTORY
$34,278SHARP SUBGRANT
WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN HISTORIANS
$30,096SHARP SUBGRANT
HISTORY CENTER IN TOMPKINS COUNTY
$29,582SHARP SUBGRANT
BAPTIST HISTORY AND HERITAGE SOCIETY
$28,215SHARP SUBGRANT
INTERNATIONAL BIG HISTORY ASSOCIATION
$27,923SHARP SUBGRANT
AMERICAN SOCIAL HISTORY PRODUCTIONS INC
$26,736SHARP SUBGRANT
DENNYS RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$26,700SHARP SUBGRANT
BERKSHIRE CONFERENCE OF WOMEN HISTORIANS
$25,150SHARP SUBGRANT
SING SING PRISON MUSEUM
$24,732SHARP SUBGRANT
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY UIC DEPT OF HISTORY
$23,623SHARP SUBGRANT
BUENA VISTA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$22,317SHARP SUBGRANT
WINDOW SEAT MEDIA
$22,010SHARP SUBGRANT
REFUSING TO FORGET
$21,997SHARP SUBGRANT
THE WEB DU BOIS CENTER FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY INC
$21,822SHARP SUBGRANT
SOUTH END HISTORICAL SOCIETY
$21,307SHARP SUBGRANT
NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN HISTORIANS
$19,797SHARP SUBGRANT
