FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2026

Alaska State Archives Awarded $220,146 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant to Expand Access to Statehood Records

Juneau, Alaska — The Alaska State Archives of the Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums has been awarded $220,146 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition grant program to support a two-year archival project, Foundations of Statehood: Alaska's Constitutional Development and the Process of Self-Determination and Full Representation. The Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition grant program supports activities to preserve and improve access to primary source materials in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s principles of equality, liberty, and government by consent. The Alaska State Archives was one of 33 grant recipients out of 103 applicants to receive the NEH grant award.

The Alaska State Archives project will include archival processing, enhanced catalog description, digitization of audiovisual materials, and transcription. The project will result in improving access for researchers, educators, students, and the public to explore the historical records of one of the defining periods in Alaska's history, supporting new scholarship, classroom learning, and a deeper public understanding of Alaska's path to self-government.

In addition, the project will produce a comprehensive online guide to statehood-related records held throughout the Alaska State Archives, bringing together resources from multiple record groups into a single point of discovery. Four standards-aligned lesson plans for grades 9–12 will also be developed using newly accessible primary sources.

To read the full press release on awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, please visit: NEH Announces $41.4 Million for 81 Humanities Projects | National Endowment for the Humanities

For more information on the Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition program, visit the NEH website: https://www.neh.gov/program/rediscovering-our-revolutionary-tradition.

Media contact: Amy Phillips-Chan, Director, Libraries, Archives and Museums, amy.chan@alaska.gov

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The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development provides information, resources, and leadership to support over 130,000 students in 505 public schools across the state of Alaska. The mission of the department is to ensure an “Excellent Education for Every Student Every Day.”

Media Contact: Bryan Zadalis, Public Information Officer - (907) 465-2800