Funding

The National Endowment for the Humanities

Primary funding for the Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project was graciously provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The NEH, an independent federal agency created in 1965, aims to promote excellence in the humanities in the United States, and is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the country. NEH grants are awarded to top-rated proposals, which are examined by panels of independent, external reviewers. These grants, typically given to cultural institutions, strengthen teaching and learning in schools and colleges, facilitate research and original scholarship, provide opportunities for lifelong learning, preserve and provide access to cultural and educational resources, and strengthen the institutional base of the humanities.

The Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project was funded by a Preservation and Access Research and Development Grant, awarded by the NEH’s Division of Preservation and Access. This division focuses on preserving our nation’s cultural heritage and intellectual legacy, which includes nitrate film holdings. The Division of Preservation and Access’s grant programs focus on ensuring long-term and wide availability of primary resources in the humanities, so that they may be available to scholars, teachers, and the general public.

More information on NEH and the Division of Preservation and Access can be found at the NEH website. A copy of the grant proposal for the Wisconsin Nitrate Film Project, written by Dr. Heather Heckman, is available here.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School  

Additional financial support was provided by The Graduate School of UW-Madison. The Graduate School has overall responsibility for research and graduate education at UW-Madison and attempts to encourage a symbiotic relationship between the two. Given its campus-wide responsibility for research and graduate education, The Graduate School sets university-wide standards and policies, serves an advocacy and communication role, promotes diversity initiatives, and otherwise adds to the margin of excellence. It fulfills its goals by initiating and incubating new ideas, and by facilitating research and graduate education through partnerships with schools/colleges and other campus units.

More information about The Graduate School is available here.