DC Oral History Collaborative Grants

Through the DC Oral History Collaborative, HumanitiesDC offers three grants to fund various types of oral history work. Grants support amateur, first-time oral historians as well as experienced practitioners. In addition to funding, grantees join the DC Oral History Collaborative and receive access to its resources and trainings.

Oral HIstory INterviewing grant

Request for Proposals (RFP) – available December 8, 2025
Application Questions – available December 8, 2025

Funding for DC-based individuals & organizations to collect, transcribe, and archive oral history interviews.

Grantees receive extensive training on how to conduct oral history interviews and the components necessary to archive them at the People’s Archive at the DC Public Library.

Eligibility: DC-based Individuals and nonprofit organizations
Award Amount: Up to $8,000 (with additional funds available for translation of transcripts)
2026 Applications open December 8, 2025, due February 18, 2026 by 5:59 pm.

Read our Humanist Highlight about 2024 DC Oral History Collaborative grantee Necothia Bowens and her work to highlight DC rollerskating history through oral history interviews.

CONTINUING ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS grant

This grant opportunity is currently closed and will reopen in 2026.

Request for Proposal (RFP)
Application Questions
Next Grant Workshop:

Eligibility: DC-based Individuals, community groups, and nonprofit organizations that have already completed and closed out previously-funded oral history interviewing projects
Award Amount: Up to $8,000 (with additional funds available for translation of transcripts)
Application opens: March 4, 2025
Application submission deadline: May 1, 2025

BEYOND THE ARCHIVES GRANT

Request for Proposals (RFP)
Application Questions

This grant opportunity funds community organizations and individuals to produce public humanities projects from existing oral history collections in any archive. Applicants must identify the archived oral histories in their application. Potential projects may include exhibitions, performances, listening stations, written research, film/video, curricula for K-12 and higher education, websites, and computer applications based on and directly using existing oral history collections. Selected grantees will work with staff from the DC Oral History Collaborative throughout their projects.  

Eligibility: DC-based Individuals, community groups, and nonprofit organizations
Award Amount: Up to $12,000
2025 applications are now closed

Applicant Resources