Connecticut Institutions Win $750,000 National Grant to Preserve the State’s Revolutionary War Records
The Connecticut State Library will lead a six-institution partnership to protect, digitize, and share Connecticut’s Revolutionary-era treasures as the nation commemorates 250 years of American independence
Hartford, CT – The Connecticut State Library has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to lead Preserving Connecticut’s Revolutionary Archive, a three-year statewide project to protect and share original records of the American Revolution. The award comes through NEH's Rediscovering Our Revolutionary Tradition program, part of the nation's 250th anniversary commemoration. The celebration began with the Declaration of Independence's anniversary on July 4, 2026, and continues through the 250th anniversaries of the Revolutionary War's battles and the peace that followed. Connecticut's project was one of only 33 selected from 103 applications nationwide.
Connecticut played a central role in the American Revolution, and the proof is still here — in government records, letters, court records, maps, artifacts, and founding documents spread across the state. Some of these materials are fragile. Many have never been fully organized or made available online. This project will change that.
Led by the State Library, a team of Connecticut institutions will conserve, organize, and digitize thousands of pages and objects from Connecticut’s history, then make them freely available online through the Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA) and the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Along with the State Library, the Connecticut team includes the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, the Native Northeast Research Collaborative, the University of Connecticut Tribal Education Initiative, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Library Special Collections.
“The State Library is excited to lead this exceptional team of institutions and looks forward to the opportunity to collaborate on this critical project,” said State Librarian Deborah Schander. “Connecticut has an astounding variety of original documents, artifacts, and other objects that tell the story of our state’s role in the American Revolution. This project will allow us to make these materials more readily available to the public.”
"Many of these records have survived for 250 years because generations of clerks, families, archivists, and librarians took care of them. This grant lets us carry that work forward, and share it with everyone," said State Archivist Allen Ramsey, who will serve as Project Director.
“Connecticans shaped the American Revolution and the new United States,” said UConn history professor and Connecticut State Historian Andy Horowitz, who helped conceive the project. "This grant award will show how, by enabling us to study, preserve, and share extraordinary documents held by a dream team consortium of Connecticut libraries, museums, and archives. Students, teachers, scholars, or truly anyone who cares about Connecticut and its role in our national story stands to benefit from this.”
Highlights of the project include:
- The papers of Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., Connecticut's governor throughout the Revolutionary War and a trusted advisor to George Washington. The State Library will organize about 80 boxes of Trumbull documents and research files and will digitize up to 10,000 pages.
- Connecticut's founding documents (including the Fundamental Orders of 1639, often called America's first written constitution), which will receive expert conservation care and high-quality digitization at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC).
- Records of Mohegan Indians v. Connecticut, a landmark colonial court case over tribal land rights, along with rare books and papers documenting the governance and diplomacy of Native nations in the Northeast during the 1700s.
- Artifacts from Revolutionary-era sites such as Fort Griswold Battlefield, Old New-Gate Prison, and the Nathan Hale Homestead.
- A 1790 Senate document recording the creation of the Revenue Cutter Service —the origin of today's U.S. Coast Guard.
Work begins in November 2026 and will continue through October 2029. As materials are digitized, they will be added to the CTDA, where anyone can view them free of charge.
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Preserving Connecticut's Revolutionary Archive has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this press release do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.
About the Connecticut State Library: The Connecticut State Library is an independent Executive Branch agency of the State of Connecticut. It is home to the State Archives, Office of the Public Records Administrator, Museum of Connecticut History, the Division of Library Development and the Connecticut Library for Accessible Books, and three reference departments (history and genealogy; law and legislation; and government information). Through these units, the agency provides a variety of archival, public records, museum, library, information, and administrative services to the employees and officials of all three branches of state government, libraries, students, teachers, researchers, town governments, and anyone seeking information within its collections.
About the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History: The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1825 as the state’s premier historical society and cultural institution. Located in the historic West End of Hartford, the Museum houses exhibitions, a library, a research center, and a vast collection that includes more than 4 million manuscripts, graphics, objects, and artifacts.
About the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center: Tribally owned and operated since it opened on August 11, 1998, the Museum brings to life the story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. It serves as a major source on the histories and cultures of Native Americans in the northeast and on the region’s rich natural history.
About the Native Northeast Research Collaborative: The Collaborative (formerly known as The Yale Indian Papers Project) is an inclusive digital humanities endeavor that engages tribes, scholars, educators, students, and the public in the study of the Native presence in the Atlantic Northeast.
About the University of Connecticut, Tribal Education Initiative: The Initiative Timeline is a living account of the historical and ongoing efforts by Native and Indigenous students, faculty, staff, and their critical allies to establish an institutional presence at the University of Connecticut. This work aims to hold UConn accountable to its history as an institution founded through Indigenous dispossession and to its unrealized promise and potential as a Land and Sea Grant university.
About the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Library Special Collections: The Library’s mission is to provide quality library services, resources, and facilities to the cadets, faculty, and staff of the United States Coast Guard Academy.
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Contact: Allen Ramsey
860-757-6511