CLIR Announces Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices Awards
$4 Million Awarded to 18 Projects in the US and Canada
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) proudly announces the award of $3.97 million to fund 18 transformative digitization projects through the Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices program. These initiatives, involving 28 organizations across 11 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces, will illuminate the stories and contributions of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, Disabled communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and immigrant groups.
Many projects explore intersections across these identities, contributing to fields such as art, public media, oral histories, and education. By digitizing these materials, the program ensures that new generations can engage with and learn from the stories, contributions, and cultural heritage of underrepresented groups.
Selected by an independent review panel, the awarded projects aim to amplify historically overlooked voices, providing opportunities for public engagement and understanding. A complete list of projects and summaries is available at https://www.clir.org/
This work is central to CLIR’s mission of fostering access to knowledge and promoting equitable access to cultural heritage. This marks the second round of funding under the newly reimagined Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives program, generously funded by the Mellon Foundation. The program focuses on thematic digitization efforts, prioritizing materials that deepen public understanding of historically marginalized communities and unrecognized perspectives.
“Public discourse requires an honest and rigorous understanding of our past; it is imperative that we expand access to these vital materials to foster scholarship and enrich our collective knowledge,” said CLIR president Charles Henry. “The Mellon Foundation’s support allows us to amplify these unheard voices, ensuring that they inform a more equitable and inclusive historical narrative in service to the public good.”
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About CLIR
The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent, nonprofit organization that collaborates with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning to develop strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org
