New York State Archives Accepting Submissions for 34th Annual Student Research Awards Statewide Competition

The New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust are now accepting entries for the 2024 New York State Student Research Awards Statewide Competition, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. The annual competition, in its 34th year, is open to all students in grades four to twelve and serves to increase coordination between schools and organizations that administer historical records beneficial for education. The program offers a platform for young people to learn about New York’s history by exploring the state’s historical records repositories to create research projects for award consideration. Winners will be selected from entries in the following divisions: elementary (grades 4-5), middle (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12).

To be eligible for the awards, students must undertake original historical research using historical records, submit an annotated bibliography, and be nominated by a mentor. Projects may be submitted in any format, including video, research paper, or exhibits, and must be submitted by July 1, 2024. Winners will be notified by mid-September and formally announced in October 2024.

Each award consists of a framed certificate and a cash prize. To qualify for an award, all entries must show a heavy reliance on information from historical records, provide an annotated bibliography, a URL in the annotated bibliography for each online historical record found on the Internet, in addition to a signed entry form with evidence of the use of historical records, including an annotated bibliography. Teachers, archivists, and historians will participate in panel discussions to determine the award winners and certificate of merit recipients.

These awards are funded by generous contributions from the Chodos Family Fund and other donors to the Archives Partnership Trust, a 501(c)3 organization. The Trust builds education, preservation, and outreach programs not funded by the state, making accessible over 350 years of New York’s colonial and state government records housed in the State Archives. The State Archives is a program of the New York State Education Department.

Please visit the State Archives’ ConsidertheSourceNY.org for detailed guidelines, the Student Research Awards application materials, and information about the 2023 winners and their projects.

The New York State Archives holds many of the oldest and most critical archival treasures in the nation. The Archives preserves and makes accessible over 250 million records of New York’s State and colonial governments dating from 1630 to the present. The State Archives provides free access to photographs, artifacts, documents, manuscripts, and other materials that tell the story of New York’s history via its Digital Collections on the Archives website. 

The Archives Partnership Trust was founded in 1992 to build an endowment and provide project support to enhance humanities programs, increase access to these outstanding treasures, and continue the preservation of New York's historical records. Since its founding, the Partnership Trust, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has supported exceptional projects and programs. These include the Research Residency Program, the Student Research Awards Program, history conferences, special exhibitions, public education programs, book signings and lectures, publications, teacher training institutes, preservation projects, and more. 

The State Museum, State Library, and State Archives are programs of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Office of Cultural Education website.