Buffalo Soldiers and their Role in the National Park Service Annotate Bibliography and Historic Context Study | P19AS00358

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00358

This grant opportunity, titled "Buffalo Soldiers and their Role in the National Park Service Annotate Bibliography and Historic Context Study" (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00358), is a National Park Service (NPS) effort under the U.S. Department of the Interior to support research that strengthens how the agency documents and interprets the history of the Buffalo Soldiers. It is framed as a discretionary cooperative agreement within the Information and Statistics activity category (CFDA 15.946). The notice lists an anticipated single award with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $85,000.

The project centers on two connected deliverables: an annotated bibliography and a historic context study. The first goal is to assemble a carefully organized annotated bibliography that captures the most relevant primary and secondary sources about the Buffalo Soldiers, especially as they relate to the early stewardship of national parks. The second goal is to produce a historic context study that synthesizes those sources into a coherent narrative and analysis. Together, these products are intended to fill research and interpretation gaps so the NPS can tell a more accurate and complete story about the Buffalo Soldiers and their broader contributions to African American military service in the period following the Civil War.

A key reason for the project is the scale of places where Buffalo Soldiers served and where their story needs to be represented consistently and credibly. The notice specifies that the research will support NPS interpretation across 20 national park units and 37 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places that have connections to Buffalo Soldiers service. In practice, that means the work is not just academic background; it is meant to directly inform how parks and partner sites develop exhibits, ranger talks, educational materials, digital content, outreach programming, and resource stewardship messaging related to these soldiers and their legacy.

The objectives emphasize both collection and analysis. Researchers are expected to compile information from primary sources (such as military records, correspondence, reports, period newspapers, photographs, and other archival materials) as well as secondary sources (books, articles, theses, and prior studies). Beyond gathering citations, the project calls for written analysis that highlights the lived experiences of Buffalo Soldiers, the specific roles and duties they performed in early national parks, and the impacts and influences of their service. This includes connecting day-to-day duties and administrative responsibilities to larger themes such as conservation enforcement, infrastructure protection, visitor management in early park history, and the social realities of race, military service, and public land stewardship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Structurally, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically signals that NPS expects active involvement during the project rather than simply receiving a finished report at the end. While the notice does not detail workplans or milestones, the nature of a cooperative agreement usually involves coordination on scope, review of drafts, alignment with NPS interpretive needs, and ensuring the final products are usable across multiple park and partner contexts. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with a reference to additional clarification elsewhere in the full opportunity materials, indicating the intended recipient could include certain non-federal partners rather than only state or local governments.

Finally, this posting is explicitly labeled as a non-competitive Notice of Intent, with no applications being accepted at the time of publication. That means it functions more as a public announcement of the NPS intent to fund the project (and likely a specific partner arrangement) rather than an open call for proposals. The opportunity was created on July 9, 2019, and it anticipates one award up to $85,000 to produce research tools that the NPS can use to improve interpretation, education, outreach, and stewardship related to the Buffalo Soldiers across the many sites connected to their service.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Buffalo Soldiers and their Role in the National Park Service Annotate Bibliography and Historic Context Study" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.946.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 09, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by This is a non-competitive Notice of Intent only. No applications are being accepted at this time.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $85,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for P19AS00358

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