Early Funding of Humanities Computing: A Personal History

From the 1970s to the 1990s, a time when funding opportunities for work in digital humanities were limited, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supported computer-based projects in several disciplines of the humanities. In this talk I review the agency’s initial interest in the use of computer technology for research in the humanities. Through the lens of my experience as program officer for many of the early projects that employed computer methods, I discuss the transition from funding projects that used a computer as a tool to produce print publications, such as reference resources and scholarly editions, to supporting digital projects that
published solely in electronic formats.
As digital projects became the norm in the humanities,
the NEH extended its programs to support projects that
address the needs of digital humanists, including development of digital standards, tools, and infrastructure. Besides
describing these programs, I highlight NEH’s collaboration with other funding organizations to facilitate work
at the intersection of the humanities and the sciences. I
conclude with some observations on the transformations
that digital technology has brought to the conduct of collaborative research projects in the humanities and to the
agency’s evaluation process. (My presentation relates to
my personal experience and does not represent the views
of the NEH.)