NEHA awards one grant and three prizes annually.

Beginning in 2024, NEHA awards one Research Grant up to $1250 to an active NEHA member (of at least 4 years). The grant may be used for any research-related expenses, including travel, lodging, archive/library use fees, and reproductions. Recipients should present findings from their funded research at a NEHA conference within two years of receiving the grant.

The NEHA Student Paper Awards are presented for the best papers presented by a graduate student and an undergraduate student during the previous year’s two conferences. Awarded at the April meeting.

The James P. Hanlan Book Award is given annually to a New England author of a nonfiction book on any historical topic. Publishers are invited nationally to submit one book for the competition which is judged by a committee of NEHA members. Books are accepted for nomination that were published in the previous calendar year (deadline June 1 each year). Awarded at the October meeting.

The annual book award is named for one of NEHA’s founders and its longtime Executive Secretary, James P. Hanlan, historian of American urban and labor history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is the author of The Working Population of Manchester, New Hampshire, 1840-1886 (UMI Research Press, 1981) and co-author of the Encyclopedia of American Labor History, with Robert Weir (Greenwood, 2003), in addition to numerous articles and reference works. He is an alumnus of Holy Cross and holds Masters and PhD degrees from Clark University. In addition to his exemplary dedication as NEHA Executive Secretary from 1995 to 2015, and tireless advocacy for historical collegiality and professionalism, he also serves on the board of the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association and the Friends of the Goddard Library at Clark University.