At Statehood Day held on February 28 at the Ohio Statehouse, the Ohio History Connection announced that it has awarded nine local history organizations Ohio History Fund grants. Now in its sixth year, the Ohio History Fund is a competitive matching grants program that is one of six “tax check-off” funds found on Ohio’s income tax forms. It’s funded entirely through Ohio taxpayers’ voluntary contributions.
“The Ohio History Fund allows us to preserve and share Ohio stories by supporting local projects in communities all over the state,” said Burt Logan, executive director & CEO of the Ohio History Connection. “When we preserve this history we gain an understanding of our past, which provides valuable insight into our world today.”
The Ohio History Connection awarded $76,000 in grants this year at its annual Statehood Day eventon Feb. 28 at the Ohio Statehouse. Since 2013, the Ohio History Fund has made 63 grants to history organizations all across the state, totaling over half a million dollars.
The Alliance Historical Society received $13,240 to repair the Mabel Hartzell Historical Home roof. The new roof will protect the structure and the history organization’s collections. Born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1875, Mabel Hartzell moved to Alliance in 1883. She lived in this historic 1867-era home until her death in 1954. A lifelong educator, she taught in the Alliance schools and helped found the Alliance Historical Society, the Woman’s Club, Alliance Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Alliance Area Retired Teachers Association. She donated the house to the Alliance Historical Society, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University received $6,700 to digitize, preserve and share a collection of nearly 100 oral histories of Ohioans’ experiences of World War II. The project will transfer recordings to preservation-quality digital files, making it easier to access and share the important firsthand accounts of Ohio’s WWII veterans.
Cleveland Museum of Natural History received $10,000 to learn more about Ice Age mastodon hunters in Ohio. Collections recently found in a farm field in Columbiana County produced 13,000-year-old artifacts, including a fluted projectile point, near the remains of a mastodon. Through an archaeological excavation, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Kent State University will determine if these two finds are linked, and through their work will learn more about this era in Ohio’s early history. Findings will be shared with the public and archaeological community.
The Historical Society of Mount Pleasant Ohio received $6,000 to install an HVAC system and restore windows in Mount Pleasant’s Historical Center. The project will allow the organization to provide climate-controlled storage conditions for its collections, ensuring the long-term preservation of the important stories of this community. The Historical Center is part of a National Register-listed historic district for its early role in the antislavery movement and the Underground Railroad.
Museum of Ceramics Foundation (East Liverpool) received $14,950 to microfilm 65 volumes of East Liverpool newspapers. These newspapers tell the story of this community, which was a nationally-recognized ceramics manufacturing center. Thousands of pages of local, historic newspapers will now be accessible to researchers and will add to the body of knowledge about East Liverpool and the community known as the “Pottery Capital of the World.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (Cleveland) received $9,100 to preserve and make accessible one-of-a-kind amateur film and video recordings that document Northeast Ohio’s musical heritage. The Rock Hall’s library and archives will host a “Film Preservation Day” to collect donations from community members, digitize and archive recordings, and create a compilation video to be shown at a special “Home Movie Day.” The project will strengthen the Northeast Ohio (NEO) Sound collection and increase awareness of the library and archives’ role in preserving local rock and roll history. Community members will learn about home movie and sound preservation and receive digital copies of their analog media, as well as gain understanding of Ohio’s musical history and maybe even see their footage in future exhibits and programs.
Southeast Ohio History Center (Athens) received $7,000 to preserve images taken by Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Jon Webb. More than 40,000 negatives that showcase the beauty of Southeast Ohio will be preserved in quality archival conditions and made accessible to the public. A portion of the collection will also be available on Ohio Memory, the online digital photo collection maintained in partnership between the Ohio History Connection and State Library of Ohio.
Trumbull County Historical Society (Warren) received $5,000 to inventory and re-house more than 580 textile and accessory items in its collection including:
- A circa 1880 apron from Carrie Green Mountain, the first African American woman to own a home in Warren
- A flag from 1863 made by the Trumbull County Ladies Association
- The outfit worn by a 13 year-old boy who emigrated from Greece to Warren in 1911
The grant will enable the society hire a project manager to help care for the collection and to acquire collections storage materials.
Wood County Historical Society (Bowling Green) received $4,010 to provide quality storage for the artifacts in its collection. This grant will increase the organization’s capacity to care for the important stories of this community and will serve as model for other organizations to ensure good stewardship of the county’s history.
About the Ohio History Fund
The Ohio History Fund creates grants to help support local history and preservation-related projects in communities throughout Ohio. It’s funded by Ohio taxpayers that select “Ohio History Fund” as a donation fund on their state tax returns. For just a $9 donation, you can help repair a roof on a historic home, expand popular history at a local museum, preserve the stories of Ohio veterans and provide public access to rare museum collections. For more information about the History Fund grant program, visit ohiohistory.org/historyfund or contact our Local History office at localhistory@ohiohistory.org.
Source: Ohio History Connection; Photo: Union Street in Mount Pleasant – Creative Commons License
