Indiana Historical Society Provides More Than $50,000 to Local Historical Organizations through Latest Heritage Support Grants

Through its Heritage Support Grants program, the Indiana Historical Society (IHS) awarded more than $50,000 in the second half of 2022 to 12 local historical societies and organizations representing 11 Indiana counties.

The IHS’s Heritage Support Grants program supports local, county and regional historical societies, museums and sites. The grants fund projects that meet high-priority needs in the areas of Collections Stewardship, DEAI (Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion), Sustainability and Planning.

Heritage Support Grants are provided by the Indiana Historical Society and made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The current iteration of the program will award $2.5 million to local historical organizations until 2024. Learn more at www.indianahistory.org/grants.

The most recent recipients include:

Heritage Support Grants 2.0 – Project Grant, Mini Cycle E Award Summaries

Carmel-Clay Historical Society, Hamilton County

The Carmel-Clay Historical Society received $4,999 to provide proper storage of the City of Carmel archival collection. The project focuses on rehousing approximately 4,000 photographs and negatives donated to the historical society from the City of Carmel. Rehousing the collection will preserve the images for future generations and make them more accessible to researchers and others.

Cass County Historical Society, Cass County

The Cass County Historical Society received $4,169 to make equipment upgrades allowing staff and volunteers to respond more effectively to queries from patrons, improve program accessibility and enhance website content.

Daviess County Historical Society, Daviess County

The Daviess County Historical Society received $3,420 to purchase storage boxes, preservation materials and a worktable, improving collections stewardship by allowing the organization to efficiently process and properly house collections objects.

Friends of the National New York Central Railroad Museum, Elkhart County

The Friends of the National New York Central Railroad Museum received $4,322 to install a new roof for the New York Central 1905 Caboose #19211, helping to prevent deterioration of the inside of the caboose and allowing the organization to better interpret the railroad car’s importance.

Henry County Historical Society, Henry County

The Henry County Historical Society received $4,999 to restore windows in their historic house, improving security for collections storage and providing a more stable environment for collections objects.

iibada Dance Company, Marion County

The iibada Dance Company received $4,474 to help fund the research and implementation of a pop-up museum that tells the story of the African American church in Indianapolis, engaging not only historians and visitors but the larger community by including QR codes to access the research and interviews used to develop the exhibit.

The Circus Hall of Fame, Miami County

The Circus Hall of Fame received $4,946 to purchase archival supplies to house a large collection of research materials related to circus history. Properly storing the materials will preserve the important collection so the information can be accessed by future researchers.

Jackson County History Center, Jackson County

The Jackson County History Center received $4,680 to replace two single doors with a double door at the entrance to the Heller Museum. New doors will allow for better museum access as well as improve the ability of the organization to safely move larger objects into and out of the building.

Lake County Historical Society, Lake County

The Lake County Historical Society received $4,999 to fund an assessment of the organizational mission and story to better fit the needs and interests of the community. The assessment will aid in developing a framework for collections evaluation and decision-making processes.

Howard County Historical Society, Howard County

The Howard County Historical Society received $3,820 to fund a board retreat and board development workshop. The retreat will provide foundational board training and team building to strengthen the board and increase institutional sustainability.

Perry County Museum, Perry County

The Perry County Museum received $3,778 to fund a historic audio and visual preservation project. Funding will be used to replace outdated equipment to allow information to be migrated to newer formats and to purchase archival supplies to properly house the current collection.

Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society, Lake County

The Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society received $4,999 to fund an assessment of proposed collections storage spaces. The assessment will provide the organization with the necessary information to move forward with planning for renovations and fundraising to create safe and secure collections storage.

Guidelines and applications are available on the IHS website at www.indianahistory.org/grants or by calling the IHS at (317) 232-1882.

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