The Wood County Historical Society has been awarded $4,010 from the Ohio History Connection to further the society’s Preservation for Generations campaign for collections storage and preservation efforts. The Ohio History Connection’s History Fund is a competitive matching grants program funded by Ohioans through the tax check-off on the Ohio state income tax return.
The award was presented by Burt Logan, executive director of the Ohio History Connection and received by Wood County Historical Museum curator Holly Hartlerode. The historical society was one of nine receiving agencies out of 46 applications.
According to Hartlerode, “the preservation of the collections is the highest priority because it ensures we are using the resources provided by the community to tell the relevant and compelling story of Wood County.”
The Preservation for Generations annual campaign kicked off in November 2017 and has raised $1,954 toward the $10,000 goal. The first phase of the collections storage initiative is to prepare 9,000 identified objects for new, conservation quality cabinets by 2020, coincidentally Wood County’s bicentennial year. The Wood County Historical Society is expected to match the 60/40 grant through dollars raised from the campaign.
The community will benefit from this project because their “legacy resides at the Wood County Historical Museum,” Hartlerode said. The Wood County Historical Society, which was formed in 1955, began collecting Wood County memorabilia in the 1970s to “help us tell the story.”
Financial contributions to the Society’s Preservation for Generations campaign can be made online at woodcountyhistory.org
Support for the History Fund can also be made through the tax check-off on the Ohio state income tax return, and is detailed at www.ohiohistory.org/ohfund
Wood County Historical Center
