Historical Societies: News and Highlights
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Historical Societies: News and Highlights category and the Summer 1983 issue Topics in this article:PFHS Programs Evaluated
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) recently awarded the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies (PFHS) a consultantship grant to help reevaluate programs, communications, financial resources and legislative initiatives. The Federation was one of only three organizations in the nation to receive such a grant from the AASLH, and the first statewide consortium of museums and historical societies ever chosen as a recipient.
The consultation consisted of four days of intensive, on-sight visits to the Cumberland County Historical Society and the Northcentral Historical Consortium, as well as telephone interviews directed by members of the PFHS Executive Board and Alice Pearson Hemenway, the AASLH consultant. Ms. Hemenway was executive director of the Regional Conference of Historical Agencies until January 1982, and has served as a consultant to the American Association of Museums, the New York Council on the Arts and the Institute for Research in History, as well as to the AASLH.
The recently completed evaluation focused on the need and means of facilitating new regional networks and developing new financial goals. The timing of the evaluation was especially propitious with the first issue of the Federation’s newsletter already out and new attempts now being developed to improve communication among Federation members and between the Federation and other organizations.
The implementation of recommendations stemming from this grant should strengthen the Federation and improve future services to its members.
Annual Conference
The 76th annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies was held Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30 [1983], at the Penn Harris Motor Inn across the river from Harrisburg. This year. for the first time, the Saturday sessions were conducted concurrently with the spring conference of the Pennsylvania Historical Association. Although each or the two events had separate programs, registrants were able to choose between sessions.
Friday’s program opened with registration at noon, followed by a general session addressed by President Carl Burkett. After that meeting, concurrent workshops were held on the “Security of Materials, Public and Private – Theft, Accident, or Sale” and the “Responsibility for County and Municipal Records.” Friday evening’s events were highlighted by dinner and a bus tour. The tour began with a visit to historic Fort Hunter. followed by a reception at the John Harris Mansion, home of the Dauphin County Historical Society and the newly established editorial office for Tapestry, the PFHS newsletter.
Saturday morning’s first session, held jointly with the PHA, focused on a report, entitled “The State of Historical Records in Pennsylvania: An Assessment,” from Leon J. Stout, consultant to the State Historical Records Advisory Board. The Federation then presented a workshop on “Historical Consortiums in Pennsylvania” conducted by Ms. Alice Hemenway, who recently evaluated the Federation through a consultantship grant awarded to the PFHS by AASLH. The annual business meeting followed, where awards were given to outstanding societies, and the annual conference then closed after a luncheon for both Federation and PHA members.
Federation Newsletter Launched
The Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies (PFHS), in cooperation with the Dauphin County Historical Society, began publication of a quarterly newsletter, Tapestry, this past April. The newsletter contains information not only about Federation services and activities, but also highlights events of member societies and features articles which address issues of concern, such as preservation, fund raising, fund management, grant writing and community outreach programs. An activities column provides information about the historical projects and other undertakings of individual and regional societies, as well as news on state and local conferences, workshops and festivals.
The Federation newsletter was created to be a forum to open communication networks among member societies. Toward that end, the PFHS encourages members to submit relevant information about events and activities to The Editor, Tapestry, c/o PHMC, Division of History, Box 1026, Harrisburg, 17120. Those who wish to learn more about the Pennsylvania Federation of Historical Societies or to join the group and thereby receive Tapestry are also invited to send a note which includes the names and addresses of both their organization and a contact person to whom return correspondence can be sent. Annual dues for Federation membership are $25.
AASLH Offers Research Grants
With new support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Association for State and Local History will make available research grants for individuals and organizations working in state and local history. The AASLH will administer a competitive program of small grants-in-aid for research focusing on or making use of materials about a locality, community, state or region.
Fifty grants of up to $3,000 each will be available in 1983, and again in 1984. The first application deadline is July 15, 1983, and winners will be announced following the AASLH annual meeting in October.
For information about the research grant program or guidelines concerning the criteria to be used in the selection process, write to James B. Gardner. Staff Historian, AASLH, 708 Berry Rd., Nashville, TN 37204.
Society Notes
The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced a number of changes in the guidelines for fiscal year 1983 humanities projects in museums and historical organizations. Among the policy changes is a decision to allow grantees to charge reasonable admissions fees to help defray the costs of special temporary exhibits. The endowment will continue to place emphasis on traveling exhibits, interpretation of permanent collections and collections sharing, but will also now emphasize those projects that strengthen interpretive skills and focus on relationships among disciplines of the humanities. For complete information, write to The National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506.
Almost unheralded, the 125th anniversary of the founding of one of Pennsylvania’s earliest historical societies, the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society in Wilkes-Barre, arrived and passed on February 11 [1983]. The society was founded on that date in 1858 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first successful burning of anthracite coal in the fireplace of the Old Fell House Tavern. The society is to be commended for its work throughout the years, most recently for covering all debts incurred following the devastating floods associated with tropical storm Agnes in 1972.
