A historical society is non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of a particular place, group of people, or topic. They play a crucial role in promoting historical awareness and understanding by providing a platform for research, education, and public engagement. [1]
Historical societies vary in specialization, with focuses ranging from specific geographical areas such as countries, states/provinces or cities/towns, ethnographic such as ethnic and genealogical, and topical such as transportation, event based, or military history.
Historical societies acquire and maintain historical materials like documents, photographs, artifacts, and audio recordings. These collections serve as a vital resource for researchers, genealogists, and the general public. [2] [3]
Many historical societies have staff historians who conduct research on their collections and broader historical topics. They publish books, articles, and educational materials to share their findings with the public. [2]
Historical societies organize lectures, workshops, tours, and exhibitions to engage the community and educate them about history. These programs can range from introductory talks for general audiences to specialized conferences for academic researchers. [2] [4] [5]
Historical societies often collaborate with local schools, libraries, and community centers to offer educational programs and promote historical literacy. [6]
The concept of a historical society itself has evolved over time. Early institutions have concentrated on material culture (like the Academy) while later ones embraced broader historical research methods.
The inception of historical societies can be traced back to Western Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries, where they were often founded by enthusiasts of antiquity. These societies experienced a significant surge in growth in the first half of the 19th century, coinciding with a renewed interest in history alongside the rise of bourgeois-nationalistic ideals, the strengthening of national identities, and advancements in scientific historical research methods. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, historical societies have played a pivotal role on a large scale, disseminating a wealth of historical source materials, producing their own publications, and organizing congresses. [7]
The title of the first formally established historical society in the United States goes to the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), founded in 1791. While there were earlier informal groups with similar aims, the MHS stands out for its official structure and dedication to preserving American history. [8]
The MHS owes its creation to Reverend Jeremy Belknap, a passionate antiquarian and minister. Concerned about the loss of historical materials, Belknap gathered a group of like-minded Bostonians, including scholars, politicians, and civic leaders. Together, they envisioned an organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and studying the history of Massachusetts and, by extension, the broader American story. [8]
Historical societies evolved in the 19th century with more inclusive membership policies, transitioning in the Progressive Era to serve the public. Interest in local history surged in the 20th century, especially in preserving changing cities. The founding of the American Association for State and Local History in 1940 further emphasized this shift. Over time, historical societies diversified their focus to include marginalized groups, reflecting changes in the discipline of history and societal developments towards greater inclusivity. [9]
External support and contributions have long been integral to the sustainability of historical societies. Donations, memberships, annual funds, corporate sponsorships, internships, volunteering, and utilizing historic spaces all play vital roles in the ongoing growth and preservation of these nonprofit organizations. [10]
Historical societies in the United States diversity in their governance structures. This reflects their varied missions, sizes, and funding sources.
This is the most prevalent structure. A volunteer board of directors, composed of community leaders, history enthusiasts, and sometimes professional expertise, oversees the society's operations. The board sets strategic direction, hires an executive director, and approves budgets.
The benefits of this model provides diverse perspectives, fosters community engagement, and leverages volunteer expertise. Its challenges are that board members might require training on non-profit governance and historical best practices. Ensuring continuity of vision with board member turnover can be difficult. [11] [2]
State Historical Societies: Some states have government-established historical societies that receive partial funding from the state legislature. These societies often have a board with a mix of appointed and elected members, balancing public accountability with expert guidance.
Municipal or County Historical Societies: These societies might receive funding from local governments while maintaining a degree of autonomy. Their boards might include a mix of appointed officials and community representatives. The benefits of this model are access to government funding can support larger projects and professional staffing but require a balancing of public policy that mandates with the society's mission creating a potential for political influence on historical interpretation. [11]
Collaboration with Universities: Some historical societies engage in partnerships with universities, tapping into academic knowledge and potentially utilizing shared resources or personnel. Governance arrangements may include a combined board or advisory committees. Benefits from of a hybrid model can leverage the strengths of different institutions and fosters collaboration across cultural sectors but navigating the complexities of inter-institutional decision make for potential conflicts of interest. [11]
Factors Affecting Governance are the size and budget of an organization can impact the structure of its board, with larger societies with paid staff often requiring a more formalized approach compared to smaller volunteer-run groups. The sources of funding play a crucial role in shaping the composition and responsibilities of the governing body, especially for organizations reliant on government support. The mission and focus of a society also influence its governance, with boards of societies dedicated to specific historical themes often benefitting from members with relevant expertise in the field. [11] [2]
New York takes a unique approach to cultural agencies, viewing them not as nonprofit businesses but as educational organizations. These cultural agencies play a vital role in the educational system, operating under Education Law instead of Corporation Law and falling under the jurisdiction of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. [12]
American historical societies emphasize local and state history, often decentralized with strong volunteer bases. They hold extensive collections of documents and artifacts, focusing on oral histories to capture diverse community experiences. Despite funding and staffing challenges, their grassroots initiatives prioritize underrepresented stories. [2]
European historical societies, rooted in royal patronage, often feature centralized structures with a focus on academic research, public engagement, and significant collections spanning archaeology, classical studies, and colonial-era documents. Despite grappling with their colonial past, these societies benefit from established infrastructure and funding for extensive research and global collaborations. [13] [14]
Asian historical societies in countries like China, Japan, and India have diverse focuses, from specific dynasties to cultural traditions. With vast collections of ancient texts and artifacts, these societies bridge traditional knowledge systems with Western research methods, promoting cultural exchange and a deeper global understanding of Asia's rich history. [15]
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying and/or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers and specialists. Museums host a much wider range of objects than a library, and usually focus on a specific theme, such as the arts, science, natural history or local history. Public museums that host exhibitions and interactive demonstrations are often tourist attractions, and many attract large numbers of visitors from outside their host country, with the most visited museums in the world attracting millions of visitors annually.
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, or simply a nonprofit, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, as opposed to an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a profit for its owners. A nonprofit organization is subject to the non-distribution constraint: any revenues that exceed expenses must be committed to the organization's purpose, not taken by private parties. Depending on the local laws, charities are regularly organized as non-profits. A host of organizations may be nonprofit, including some political organizations, schools, hospitals, business associations, churches, foundations, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives. Nonprofit entities may seek approval from governments to be tax-exempt, and some may also qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, but an entity may incorporate as a nonprofit entity without having tax-exempt status.
In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States.
KDHX is an independent, non-commercial, listener-supported community radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States offering a full spectrum of music along with cultural and public affairs programming since 1987. KDHX broadcasts 24 hours a day online and with 42 kW of effective radiated power in stereo with RBDS data.
A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, fraternal benefit order, friendly society, or mutual aid organization is a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with charters and established customs or may arise ad hoc to meet the unique needs of a particular time and place.
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota Constitution. It is headquartered in the Minnesota History Center in downtown Saint Paul.
The Arizona Historical Society (AHS) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect people through the power of Arizona's history. It does this through four regional divisions. Each division has a representative museum. The statewide divisions are as follows: Southern Arizona Division in Tucson, the Central Arizona Division in Tempe, and the Northern Arizona Division in Flagstaff. It was founded in 1884.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is a nonprofit scientific public charitable organization. The organization's mission is to promote the use of science to inform decision-making and advance biology for the benefit of science and society.
Public participation, also known as citizen participation or patient and public involvement, is the inclusion of the public in the activities of any organization or project. Public participation is similar to but more inclusive than stakeholder engagement.
Doris M. Johnson High School was a public high school located in the northeast area known as Clifton Park of Baltimore, Maryland.
The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is a statewide historical society in Georgia, United States. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, GHS is one of the oldest historical organizations in the United States. Since 1839, the society has collected, examined, and taught Georgia history through a variety of educational outreach programs, publications, and research services.
Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context, often concentrating on a relatively small local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history. Local history is not merely national history writ small but a study of past events in a given geographical area which is based on a wide variety of documentary evidence and placed in a comparative context that is both regional and national. Historic plaques are one form of documentation of significant occurrences in the past and oral histories are another.
The Amelia Island Museum of History is located at 233 South Third Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. It houses exhibits focusing on the history of Nassau County, Florida and is situated inside the old Nassau county jail. The idea of the museum was first put forward in 1975 by the Duncan Lamont Clinch (DLC) Historical Society. This group formed a committee in hopes of creating a museum that would display items and artifacts related to the history of Amelia Island. During this time period resident William Decker, was collecting thousands of documents and artifacts related to the local history. When he passed this collection was then left to his son Doug, who wanted to be able to share his father’s work with the community. In 1977 a board of trustees was created from the original DLC committee that then formed the non-profit cultural institution called the “Fernandina Historical Museum. Through various fundraising activities the group lobbied the City of Fernandina Beach to purchase a portion of materials from the Decker collection. These materials were then donated to the museum group and housed in their first location, an old schoolhouse on Atlantic Avenue.
The Florida Historical Society is an independent, member-supported, 501c(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1856 that publishes the journal Florida Historical Quarterly, originally the Florida Historical Society Quarterly, an academic journal which releases new volumes four times a year, and manages the Library of Florida History. FHS has been publishing the Florida Historical Quarterly since 1908 and books since 1925.
The New York State Archives is a unit of the Office of Cultural Education within the New York State Education Department, with its main facility located in the Cultural Education Center on Madison Avenue in Albany, New York, United States. The New York State Library and the New York State Museum are also located in the Cultural Education Center.
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a non-profit association for state and local history, with a primary focus on history professionals, history volunteers, museums, historical societies, and other history-related organizations and public history professionals. Since 1964, it is headquartered in Nashville, TN, and currently has about 3,200 institutional members, 1,300 individual members, and 34 academic program members. The organization has 11 full-time staff members.
Community archives are archives created or accumulated, described, and/or preserved by individuals and community groups who desire to document their cultural heritage based on shared experiences, interests, and/or identities, sometimes without the traditional intervention of formally trained archivists, historians, and librarians. Instead, the engaged community members determine the scope and contents of the community archive, often with a focus on a significant shared event, such as the Ferguson unrest (2014). Community archives are created in response to needs defined by the members of a community, who may also exert control over how materials are used.
Founded in 1916, the Columbia County Historical Society and CCHS Museum & Library collects, preserves, interprets, and presents the history, heritage, and culture of Columbia County, New York, and serves residents of all eighteen Columbia County towns and the city of Hudson.
The Women’s Project of New Jersey was initiated in October 1984 to publish the first comprehensive reference volume on women who were both representative and notable in New Jersey’s history. Its mission expanded to promote the understanding of “the role of women in the history and culture of our state." The original goal was achieved in April 1990 with the publication of the award-winning volume Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women. The organization’s broader goal was and continues to be achieved by the creation of a traveling photographic exhibit, a speakers’ panel and lecture series, two school workbooks and K-12 curricula found on the NJ women’s history website, a speakers’ bureau, a poster series, a paperback revised and updated edition of Past and Promise, and the development of the nation’s first state-based women’s history website.
The Nobles County Heritage Center, located in Worthington, Minnesota, is a cultural institution owned and operated by the Nobles County Historical Society, dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of Nobles County. Housed within the historic Worthington Armory, the Center serves as a repository for historical artifacts, documents, and archives.
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