Press Release
March 4, 2021
Contact: Nicole Harvey
Grants Administrator, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-5202
nharvey@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/grants
Friends of Historic Fort Supply and Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum Awarded Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grants
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society is proud to announce that the Friends of Historic Fort Supply and Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum have been awarded grants through the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.
"I am thrilled to see these two organizations receive funding," said Sen. Casey Murdock, Felt. "Both the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum and Fort Supply Historic Site are valued members of our community, and these funds will go a long way in allowing them to continue to preserve history and tell the story of northwestern Oklahoma."
The Friends of Historic Fort Supply has been awarded $3,685 that will fund a project to professionally write, produce and shoot a 10–15 minute informational video that tells the story of Fort Supply and its importance and impact on the history of western Oklahoma. This video, to be shown to visitors to the historic site during the summer open season, as well as civic and school groups throughout the year, is expected to be key in reaching out to new donors and increasing the public exposure to groups and individuals who may never have heard of Fort Supply.
"We're very grateful to the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Legislature for recognizing the importance of preserving and sharing the history of northwest Oklahoma," said Bob Rea, Friends of Historic Fort Supply board president. "This grant will go a long way in ensuring that we remain open to the public for at least another summer."
The Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum has been awarded $9,909 that will fund a project to catalog, digitize and move online a vast collection of photographic negatives, slides and prints that were donated to the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum by McDonald Studios, which operated throughout most of the 20th century in Woodward. The studio served an area that covered four counties in Oklahoma, plus southern Kansas and the Texas panhandle. When the business closed in the early 1990s, something on the order of 45,000 images were donated. Phase one of the project was aided last year through the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program, with 5,000 images cataloged, digitized and uploaded from this collection.
"This grant will allow us to continue to expand and share the digital images contained in the McDonald Collection," said Robin Hohweiler, director of social media and grants coordinator for the Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum. "This is an important piece of northwest Oklahoma's history, and we're grateful to the Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Legislature for making this possible."
A total of just over $460,000 in grant funds will be distributed, with projects ranging from collections care and exhibit development to strategic planning and educational programming. "This is only the second year for this grant program. As organizations wrap up their grant projects from last year and as we see the quality of the applications that came in for this grant cycle, it is clear that there is a strong need for this type of grant program," said Nicole Harvey, OHS grants administrator.
The Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program is a grants-in-aid program offered by the Oklahoma Historical Society with a goal of encouraging the collection, preservation and sharing of Oklahoma history at the grassroots level in all parts of the state. Open to tribal and municipal governments and not-for-profit historical organizations located in Oklahoma and registered with the Oklahoma secretary of state, this grants program offers funding ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 for projects focused on collections, exhibits and programming. Applications for this annual program open in the fall and award announcements are made in January. For more information visit www.okhistory.org/grants.
The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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