Press Release
March 22, 2021
Contact: Nicole Harvey
Grants Administrator, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-5202
nharvey@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/grants
Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc. Awarded Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society is proud to announce that the Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc. has been awarded a grant through the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.
"I am thrilled that the Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc. will be receiving funding through the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program," said Sen. Roger Thompson, Okemah. "With this grant, they will be able to move forward in preserving the rich history of Oklahoma."
The Friends of Rentiesville Blues Inc. has been awarded $7,500 that will be used to identify, copyright, digitize, create lyric and chord sheets, and make publicly accessible the music archive of Oklahoma Blues legend D. C. Minner. The organization, which hosts both the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame and the annual Rentiesville Dusk ’Til Dawn Blues Festival, hopes to educate current and future generations about the history of blues music.
"The D. C. Minner Rentiesville Museum/Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame are thrilled to be recipients of an Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant," said Selby Miner, head of staff. "Thank you to the Oklahoma Historical Society and the legislature. As a museum and hall of fame, and having presented 30 years of festivals in the historic Black township of Rentiesville, we have an extensive music and photo archive. Accessibility to people in these difficult times with the isolation of COVID-19 makes digitizing very important."
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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