Press Release
March 28, 2023
Contact: Nicole Harvey
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-5202
nicole.harvey@history.ok.gov
www.okhistory.org/grants
Freedom Center of Oklahoma City Awarded Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is proud to announce that the Freedom Center of Oklahoma City has been awarded a grant through the Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program.
“This is what community is all about, opportunities to celebrate the richness and talent within our communities,” said Sen. George Young, Oklahoma City. “I am so pleased that the Oklahoma Historical Society has the foresight to administer grants that encourage upward mobility and recognition within Senate District 48. The Freedom Center of Oklahoma City is a source of history that we need to preserve, and I am proud of their work and grateful for the opportunity they have been given.”
Freedom Center of Oklahoma City received $20,000 for a project titled “Freedom Center Community Archive, Year 2,” which will build upon the work completed from the previous grant cycle and ensure that the Community Archive materials are described to a deeper degree to support future digitization efforts. Additionally, this will be supplemented by capturing and preserving essential oral histories with board members, community members and original sit-inners.
“We are so excited to welcome Autumn Brown, Ph.D., as our new project manager for the Freedom Center Community Archive,” said Christina Beatty, project director of the Freedom Center of Oklahoma City. “Dr. Brown is a research professional with OSU’s oral history program who has worked with the Eddie Faye Gates Collection for the University of Tulsa and happens to be the daughter of one of Clara Luper’s former students. Her scholarly and personal connections are an ideal fit for this project.”
The OHS will distribute over $575,000 in grant funds, with projects ranging from collections care and strategic planning to exhibit development and educational programming.
“These grant funds continue to empower local communities to collect, preserve and share their history for future generations of Oklahomans with over 150 projects funded to date,” said Nicole Harvey, director of strategic initiatives and grants administrator for the OHS.
The Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program is a grants-in-aid program offered by the Oklahoma Historical Society to encourage 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 okhistory.org.
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