The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Awards 120 Cultural and Historical Support Grants

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has awarded more than $1,900,000 in grants to 120 eligible museums and official county historical societies in Pennsylvania that met the following criteria:

• Museums located in Pennsylvania with annual operating budgets exceeding $100,000 (excluding capital and in-kind services) and at least one full-time professional staff person.
• Official County Historical Societies designated as the official historical society for the county.

This is the third year that the PHMC has provided funding for museums through the grant program. 

"Preserving the history of our great commonwealth is an honor and privilege," says Gov. Tom Wolf.  "These grants will help support the mission of the many museums and historical societies in Pennsylvania to continue their great work as educational resources, as well as cultural and recreational attractions."

The goal of this program is to strengthen Pennsylvania's museum community by supporting the general operations of eligible museums and official county historical societies that are not supported by other state agency funding programs.

Award amounts are determined using an equation based on a percentage of the eligible museum's previous year's operating budget. The maximum any museum could receive is $65,000. The maximum for historical societies is $4,000.

"PHMC is pleased to award these general operating support grants to museums and historical societies," PHMC Executive Director James Vaughan said. "The need for this type of funding is something we've heard from Pennsylvania's museum community. It's great that we have a program to help meet that need."

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Visit PHMC online at www.phmc.state.pa.us.

Media Contact: Howard Pollman, 717-705-8639

Editor's Note: The following is a list of Cultural and Historical Support Grant Awards by county:

Adams
Adams County Historical Society - $4,000

Allegheny
Carnegie Institute - $65,000
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh - $65,000
Frick Art & Historical Center $ 65,000
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania - $65,000
Rivers of Steel – Steel Industry Heritage Corporation - $20,876
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Trust, Inc. - $31,090

Beaver
Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation - $4,000

Bedford
Old Bedford Village - $5,906

Berks
Foundation for the Reading Public Museum - $44,644
Historical Society of Berks County Museum and Library - $15,511

Blair
Blair County Historical Society - $4,000
Railroaders Heritage Corporation - $25,359

Bradford
Bradford County Historical Society - $4,000

Bucks
Bucks County Historical Society - $30,858
Pearl S. Buck International House and Historic Site - $17,013
Trustees of the Mercer Fonthill Museum - $5,557

Butler
Butler County Historical Society - $4,000

Cambria
Cambria County Historical Society - $4,000
Johnstown Area Heritage Association - $41,337

Cameron
Cameron County Historical Society - $4,000

Centre
Centre County Historical Society - $4,000

Chester
American Helicopter Museum and Education Center - $11,308
Chester County Historical Society - $24,935
Graystone Society - $9,888
Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. - $12,302
Historic Sugartown, Inc. - $4,636
Mill at Anselma Preservation and Education Trust - $4,400
Wharton Esherick Museum - $5,737

Clearfield
Clearfield County Historical Society - $4,000

Clinton
Clinton County Historical Society - $4,000

Columbia
Children's Museum, Inc. - $4,000

Crawford
Crawford County Historical Society - $4,000

Cumberland
Cumberland County Historical Society - $16,402

Dauphin
AACA Museum, Inc. - $33,540
Hershey Derry Township Historical Society - $4,000
Historical Society of Dauphin County - $4,000
The Hershey Story - $36,737
The National Civil War Museum - $19,384
Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts - $65,000

Delaware
Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation - $4,000
Nicholas Newlin Foundation - $10,470

Elk
Elk County Historical Society - $4,000

Erie
ExpERIEnce Children's Museum - $5,612

Franklin
Franklin County Historical Society-Kittochtinny - $4,000

Greene
Greene County Historical Society - $4,000

Huntingdon
Huntingdon County Historical Society - $4,000
Isett Acres Museum - $5,217

Indiana
Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County - $4,000

Jefferson
Jefferson County Historical Society, Inc. - $4,000
Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center - $4,000

Juniata
Juniata County Historical Society - $4,000

Lackawanna
Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science and Art - $16,021
Lackawanna Historical Society - $4,000

Lancaster
Hands-on House, Children's Museum of Lancaster - $13,057
LancasterHistory.org: LCHS and Wheatland - $33,323
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - $17,682
North Museum of National History and Science - $17,141
Rock Ford Foundation - $4,935

Lawrence
Lawrence County Historical Society - $4,000

Lebanon
Lebanon County Historical Society - $4,000

Lehigh
Da Vinci Science Center - $44,937
Lehigh County Historical Society - $10,795

Luzerne
Wyoming Historical and Geological Society d.b.a. Luzerne County Historical Society - $4,000

Lycoming
Lycoming County Historical Society - $4,000
Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum - $7,058

Mercer
Mercer County Historical Society - $4,000

Mifflin
Mifflin County Historical Society - $4,000

Monroe
Monroe County Historical Association - $4,000
Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm - $6,123

Montgomery
Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania - $7,725
Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center - $9,849

Northampton
Historic Bethlehem Partnership - $22,480
National Canal Museum - $5,784
Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society - $8,373

Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences - $65,000
American Flag House and Betsy Ross Memoriam - $8,597
American Swedish Historical Museum - $15,464
Athenaeum of Philadelphia - $23,504
Bartram's Garden - $17,649
Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia - $6,926
Christ Church Preservation Trust - $8,136
Cliveden of the National Trust - $10,378
College of Physicians of Philadelphia - $65,000
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. - $65,000
Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion - $4,000
Fireman's Hall Museum - $4,000
Fort Mifflin on the Delaware - $4,745
Franklin Institute - $65,000
Friends of the Japanese House and Garden - $5,367
Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Inc. - $9,988
Germantown Historical Society - $4,974
Girard College Founder's Hall - $13,509
Glen Foerd Conservation Corporation - $4,825
Museum of the American Philosophical Society - $13,969
National Liberty Museum - $46,102
National Museum of American Jewish History - $65,000
National Society of Colonial Dames of America/Stenton - $5,754
Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania - $50,000
Philadelphia History Museum - $26,977
Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks - $22,436
Rosenbach Museum and Library - $31,073
Wagner Free Institute of Science - $20,446
Woodlands Trust for Historic Preservation - $4,053
Wyck Association - $7,730

Pike
Pike County Historical Society - $4,000

Schuylkill
Historical Society of Schuylkill County - $4,000

Somerset
Historical and Genealogical Society of Somerset County - $4,000

Sullivan
Sullivan County Historical Society - $4,000

Susquehanna
Susquehanna County Historical Society - $4,000

Tioga
Tioga County Historical Society - $4,000

Union
Union County Historical Society - $4,000

Warren
Warren County Historical Society - $4,000

Washington
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum - $9,847
Washington County Historical Society - $4,000

Wayne
Wayne County Historical Society - $4,000

Westmoreland
Fort Ligonier Association - $15,682
Westmoreland Historical Society - $5,629

Wyoming
Wyoming County Historical Society - $4,000

York
York County Heritage Trust - $21,451

SOURCE Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission