The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Awards 137 Cultural and Historical Support Grants

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 9, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has awarded almost $2 million in grants to 137 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 fourth year that the PHMC has provided funding for museums through the grant program.

"It is vital that we work to preserve and celebrate Pennsylvania's rich history," said Governor Tom Wolf. "These grants are an exciting opportunity to continue the great work of historians and curators statewide, so that everyone – Pennsylvanians and out-of-state visitors alike – may enjoy the great exhibits that our commonwealth has to offer."

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.

"Our Commonwealth is fortunate to have outstanding museums and historical societies across Pennsylvania," Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said. "For the past several years the legislature has made this program and investment across our state a priority.  I'm very pleased that once again this year, these grants will help offer assistance to historical sites so that they can continue to provide excellent educational opportunities within our communities."

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 $50,000. All official county historical societies receive a $4,000 minimum grant.

"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.pa.gov

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 - $50,000
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh - $50,000
Frick Art & Historical Center - $50,000
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania - $50,000
Rivers of Steel – Steel Industry Heritage Corporation - $30,549
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Trust, Inc. - $29,910

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

Bedford
Old Bedford Village - $5,172

Berks
Foundation for the Reading Public Museum - $42,247
Historical Society of Berks County Museum and Library - $12,636

Blair
Blair County Historical Society - $4,000
Railroaders Heritage Corporation - $16,539

Bradford
Bradford County Historical Society - $4,000

Bucks
Bucks County Historical Society - $28,152
Pearl S. Buck International House and Historic Site - $19,260
Trustees of the Mercer Fonthill Museum - $5,548

Butler
Butler County Historical Society - $4,000

Cambria
Cambria County Historical Society - $4,000
Johnstown Area Heritage Association - $34,426

Cameron
Cameron County Historical Society - $4,000

Centre
Centre County Historical Society - $4,000

Chester
American Helicopter Museum and Education Center - $8,699
Chester County Historical Society - $17,711
Graystone Society - $8,461
Historic Sugartown, Inc. - $4,310
Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. - $10,349
Mill at Anselma Preservation and Education Trust - $4,000
Wharton Esherick Museum - $6,602

Clearfield
Clearfield County Historical Society - $4,000
East Broad Top Railroad Preservation - $9,701

Clinton
Clinton County Historical Society - $4,000
Piper Aviation Museum Association - $4,000

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

Crawford
Crawford County Historical Society - $4,000

Cumberland
Cumberland County Historical Society - $14,058

Dauphin
AACA Museum, Inc. - $30,002
Hershey Derry Township Historical Society - $4,000
Historical Society of Dauphin County - $4,000
The Hershey Story - $32,239
The National Civil War Museum - $16,605
Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts - $50,000

Delaware
Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation - $4,000
Delaware County Historical Society - $4,000
Nicholas Newlin Foundation - $10,422

Elk
Elk County Historical Society - $4,000

Erie
Erie County Historical Society - $7,157
ExpERIEnce Children's Museum - $7,691

Fayette
Fallingwater - $50,000

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

Huntingdon
Huntingdon County Historical Society - $4,000
Isett Acres Museum - $4,957

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 - $12,662
Lackawanna Historical Society - $4,000

Lancaster
Hands-on House, Children's Museum of Lancaster - $10,958
LancasterHistory.org: LCHS and Wheatland - $31,167
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - $14,415
North Museum of National History and Science - $17,820
Rock Ford Foundation - $4,147

Lawrence
Lawrence County Historical Society - $4,000

Lebanon
Historic Schaefferstown, Inc. - $4,000
Lebanon County Historical Society - $4,000

Lehigh
Da Vinci Science Center - $42,542
Lehigh County Historical Society - $10,376

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

Lycoming
Lycoming County Historical Society - $4,827
World of Little League Museum - $6,448

McKean
McKean County Historical Society - $4,000

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 - $5,690

Montgomery
Historical Society of Montgomery County - $4,000
Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania - $6,747
National Audubon Society, Inc. - $9,378
Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center - $8,463

Northampton
Historic Bethlehem Partnership - $23,027
Moravian Historical Society - $4,000
National Canal Museum - $4,000
Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society - $8,238

Northumberland
Northumberland Historical Society - $4,000

Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences - $50,000
African American Museum of Philadelphia - $30,559
American Flag House and Betsy Ross Memoriam - $5,191
American Swedish Historical Museum - $11,100
Athenaeum of Philadelphia - $16,187 
Bartram's Garden - $21,628
Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia - $5,085
Christ Church Preservation Trust - $6,280
Cliveden of the National Trust - $7,405
College of Physicians of Philadelphia - $50,000
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. - $50,000
Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion - $4,000
Fireman's Hall Museum - $4,000
Fort Mifflin on the Delaware - $4,745
Franklin Institute - $50,000
Friends of the Japanese House and Garden - $7,458
Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Inc. - $8,826
Germantown Historical Society - $4,584
Girard College Founder's Hall - $9,756
Glen Foerd Conservation Corporation - $4,427
Historical Society of Pennsylvania - $50,000
Independence Seaport Museum - $50,000
Museum of the American Philosophical Society - $9,598
National Constitution Center - $50,000
National Liberty Museum - $28,535
National Museum of American Jewish History - $50,000
National Society of Colonial Dames of America/Stenton - $4,466
Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania - $50,000
Philadelphia History Museum - $19,249
Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks - $18,798
Please Touch Museum - $50,000
Rosenbach Museum and Library - $18,317
The Museum at the Chemical Heritage Foundation - $10,755
Wagner Free Institute of Science - $15,534
Woodlands Trust for Historic Preservation - $22,718
Wyck Association - $4,165

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 - $8,623

Wayne
Wayne County Historical Society - $4,000

Westmoreland
Fort Ligonier Association - $14,975
Ligonier Valley Historical Society - $4,000
Westmoreland Historical Society - $5,054

Wyoming
Wyoming County Historical Society - $4,000

York
Steam into History, Inc. - $18,544
York County Heritage Trust - $21,482

SOURCE Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission