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The Ohio Historical Society supports public policy and legislative initiatives that promote history and Ohio’s place in American history. The Ohio Historical Society does this, in part, through a unique private-public partnership with the State of Ohio. The Ohio Historical Society is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that carries out 22 state-mandated functions in exchange for state funding.
The Ohio Historical Society is a full-service statewide historical organization with programs that affect every community in Ohio and touch the lives of millions. We are a primary resource for local history organizations in throughout the state. We manage 59 historical sites (Ohio’s state memorial system) in every region of Ohio. We are the state archives. We operate the state museum. We preserve and store more than three million documents and artifacts that tell the story of Ohio’s history. Probably most important, we help educate children and adults about their past and where they come from.
The Ohio Historical Society is working to connect almost everything we do with the state’s twin objectives of education and economic development. We focus on these objectives because they are meaningful to people, their families and their quality of life – today and in the future.
- Operating a system of state memorials (59 total in every region of Ohio)
- Serving as the state archives (public records dating back to before Ohio’s statehood)
- Operating the state historical museum (more than 3 million items in our collections)
- Operating the Ohio Historic Preservation Office
- Facilitating federal historic tax credits
- Identifying historic and archaeological sites
- Providing historical information and research facilities to the public
- Promoting and assisting local historical societies
- Working with Ohio schools to help facilitate the instruction of Ohio history
This represents a summarized listing of some of the most important public responsibilities of the Ohio Historical Society. For a full listing of formal state responsibilities, click here . Because the Ohio Historical Society carries out so many important public functions, it receives about two-thirds of its funding from the State of Ohio. The Ohio Historical Society will receive a little more than $13 million in state operating support and about $2 million in state capital funding in fiscal year 2006. This public funding amounts to roughly $1.30 annually per Ohio resident. By comparison, the Minnesota Historical Society recently touted that it only cost Minnesota taxpayers $4.23 per resident. Not a bad deal for Ohio taxpayers!
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