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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Ohio Humanities Council Gives Grant to Statewide History Organizations
Workshop To Help Local History Groups Sharpen Writing Skills
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) - The Ohio Historical Society and Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums received a $1,500 mini-grant from the Ohio Humanities Council to provide programming for the state's more than 600 local history organizations. The grant will fund the development of a workshop, "Writing for Clarity."
Writing is a form of communication that all local historical groups of all sizes use everyday in a variety of formats to share the stories they preserve. Local history organizations are also challenged to attract community members to their events and museums by writing engaging and persuasive news releases. "Writing for Clarity" will address four common types of writing the community history organizations produce: press releases and news articles; items for the World Wide Web, blogs and other electronic media; books and brochures of popular history; and museum exhibit labels. What is common to the varieties of writing the volunteers and paid staff undertake is the need to engage readers.
"Develop content for the Web or crafting exhibit labels is different than writing a press release, which is different than compiling a work of history for a general audience," said Jody Blankenship, manager of the Ohio Historical Society's Outreach and Field Services Department. "Experienced staff and volunteers at local historical organizations know how to write, but are pressed for time and so do not always have the opportunities to make the best use of technologies like Web or Twitter, for example. Younger professionals are very fluent in these technologies, but are still new at communicating their organization's message. Our workshop will address these issues."
The workshops presenters are Professor David Mould of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University, Kelli Kling of the Wood County Historical Society, Steve Paschen of Kent State University and Bill Mahon of the Ohio Historical Society's Design Department.
The "Writing for Clarity" workshop will take place on June 26, 2009 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Oberlin Depot in Oberlin, Ohio. The registration fee of $25 includes the cost of all materials plus breakfast and lunch for the participants. To register or for more information, contact the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office at 800.858.6878.
"Writing for Clarity" is made possible by a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, www.ohiohumanities.org.
The Ohio Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that serves as the state's partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio's history, archaeology and natural history. Visit us at www.ohiohistory.org.
The Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums is composed of local historical societies, historic preservation groups, history museums, archives, libraries, and genealogical societies throughout the state involved in collecting, preserving and interpreting Ohio's history, www.oahsm.org.
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