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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Ohio Historical Society: Ohioans Should Be Concerned About Future of State's History
State Senate Cuts OHS Funding for Education, Local History, Historic Sites
(Columbus, OH) – Budget cuts unveiled by the Ohio Senate last week should deeply concern Ohioans, Ohio Historical Society Executive Director and CEO Bill Laidlaw said today. He said the Ohio Senate Finance Committee slashed the organization's funding by more than $2 million last week, seriously jeopardizing statewide services provided by the Ohio Historical Society in its effort to preserve and interpret Ohio's history.
"The senate's budget represents the lowest allocation of state funding for the Society since fiscal year 1994," Laidlaw said. "It eliminates the Society's funding for outreach services. The trustees recently designated "outreach services" to be one of three core areas fundamental to its service to Ohioans. This means that important history programs, such as National History Day in Ohio, teacher training and education, Civil War Sesquicentennial initiative and services to more than 800 local historical societies, could cease to exist. The senate also removed funding for historic sites, which will severely limit our ability to recruit local organizations to help us manage sites, thereby reducing access to them."
The senate's action significantly altered the House version of the OHS state budget. It removed $703,000 for Outreach Services (budget line 360-509), $750,000 for Historic Sites and Museums (budget line 360-502), $600,000 in the Historic Grants (budget line 360-508)-more than $2 million overall. If cuts remain intact, then OHS state funding would drop from $13.56 million two years ago to $10 million for fiscal year 2010-a 26-percent decrease.
OHS programs that would be eliminated include: teacher training and educational programs that leverage federal dollars; National History Day in Ohio, a nationwide program generating corporate support that originated in Cleveland and has more than 8,000 Ohio students participating each year; the Local History Office that serves 800 local history organizations-literally representing every county; the recently announced Civil War Sesquicentennial initiative; and the popular Ohio Historical Marker program, which has erected more than 1,200 historical markers statewide since it began 51 years ago. With the exception of the Civil War 150th commemoration, funds that were eliminated were for established, longstanding programs many of which are the basis for raising private financial support.
The cuts also would severely limit the Ohio Historical Society's ability to recruit local organizations to manage 14 of the Society's 58 historic sites and museums, thereby reducing access to visitors. Those sites, which are currently staffed with OHS employees and are among the most significant and most costly to operate, include: Adena Mansion & Gardens in Chillicothe, Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Campus Martius and Ohio River museums in Marietta, Fort Ancient near Oregonia, Fort Hill near Hillsboro, Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Harding Home in Marion, National Road/Zane Grey Museum near Norwich, Piqua Historical Area in Piqua, Serpent Mound near Peebles, Wahkeena Nature Preserve near Lancaster, Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor in Youngstown and Zoar Village in Zoar.
"If these funds are not restored, it will severely limit our ability to provide history programs and services, many of which are mandated by law, throughout the state," Laidlaw said. "In addition, as a nonprofit organization, these cuts will reduce our ability to generate revenues from federal grants and private funding. I have been very encouraged by the public support the Society has received in recent days and I urge Ohioans to continue to contact their state senators and representatives as soon as possible to ask them to restore our funding before it's too late."
For more information about the OHS budget situation and how to contact your state officials, visit www.ohiohistory.org and click on the special notice.
Established in 1885, the Ohio Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that serves as the state's partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio's history, archaeology, natural history and historic architecture. Among its many programs, the Society:
- Administers 58 historic sites and museums;
- Collects, preserves and interprets millions of historic documents, photographs and objects;
- Operates the state's archives and a research library;
- Conducts historic preservation activities;
- Provides educational and collections resources online with more than 5 million visits each year to www.ohiohistory.org;
- Reaches more than 100,000 students in the state through its educational programming;
- Presents programs and events for people of all ages; and
- Provides outreach services to local historical groups throughout Ohio.
For more information about the Ohio Historical Society's programs and services, visit www.ohiohistory.org or call 800.686.6124.
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