Connecticut Historical Society Receives $3 Million in Federal Funding for 3 Projects
NEWS RELEASE
1/25/2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Connecticut Historical Society Receives $3 Million in Federal Funding for 3 Projects
Hartford, CT — As part of the 2023 Federal Budget, the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) has been awarded $3 million in federal Community Project Funding. This funding will be divided equally across three projects supporting K-12 civics education; conservation, digitization, and public access to CHS archives from the founding years of the United States; and an ongoing, contemporary community history collaboration with Connecticut libraries and institutions of higher education.
$1 million was awarded for the Educating for Democracy Project which will promote civic knowledge and skills for K-12 students. The project is a partnership of nonprofit community stakeholders designed to teach history and advance Civics Education with K-12 students using primary source material housed in Connecticut’s museums and historic sites. The project will be developed in a partnership between the CHS, the Connecticut Democracy Center, Connecticut Humanities, the Connecticut Office of the Arts, the Mark Twain House and Museum, and Mystic Seaport Museum.
$1 million for the Records Digitization and Public Engagement Initiative. This project is dedicated to the maintenance, delivery, and preservation of digital resources for public engagement through educational and cultural institutions and state agencies in Connecticut. The project will preserve our nation’s history by producing a 21st century inventory of tens of thousands of documents held in the CHS collection that relate to the founding of the United States of America. This will increase their use in CHS’s American Revolution programs designed for grades 5-8 delivered to students in Connecticut as well as virtually across the country.
$1 million for the continuation and growth of the Community History Project, in partnership with Connecticut Institutions of Higher Education. The Community History Project seeks to expand its current initiative of developing a collection of artifacts to accurately catalogue the experience of living through a modern-day pandemic from the perspective of all segments of Connecticut’s diverse population. This funding will further this goal by collaborating with the state’s colleges and universities, providing professional development for post-secondary faculty, and job-skills training through internships to post-secondary students.
Robert A. Kret, Executive Director and C.E.O. of the CHS says of the funding, “We’re thrilled our projects were included in the omnibus bill, and grateful that the Federal government recognizes the importance of our collections and the work that we are doing across Connecticut. We are immensely appreciative of the efforts of our Congressional delegation, especially Chair DeLauro, Congressman Larson, and Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, as well as their respective staff, that helped make this possible. This support is an opportunity to expand our reach across the state and collaborate with even more organizations to preserve and exhibit the culture and history of Connecticut.”
The Connecticut Historical Society (www.CHS.org) is a privately funded, independent, not-for-profit educational organization that includes a museum, library, the Edgar F. Waterman Research Center, and the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program. Founded in 1825, the CHS is Connecticut’s statewide historical society, and a Smithsonian Affiliate. At the CHS, we cultivate understanding of the history and culture of Connecticut, and its role in the United States and the world. Through our collections, research, educational programs, and exhibitions we reflect the past, actively engage with the present, and innovate for the future.
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