From: "Kathy Grace" <gendiva@charter.net> Subject: RE: Question for Town & City Historical Societies Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 19:16:42 -0500 Message-ID: <002a01c8f690$8ddccb00$0302a8c0@D3ZJ5T21>
Patti,
You have received some really good advice from some of the others but I
wanted to add something from the other side of the fence. I am a
village trustee in Winneconne where the Village has been supporting the
historical society for years in their budget. But the support we
receive (the historical society) has been to operate our museum complex
and is a minor amount, about $6000/yr. Local history is one of my
passions but I met with the Historical Society president and treasurer
recently to let them know that at budget time this year I would be hard
pressed as a village trustee to continue this support because of the
levy limits. Every municipality in the state is in the same position
and most are looking at cuts in staff and services. As mentioned by
someone else, when requesting funding of this type you will discover
that many of the public officials have no feel for history and do not
care if things are available for generations to come. I could foresee
this as an uphill battle especially if you are requesting money for a
research library because your tax base is already supporting a public
library. If the decision is put before a municipal board to give money
toward a research library or to layoff a street worker or police officer
I think you know what the choice will be.
I don't mean to be so negative because as I said I am passionate about
local history but I would explore other avenues of revenue.
Kathy Grace
Winneconne Historical Society
-----Original Message-----
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu
[mailto:localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Chris &
Patti Marsicano
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 12:46 PM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: Question for Town & City Historical Societies
Have any of you asked your local municipalities to have money put in the
budget for your historical society?
What steps did you take to do this?
How much did you ask for and how much do you receive?
We are planning on asking our Town and City governments for some money
and are wondering the best steps to take. Since we have no building or
location at this time, we are hoping to get the cash needed to offset
some costs of renting (or have donated) space to begin a research
library.
Thanks!
Patti Marsicano
President, Delavan Historical Society