History(TM) Announces Save Our History Grants

    11 Communities Awarded Grants To Preserve Their Local History



    NEW YORK, Aug. 21 /EMWNews/ -- History(TM) today announced that

eleven organizations across the country will receive Save Our History

preservation grants in an effort to help communities preserve their local

history. Each winning organization, with the support of their cable

affiliates, will use the grants to fund innovative, educational projects

designed to bring communities together and actively engage young people in

the safekeeping of their local heritage for future generations. This year

History has committed over $100,000 dollars in support of eleven

outstanding initiatives which have been awarded grants of up to $10,000

each. History will also award three Save Our History Block Grants later

this year in amounts totaling more than $10,000 each.



    History, with the counsel of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)

and the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), created

the Save Our History Grant Program as an extension of the Save Our History

initiative. Save Our History is committed to inspiring and motivating local

communities to learn about and take an active role in the preservation of

their past through projects involving artifacts, oral histories, sites,

museums or landmarks that exist in their own neighborhoods. A few of the

projects include:






    --  California: The Redlands Conservancy will partner with 4th grade

        students in the community to preserve the Zanja connection - an 189

        year-old irrigation system dug by local Indians. The Conservancy will

        work with students to create and install 30 historic site markers along

        the Zanja, marking historic events and locations. High School students

        will photograph and create the text graphics for a slide show of the

        Zanja, which will be distributed to every 4th Grade teacher for

        inclusion in the existing local history curriculum.




    --  Virginia: The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, with the

        assistance of local historians and archivists, will partner with

        Charlottesville High School government teachers to educate students

        taking Government and Leadership classes in how to conduct historical

        research using primary source documents from their community. Students

        will document and preserve the voices of individuals who lived during

        the turbulent years of desegregation in Charlottesville by collecting

        oral histories. The final product, hosted by the Albemarle

        Charlottesville Historical Society, will include a museum exhibition as

        well as an online site consisting of oral histories, photographs and

        copies of School Board primary source documents.




    --  Wisconsin: The Neville Public Museum, Preble High School and the

        University of Wisconsin (UW)-Green Bay will digitize and make accessible

        an archival collection of 1,721 records relating to local soldiers from

        World War I. Together with the Museum, students from Preble High School

        and UW-Green Bay will scan the entire archival collection and through a

        UW system database, the collection will be put online. Utilizing this

        information Preble High School teachers will develop educational lesson

        plans, deploy them, and access them in a 9th grade social studies class

        and a 12th grade AP History class. The records will also be featured

        prominently in the Preble High School curriculum. The Neville Public

        Museum will ask the high school students to choose artifacts from the

        museum's WWI collection for an exhibit opening in June 2009, and

        will involve volunteer students as "guest experts" in the

        local history workshop.

    In addition to these projects, History is also awarding Save Our

History grants to historic organizations in Ohio, Florida, New Jersey,

Tennessee, Louisiana and Montana.



    "History is proud to recognize the outstanding work of all of our grant

recipients. These Save Our History projects exemplify the dedication and

creativity needed to preserve our communities' pasts. These students,

teachers and organizations are saving history not just for today but for

the future as well. Involving new generations in the importance of history

and preservation is the key," stated Dr. Libby O'Connell, SVP Corporate

Outreach and Chief Historian, History.



    Since its inception in 2004, Save Our History educational grant

projects made lasting impressions on thousands of participating students.

Achieving a goal of instilling a sense of responsibility and pride in their

communities, many students have not only expressed great excitement about

their involvement, but some students have even volunteered for

project-related initiatives outside the scope and timeline of the program.

In its inaugural year, a Save Our History project in Cleveland saw student

attendance during this program increase to nearly 100% each day. In 2006,

projects in Miami, New York, Phoenix and Augusta, GA received commendations

from the mayors of each respective city, and still other projects, such as

The Black Damask Project in Baltimore, will extend indefinitely, apart from

the Save Our History program. Overall, History, together with its cable

partners, has committed over a million dollars towards Save Our History

projects as of the 2008 - 2009 calendar years.



    Historic organizations interested in receiving funding for preservation

projects developed with local schools or youth groups are encouraged to

apply for a 2009/2010 Save Our History Grant. Applications will be

available beginning in early 2009.



    Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors is an independent, nonprofit service

that helps donors to create thoughtful, effective philanthropy throughout

the world. RPA provides research and counsel on charitable giving, develops

philanthropic programs, and offers complete program, administrative and

management services for foundations and trusts. In 2006, RPA advised on and

managed more than $150 million in annual giving in more than 30 countries.

For more information visit http://www.rockpa.org.

    About AASLH



    AASLH was born in 1904 as a part of the American Historical

Association. Over one hundred years later, AASLH is the only national

association dedicated to the people and organizations that practice state

and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all

Americans. These history organizations are American leaders in preserving,

researching, and interpreting traces of the past to connect the people,

thoughts, and events of yesterday with the creative memories and abiding

concerns of people, communities, and our nation today. History

organizations are foremost education institutions, and they excel in

creating the enlightened, engaged citizenry that the founders envisioned.

From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides a variety of

programs and services, as well as leadership in the national arena.



    About Save Our History Educational Materials



    History(TM), in collaboration with leading educators from the National

Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), developed a comprehensive Educator's

Manual containing standards-based lesson plans, enrichment activities, and

resources that help elementary, middle and high school teachers connect

American History content to their local history. The manual guides teachers

to engage students in hands-on, experiential preservation projects. The

Educator's Manual is supplemented by Save Our History lesson plans

available to educators who register online to receive them at

http://www.saveourhistory.com. To date, more than 60,000 educators at schools,

youth groups, history museums, and historic sites have used the educational

materials to teach over 1.8 million students about their local history and

the importance of preserving it.



    About Save Our History



    Save Our History is an Emmy(R) Award-winning strategic initiative of

History(TM) that launched in 1998, designed to further historic

preservation and history education. The program supplements the teaching of

history in America's classrooms, educates the public on the importance of

historical preservation and motivates communities across the country to

help save endangered local historic treasures. The Save Our History

campaign includes original documentaries, special teachers materials,

national promotion on History(TM), broadband activities in schools, and has

worked with The Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, National

Trust for Historic Preservation, National World War II Memorial, American

Rivers and The White House 200th Anniversary.



    Additional information about the grassroots Save Our History program,

including a comprehensive school manual containing suggested lesson plans

for grades two through 12 and details about working with local preservation

organizations can also be found at http://www.saveourhistory.com.



    History(TM) and History HD(TM) are the leading destinations for

revealing, award-winning, original non-fiction series and event-driven

specials that connects history with viewers in an informative, immersive

and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a

diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to

contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science,

archaeology and pop culture. Among the networks' program offerings are hit

series such as Ax Men, Battle 360, The Universe, Cities of The Underworld

and Ice Road Truckers, as well as acclaimed specials including King, Life

After People, 1968 With Tom Brokaw, Lost Book of Nostradamus, Star Wars:

The Legacy Revealed and Sherman's March. History has earned four Peabody

Awards, three Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 10 News & Documentary Emmy(R)

Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of

Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign

dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take A Veteran to

School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools

and communities with veterans from all wars. History's website, located at

http://www.History.com, is the definitive historical online source that delivers

entertaining and informative content featuring broadband video, interactive

timelines, maps, games podcasts and more.