Ohio History Connection

The Ohio Historical Society, doing business as Ohio History Connection, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Columbus, Ohio that has served as a repository and steward of Ohio's cultural and historical heritage since its establishment in 1885. The organization operates a network of over 50 historic sites and museums across the state while providing specialized services in historical preservation, documentation, collections management, and public education. Through federal contracts and grants, Ohio History Connection delivers comprehensive historical and cultural services to federal agencies, focusing on museum operations, artifact curation, digitization of historical materials, historic preservation initiatives, and community engagement programs that amplify Ohio's significant role in American history.

Ohio History Connection's federal contract work has primarily involved specialized collections management and preservation services awarded by the National Park Service and Department of Energy. The organization received three purchase orders totaling $61,032 across three distinct projects: a $32,972 contract for the General Charles Young Collections Project at Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Wilberforce, Ohio, completed in June 2024, which involved comprehensive collections management services; a $13,000 purchase order for DAAV Traveling Exhibits that concluded in September 2022; and a $15,060 contract for curation services related to artifacts from the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, with an ultimate completion date of June 2026. All three contracts were awarded without set-asides and reflect the organization's expertise in managing culturally and historically significant collections while maintaining federal standards for artifact preservation and documentation. These contracts demonstrate Ohio History Connection's capacity to work directly with federal agencies to maintain and preserve materials of national importance while providing specialized technical expertise in collections management.

Ohio History Connection has been substantially more active in the federal grant space, receiving prime grant awards totaling approximately $4.5 million across diverse programs and funding agencies that reflect the breadth of its mission. The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded two significant grants totaling $636,939 under the National Digital Newspaper Program (Rounds VI and VII) to digitize approximately 200,000 pages of Ohio's microfilmed newspapers for inclusion in the Library of Congress' Chronicling America digital repository, with projects extending through 2027. The National Park Service has provided multiple grants, including $160,453 for the Underrepresented Community Grant Program to survey and prepare National Register nominations for African American historic resources in Ohio (2025-2029), $266,500 for NAGPRA consultation grants in 2022 and 2023 to inventory Native American human remains and cultural items across Ohio counties, and Historic Preservation Fund annual grants and formula awards to support activities authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act. The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded a $2.016 million Museums for America grant for the "Marking Queer Ohio" project to document and commemorate LGBTQ+ history through ten historical markers across the state, plus additional grants for community engagement initiatives such as the Museums for All program pilot. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service provided $2.75 million in congressional directed grant funding in 2024-2026 to support cultural heritage preservation and educational resources across Ohio History Connection's network of sites. The National Archives and Records Administration has awarded multiple discretionary project grants to support archival processing and preservation, including $107,058 to reprocess and catalog the Warren G. Harding presidential papers. Additionally, Ohio History Connection has received federal grant sub-awards totaling millions of dollars through state intermediaries including the Ohio Commission on Service and Volunteerism for AmeriCorps programs placing ten service members annually (2021-2024) to build capacity at local history organizations and conduct historic property surveys, and the Ohio Department of Development and Ohio Department of Education for community development and educational initiatives. This diverse grant portfolio underscores Ohio History Connection's recognized expertise in historical preservation, cultural documentation, community engagement, and its pivotal role as Ohio's State Historic Preservation Office in administering federal historic preservation programs.