The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Awards 56 General Operating Support Grants

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has awarded $1,053,880 in general operating support grants for qualifying museums with annual operating budgets of more than $500,000.

This one-year program uses funds placed in PHMC's operating budget by the state legislature during the 2012-13 budget process. It is restricted for this purpose only. This is a one-time allocation and is not affiliated with the PHMC's Museum Assistance Grant program.

Working in concert with legislative leadership to determine the best way to distribute these limited funds, it was decided to make awards of $3,000 to $50,000 to museums with budgets of more than $500,000.

The goals of the General Operating Support Program are:

• Provide general operating support to selected museums that are not supported by other state agency funding programs;
• Provide general operating support to selected museums that serve a statewide or regional audience;
• Determine award amounts using an equation based on a percentage of the previous year's operating budget.

To be eligible, applicant institutions must have:

• At least one full-time paid staff member;
• Been incorporated and in existence for at least two years;
• A minimum annual operating budget of $500,000;
• Collections related to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
• A primary mission as a general or historical museum or as a historical society that operates one or more museums or historic sites;
• Has an operating schedule and audience that demonstrates public appreciation of the museum's offerings.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Visit PHMC online at www.phmc.state.pa.us.

Media Contact: Howard Pollman, 717-705-8639

Editor's Note: The following is a list of General Operating Support Grant Awards by county:

Allegheny
Carnegie Institute - $50,000
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh - $38,404
Frick Art & Historical Center - $43,177
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania - $50,000
Rivers of Steel – Steel Industry Heritage Corporation - $11,724
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Trust, Inc. - $12,225

Berks
Historical Society of Berks County Museum and Library - $7,175

Blair
Railroaders Memorial Museum - $7,550

Bucks
Bucks County Historical Society/Mercer Museum and Fonthill - $10,734
Pearl S. Buck International House and Historic Site - $5,734

Cambria
Johnstown Area Heritage Association - $26,100

Chester
Chester County Historical Society - $11,158
Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. - $6,097

Cumberland
Cumberland County Historical Society - $5,588

Dauphin
AACA Museum, Inc - $13,620
The M.S. Hershey Foundation/The Hershey Story - $11,891
The National Civil War Museum - $29,861
Whitaker Center - $38,838

Delaware
American Helicopter Museum and Education Center - $5,685
National Audubon Society - $4,279
Nicholas Newlin Foundation - $4,590

Erie
Erie County Historical Society - $4,103

Fayette
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy/Fallingwater - $47,539

Lackawanna
Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science and Art - $6,347

Lancaster
Hands-on House, Children's Museum of Lancaster - $5,551
LancasterHistory.org - $10,874
National Watch and Clock Museum - $6,121
North Museum of National History and Science - $6,849

Lehigh
Lehigh County Historical Society - $4,659

Northampton
Historic Bethlehem Partnership - $8,761
Hugh More National Canal Museum - $5,566

Philadelphia
African American Museum of Philadelphia - $15,563
American Philosophical Society - $8,572
American Swedish Historical Museum - $5,663
Athenaeum of Philadelphia - $10,313
Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia - $9,096
Chemical Heritage Foundation - $9,358
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. - $36,891
Franklin Institute - $50,000
Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Inc. - $4,649
Historic Philadelphia Inc./Betsy Ross House - $12,849
Historical Society of Philadelphia - $29,729
Independence Seaport Museum - $29,207
John Bartram Association/Bartram's Gardens - $7,338
National Constitution Center - $50,000
National Museum of American Jewish History - $50,000
Penn Museum - $50,000
Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks - $12,481
Please Touch Museum - $50,000
Rosenbach Museum and Library - $14,616
The Academy of Natural Sciences - $50,000
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia - $16,599
Wagner Free Institute of Science - $7,436

Washington
Pennsylvania Trolley Museum - $7,645

Westmoreland
Fort Ligonier Association - $5,884

York
York County Heritage Trust - $9,191

SOURCE Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

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