As Ohio prepares to celebrate and commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, the America 250-Ohio Commission recently awarded $600,000 in grants to 61 projects statewide. Earlier this year, the America 250-Ohio Commission awarded nearly $400,000 in grants to 23 communities and organizations across 15 counties as part of the Commission’s first funding cycle. More than 170 organizations throughout the state submitted applications for the second grants round, which is managed in partnership with Ohio Humanities. Projects funded in this round must be completed between June 15, 2024, and May 31, 2025. Two types of grants were awarded: Trillium Local Activity Grants and Buckeye Impact Grants.
Trillium Local Activity Grant Recipients – Spring 2024
Trillium Local Activity Grants offer up to $5,000 for projects with a local or community-wide impact. These projects may include exhibitions, interpretative panels, local commemorative programs or activities, local public events, educational, public programs, and smaller digital and documentary media projects. The following projects are receiving a Trillium Local Activity Grant for the Spring 2024 grant cycle:
Organization: The Wilds (International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals Inc.)
Project: Connecting the Guests to the Big Muskie
Community: Guernsey County
Amount: $2,000
The project will develop signage for the mining history of the region as well as donor recognition and will create an interpretive video about The Big Muskie's creation and use. The Wilds recently received a hand-crafted replica of “The Big Muskie,” a piece of equipment used by Central Ohio Coal to surface-mine much of the land that would one day become The Wilds.
Organization: Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Project: Harriet Beecher Stowe: Writer & Theologian
Community: Cincinnati
Amount: $5,000
The project is to create a tour specifically to focus on the religious aspects of Stowe’s life and works. She was a theologian, not unlike her male relatives, but this side of her life is not as well-known as her abolitionist views. These tours would engage all audiences (youth to lifelong learners) and will be offered on a scheduled basis and available by request for groups (including school/community groups).
Organization: Hardin County Historical Museums, Inc.
Project: Hardin County History from the time it was formed from Indian Territory in 1820 to present
Community: Kenton, OH
Amount: $3,500
Grant funds will be used to purchase tablets and to cover speakers’ fees of experts who have advanced knowledge of Hardin County history. The museum will host speakers at the Hardin County museums, Hardin County schools, Hardin County libraries and the Hardin County Fair. Possible topics will include historical sites, events, American Indian heritage, arts and culture, military history, sports and personalities.
Organization: Ohio Designer Craftsmen
Project: Ohio Designer Craftsmen Open House – Traditional Crafts
Community: Columbus
Amount: $4,000
Ohio Designer Craftsmen will hold a free open house for the community at the Ohio Craft Museum to celebrate the history of fine craft in Ohio and the country, from the founding of the United States and the settlement of Ohio to the innovative techniques of contemporary artists. Demonstrations, hands-on craft activities, story panels, and examples of historical and contemporary crafts will convey the impact of Ohio&’s craft traditions and the numerous renowned artists who built on those traditions.
Organization: Ingenuity Cleveland
Project: Celebrating Jazz Heritage in East Cleveland
Community: Cleveland
Amount: $5,000
Celebrating Jazz Heritage in East Cleveland is a multifaceted community engagement initiative which will result in the creation of a new collaboratively visioned and created mural celebrating local East Cleveland heroes with connections to the neighborhood’s rich history surrounding jazz music.
Organization: Shelby Cycle Historical Society
Project: Ohio Firsts – The Shelby Steel Tube Company
Community: Richland County
Amount: $5,000
A traveling self-guided exhibit throughout Ohio with interpretive panels containing QR codes linked to websites will tell the beginning of the seamless tube industry from 1890-1909. The period includes founders and factory construction, expansion into a steel trust, as well as the 1908 fire that destroyed the factory, and the monumental community effort to quickly rebuild the factory.
Organization: Southeast Ohio History Center
Project: Defining American Liberty – New Perspectives on the Fort Gower Resolves
Community: Athens
Amount: $5,000
On November 5, 1774, a group of American officers who had taken part in Lord Dunmore’s War gathered at Fort Gower on the banks of the Hockhocking River. There, they drafted a series of resolves that articulate their defense of American rights and privileges, while still professing loyalty to King George III. In honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Fort Gower Resolves, the Southeast Ohio History Center is planning a two-day commemorative event that will include educational programing with schools on Friday, November 8, 2024, and a conference hosted at the History Center on Saturday, November 9, 2024. The conference will include speakers who will put the Fort Gower Resolves in a broader context of Lord Dunmore’s War, the Enlightenment ideas of the time period, and their effects on American Indian’s struggle for independence in the Ohio Country.
Organization: Village of Chauncey
Project: History Mural
Community: Athens County
Amount: $4,000
Grant funds will be used to paint a historical mural on the side of the Chauncey Village Hall on Converse Street.
Organization: Medina County Historical Society
Project: Revolutionary War Veteran and Family History Project
Community: Medina, OH
Amount: $4,000
The project will solicit researched essays about American Revolutionary War Veterans and their families that settled and lived in Medina County. A panel of local published historians and educators will serve as an editorial board to compile and publish these historical accounts. The editorial board will identify local historians and genealogists to serve as mentors throughout the writing process.
Organization: Ohio Poetry Association
Project: Ohio Underground Railroad Whistle-Stop Poetry Tour
Community: Columbus
Amount: $4,000
The project will fund the remaining 6 of 11 events of the Ohio Underground Railroad Whistle-Stop Poetry Tour including poetry readings, social justice writing workshops, and cultural programming. A capstone celebration at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus concludes this series featuring poets and docents from all our event locations, music, performance, workshops, and a special keynote address, as well as exhibit tables.
Organization: Fort GreeneVille Chapter – Daughters of the American Revolution
Project: America 250-Darke County Traveling Educational Exhibit
Community: Darke County
Amount: $3,700
The project will create eight exhibit panels to illustrate the America 250 Ohio theme “Past, Present, Future.” The exhibit will display different aspects of Darke County. It will be available to all Darke County schools, libraries, museums, the Great Darke County Fair, and any other public display opportunities in 2025 through 2026, and beyond. The exhibit will also be available outside of the county.
Organization: Outdoor Sylvania Community Parks
Project: Oak Openings During the Ohio Frontier – Animal Conservation Then and Now
Community: Lucas County
Amount: $2,800
The project will produce an illustrated booklet about the history of species extirpated from Ohio during the 18th and early 19th centuries and examples of endangered species today. The booklet will also include essays about the philosophy of nature and archaeology. This project will give context to conservation and the history of human behavior towards animals. The digital and print booklet will be distributed by Outdoor Sylvania Community Parks.
Organization: Gallipolis Municipal Court
Project: Preservation of History
Community: Gallia County
Amount: $3,000
The project will create a time capsule that will include photographs of events, newspaper articles, items donated by vendors, and letters written by students. The time capsule will be opened in 10 years.
Organization: Old Fort Steuben Project, Inc.
Project: Surveyors’ Museum at Historic Fort Steuben
Community: Steubenville, OH
Amount: $4,000
The project will transform one of the blockhouses in the fort into a museum describing the history of surveying from the Egyptians to modern times with a particular emphasis on the tools and procedures used during the 18th century. The focus is on the survey of the Seven Ranges of the Northwest Territory which started at the Point of Beginning in East Liverpool, Ohio.
Organization: Oberlin Heritage Center
Project: Local Leaders, National Impact Video Series
Community: Lorain County
Amount: $4,000
The Oberlin Heritage Center will create a series of five mini documentaries about how local individuals organized to create institutions or movements that led to national change. The goal of these videos is to 1) highlight stories that celebrate the experiences and actions of past Ohioans who effected positive change on a larger scale, and 2) inspire civic engagement to solve challenges today. The organization will work with community partners-including the local middle school-to make these videos engaging for all ages and to serve as free educational tools.
Organization: James A. Garfield School District Historical Society
Project: Unveiling Our Roots
Community: Portage County
Amount: $3,000
The Unveiling Our Roots project will center around opening a 100-year-old time capsule and placing a new time capsule that will be opened on Garrettsville’s 300th anniversary in 2104. This two-day event will combine archival displays, character actors, soldier memorial walking tours, video streams of family history stories, and a commemorative book.
Organization: Auglaize County Board of Commissioners
Project: Auglaize County WPA Veteran Cemetery Plot Map Imaging and Online Viewing Project
Community: Wapakoneta, OH
Amount: $2,890
Grant funds will cover costs for imaging and online viewing of a cemetery plot map book with burial locations of all Auglaize County Military veterans, American Revolution War through World War I.
Organization: Meigs County Commissioners
Project: DAR America 250-Meigs County Revolutionary War Patriot Marker
Community: Pomeroy, OH
Amount: $4,800
The project is to place a DAR America 250 Patriot Marker on the grounds of the oldest standing courthouse in the Northwest Territory, in Chester, Ohio. Landscaping will be completed, with the possible addition of bricks displaying the individual names of the soldiers. A large unveiling ceremony involving local historical societies and veterans’ organizations will take place on Memorial Day 2025.
Organization: Geauga County Public Library
Project: Voices of Geauga County
Community: Chardon, OH
Amount: $4,000
The Geauga County Public Library will create a traveling interactive exhibit that will include recently digitized Oral History Project recordings from the 1970s and 1980s. Grant funds will be used to purchase an interactive touchscreen display and to pay for employees to curate the exhibit. The collections will be accessible on the organization’s website as well as on the traveling display.
Organization: Butler Institute of American Art
Project: Joseph B. Butler, Jr. – Collections of Our Nation
Community: Youngstown
Amount: $4,000
Grant funds will support an exhibition highlighting the 300 years of America’s history in relationship to the founder of the museum and Ohio native, Joseph G. Butler, Jr. along with his contributions as a patron of the arts, philanthropist, and civic leader. New biographical didactics about Mr. Butler will be designed and installed throughout the permanent collection galleries, in addition to the production of a digital and printed exhibition publication, and featured public lectures from contributing historians.
Organization: Huron Public Library
Project: Huron, Ohio, and America – Linked in History
Community: Erie County
Amount: $1,800
Four expert speakers on topics related to Ohio history will present programs in the 2024-2025 speaker series. Topics include The Story of Ohio’s Canals, The History of Travel in America, Black Men in Blue, and Let Ohio Women Vote. Additionally, the Huron Historical Society will present a program on the Interurban Railway (Lake Shore Electric).
Organization: Akron Black Artists Guild
Project: Our Eyes See the Sun
Community: Summit County
Amount: $3,710
The project is to produce a documentary profiling BIPOC artists as they create a piece embodying their story, culture and triumph. Through interviews and candid footage, this documentary will investigate the richness and struggles of artists of color-as well highlight common threads that exist within all Ohioans. The film will conclude with these artists completing their journey by presenting their finished pieces at an exhibition.
Organization: Literary Cleveland
Project: Veterans’ Voices Anthology
Community: Cuyahoga County
Amount: $4,000
Veterans’ Voices provides free creative writing workshops to Northeast Ohio military service members and veterans to help them craft poetry and prose about their military experiences. The project culminates in the publication of a print and digital anthology, Celebrating Service Volume II, featuring the writing of participants which will be shared with the public through readings, panel discussions, and media appearances.
Organization: Woodland Arboretum Foundation
Project: Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum’s History on Display
Community: Dayton
Amount: $3,300
Grant funds will be used to purchase two display cases for the organization’s visitor’s center. The cases will display documents and artifacts from Woodland’s history that is currently housed in Wright State University’s archives.
Organization: Union Township of Putnam County
Project: The Forgotten Pioneers of Kalida QR Codes
Community: Putnam County
Amount: $1,800
This project will document the stories of everyone buried in the Old Union Township Cemetery and make those biographies available free online through QR codes. The QR codes will be posted at each grave site in the cemetery.
Organization: Greene County Records Center & Archives
Project: “Xenia Lives,” 50 Years Later – Exhibiting the 1974 Tornado as a Catalyst for Advancements in Disaster preparedness and Severe Weather Monitoring
Community: Xenia, OH
Amount: $3,500
The project is to design and install a five-panel exhibit in the central lobby of the Greene County Ledbetter Road facility to display the history of the 1974 Xenia tornado and its impact on the ways severe weather is monitored and reported.
Organization: Marlboro Township Historical Society
Project: Develop and Produce Exhibit and Interpretive Materials for the Dr. Kersey G. Thomas House
Community: Stark County
Amount: $3,500
The grant will fund a modular 7-panel curated exhibit and slide deck telling the story of the Dr. Kersey G. Thomas Home and Office. The exhibit will highlight Dr. Thomas and his wife, Dr. Eliza L. (Smith) Thomas, their roles in abolition and anti-slavery activities in the region, their regular association with other prominent Quaker visionaries and radicals in the region, their commitment and involvement in the women’s rights movement, and their home’s use as a regional training ground for female physicians in the earliest era of women’s medical education.
Organization: Little Cities of Black Diamonds
Project: Little Cities Day
Community: Perry County
Amount: $3,500
Little Cities Day will be a coordinated multi-site festival of regional history. It will take place on October 12, 2024, in the villages of Corning and Rendville in Perry County, Ohio. The event will feature talks, musical performances, an exhibit hall and tours of local historic landmarks. Content from the event will also be shared online for virtual attendance.
Organization: Preserving Galion, Inc.
Project: 205 Years, One Family, A National Story
Community: Crawford County
Amount: $3,000
This project will present the story of generations of one family through a stand-alone exhibit at the Gill House in Galion. Included will be information on the Gills’ relationships with well-known family friends Thomas Alva Edison and his wife, Mina; Henry Ford; and the house’s designer, famed Detroit architect Louis Kamper, all of whom visited the house. Family members also include the implementer of the zip code system and an Oscar-winning playwright. The exhibit will include several items from the organization’s collection of family and city-related artifacts.
Organization: McKinley Presidential Library & Museum
Project: Black History Exhibition
Community: Canton
Amount: $5,000
This grant will be used towards the creation of an exhibition to share the rich history of Stark County’s Black community. The grant will fund the salary of the exhibition curator, the materials needed to create it, and the publicity for a series of Archive Days to better connect with the members of the Black community who have artifacts, archival materials, and stories to share.
Organization: History Detectives of Belmont County
Project: Uncovering the History of the Ohio Valley
Community: Flushing, OH
Amount: $3,500
The project will include a series of documentary videos, an interactive map, a brochure, and a kick-off event. The videos will use local historians and experts as well as OU Eastern students to create an informative series about the history and heritage of the Ohio Valley. An online presence will include an interactive map showing the region and historical sites. A printed component will include a brochure with a trackable QR code, driving traffic to the video series, and an interactive map online.
Organization: Cleveland Municipal Court
Project: Educating Youth About Ohio’s First Municipal Court
Community: Cuyahoga County
Amount: $5,000
The project will produce an animated video for Cleveland-area youth highlighting key topics about the history of the court system in Cleveland from the settling of the “area of the Western Reserve” by Moses Cleaveland in 1796, to the traveling “circuit” judges in the early 1800’s, to the opening of Ohio’s first municipal court in 1912, to the “problem-solving” specialized court dockets grappling with the social problems of today. The grant will allow us to hire a video animator by July 2024 and create an animated video about the Court’s history which will be available for release by January 2025.
Organization: Denison Museum
Project: Echoes of Ohio’s Indigenous Legacy – Bridging Past and Present
Community: Granville, OH
Amount: $5,000
This project delves into the Indigenous history of Ohio through two immersive exhibitions and programming. These exhibitions aim to shed light on the complex historical narrative of the displacement of Indigenous peoples from Ohio. 1) New work by Indigenous artist Carey Newman (Hayalthkin’geme) inspired by the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. This exhibit builds on our partnership with the Great Circle Alliance and UNESCO’s World Heritage Site at the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Licking County. 2) Indigenous Art and History Exhibition featuring works by contemporary Indigenous artists, including those with ancestral ties to Ohio. Also, in collaboration with the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices and WYSO, the Museum will integrate the “Ohio County Project” podcasts into the exhibition (via QR codes), enriching the visitor experience with expanded perspectives.
Organization: Fulton County Visitors Bureau
Project: 250 Experiences on the NW Ohio Yellowstone Trail & US 250-OH
Community: Wauseon, OH
Amount: $5,000
The National Yellowstone trail was established in South Dakota in 1912 and eventually stretched from Puget Sound to Plymouth Rock. The Yellowstone Trail reached Ohio in 1916. Travelers will discover 250 fun places to stop and visit along the way from Hicksville, OH to Sandusky County, OH, including historic sites and museums, art venues, natural features and landscapes, local food, hospitality, merchandise, lodging, events and more.
Organization: Garnet A. Wilson Public Library of Pike County
Project: Celebrate Ohio – Honoring History & Community
Community: Waverly, OH
Amount: $2,000
The organization will hold special programs marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, raising awareness of Ohio’s unique contributions to the nation over the years. In collaboration with the local retirement community, the celebration will present an event that pays homage to both the nation’s and Ohio’s past. This main event to be held on Saturday, May 24th, 2025, will honor veterans.
Organization: Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas (Domestic Relations Division)
Project: The Time Capsule Semiquincentennial Commemoration Project
Community: Cleveland
Amount: $2,000
This project will commemorate the importance of the Ohio judiciary and celebrate the anniversary of our Founding Fathers adopting the Declaration of Independence. The Court will hold a public ceremony, placing several items related to the Semiquincentennial and Ohio judiciary in the time capsule to be opened on July 4, 2276. After the public ceremony, visitors will be able to view the full display at the Cuyahoga County Old Courthouse. The time capsule and display boards can also be used throughout the community at various events up to and beyond the 2026 Semiquincentennial Celebration.
Organization: Friends of White Water Shaker Village, Inc.
Project: Simply Shaker – Preserving and Sharing the Shaker Story of Southwest Ohio
Community: Harrison, OH
Amount: $5,000
The project will create an exhibit about Shaker culture through historical photographs, text, and timelines in an engaging, informative permanent exhibit in the 1832 Shaker Dwelling by sharing the intriguing lifestyle, architecture, contributions, and historical events of the last remaining Ohio Shaker community, White Water Shaker Village.
Organization: Ashtabula County Covered Bridge Festival
Project: Ashtabula County Covered Bridge Festival
Community: Jefferson, OH
Amount: $5,000
The Covered Bridge Festival brings people from all over the country to learn about the history of our covered bridges. For our 40th anniversary this year we want to have even more historical re-enactors and demonstrators such as a glassblower who will teach about the history of the glass industry in Ohio while also teaching about blowing glass and a Lincoln and Garfield re-enactor teaching about Ohio and presidential history at the central festival on the fairgrounds.
Organization: Toledo History Museum
Project: “Made in Toledo,” a Virtual and Physical Exhibit Demonstrating Toledo’s Past and present Contributions to Industry
Community: Lucas County
Amount: $3,700
Made in Toledo” is an exhibit highlighting Toledo’s contributions – both well-known and lesser known – to the industrial success of America. The exhibit will be both physical and digital, with a small installation and accompanying materials housed in our downtown location, open to visitors in the spring and summer of 2025, as well as a virtual exhibit that can be accessible indefinitely to Toledo residents and those from elsewhere, too.
Buckeye Impact Grant Recipients – Spring 2024
Organization: Rickenbacker Woods Foundation
Project: Granville T. Woods – How to Document Truthful Narratives
Community: Columbus
Amount: $10,000
Granville T. Woods (GTW): How to Document Truthful Narratives is a pre-production project on GTW that illustrates how research can fill biographical gaps, correct untruths or add important contextual information. This planning grant will help initiate a series of six short videos that will demonstrate how to find overlooked sources/archives and help novice researchers begin by using the life of GTW as an example of a “hidden” story revealed. In addition to collecting documentation on Granville T. Woods, educational modules, community conversations with a humanities scholar are planned. Traveling exhibit boards will be produced to invite others to engage in the conversation and make connections.
Organization: Corporation for Findlay Market
Project: Historic Market Buildings Plaques and Tours
Community: Cincinnati
Amount: $15,000
The Corporation for Findlay Market (CFFM) is seeking funds to create and install 31 commemorative plaques. These plaques would summarize the buildings’ historical significance and share the stories of individuals who immigrated from all over the world to make Ohio their home. CFFM would host a special public unveiling event, QR codes for the Cincinnati Sites & Stories self-guided tour, along with maps and additional historical building information, will be housed on the Findlay Market website.
Organization: Experiencing Veterans & Artists Collaboration (EVAC) Project, Inc.
Project: EVAC Project Book
Community: Perrysburg, OH
Amount: $6,000
This proposal seeks to fund a digital catalog and book of EVAC Project interviews and artwork to celebrate Ohio veterans and artists. Using storytelling and art, the EVAC Project bridges the gap between civilians and veterans by educating the public about life in the military.
Organization: Friends of the St. Marys Theater
Project: From Auglaize County to Hollywood – A Celebration of two Early 20th Century Artists
Community: Auglaize County
Amount: $7,500
From Auglaize County to Hollywood: A Celebration of Two Early 20th Century Artists is a weekend event at the St. Marys Theater honoring the literary and cinematic contributions of William K. Howard and Jim Tully. Our program will consist of an educational and entertainment filled weekend involving a silent movie with organ accompaniment provided by a world-renowned musician, re-enacting a world premiere that was held at the St. Marys Theater in February of 1939, lectures, scholar performers portraying the life of Jim Tully and visual exhibits of illustrating Auglaize County life during the Howard and Tully’s life here and in Hollywood.
Organization: Friends of the Hartman Rock Garden
Project: Hartman Rock Garden Audio Tour
Community: Springfield
Amount: $10,000
The Hartman Rock Garden is plans to transform the visitor experience at our artist-built environment with the creation of an audio tour focused on ten of Ben Hartman’s most important Depression-era art relating to American History.
Organization: Caesar’s Ford Theatre, Inc.
Project: Shawnee Living History Tour, Phase III – Implementation/Production
Community: Xenia, OH
Amount: $27,000
The Shawnee Living History Tour project and concurrent educational program recounts the history of the Shawnee Nation in Southwest, Ohio through a series of events in outdoor venues. Participants will travel by bus to Caesar’s Ford Park, John Bryan State Park, Glen Helen Nature Preserve, and George Rogers Clark Park. Each site will offer an outdoor performance, where a variety of historical figures will recount how they lived, their connection to the land, and their connection to each other.
Organization: Taft Museum of Art
Project: Duncanson Program at the Taft Museum of Art
Community: Cincinnati
Amount: $35,000
Grant funds will be used to expand the Duncanson Artist in Residence program from a 2-week residency to year-round programming. The expanded program will: 1) celebrate the region’s cultural heritage by bringing awareness to the history of Robert S. Duncanson; 2) reach underrepresented and underserved communities; and 3) provide Black artists with opportunities to showcase their work.
Organization: Cincinnati Art Museum
Project: Ohio Originals at Cincinnati Art Museum – Charley Harper and Nancy Rexroth
Community: Cincinnati
Amount: $25,000
In Fall 2026, the Cincinnati Art Museum will mount major exhibitions illuminating the achievements and significance of two nationally important Ohio artists: photographer Nancy Rexroth (b. 1946) and illustrator Charley Harper (1922-2007). These concurrent exhibitions anchor the museum’s Fall 2026 focus on Ohio artists. Specifically, CAM requests AM250-OH support for these project activities: (a) Production of Rexroth multimedia didactics (b) Printing for exhibition of works by Nancy Rexroth (c) The Rexroth Project Assistantship.
Organization: Ohio National Road Association
Project: Reprint of Traveler’s Guide to the Historic National Road in Ohio – 4th Edition
Community: Zanesville
Amount: $7,500
This project will reprint the fourth edition of “A Traveler’s Guide to The Historic National Road in Ohio.” It includes printing and distributing 10,000 copies throughout the state at museums, libraries, schools, historical attractions, and visitors’ bureaus, as well as publishing online to the ONRA website with page-flipping software to enhance the digital viewing experience. A shareable curriculum sheet will also be created for educators to use with the booklet. That additional resource will highlight the 200th Anniversary of the road in 2025 and its significance and ties with AM250-OH themes.
Organization: Leadership Ohio
Project: Join In – Uniting Communities in Ohio
Community: Franklin County
Amount: $35,000
To counter the declared “epidemic of isolation and loneliness” in the US while working towards a more united Ohio, Leadership Ohio (LO) will show seven screenings of the new documentary Join or Die across all five regions of the state. The film highlights the importance of civic associations or “clubs” for creating community and strengthening democracy and is based on the research of Ohioan Robert Putnam. Working with partners, this project will touch Ohioans in 44 counties. Attendees will discuss the film’s themes and gain information about local clubs to join. LO, with expert historians, will create the Join In: Community Toolkit, which will highlight Ohio’s rich club history, share stories of past Ohioans who started clubs, and help current Ohioans start or join clubs all with the goals of highlighting points of pride and unity for our state’s residents.
Organization: University of Cincinnati Press
Project: “Thinking About Ohio” Book Series
Community: Hamilton County
Amount: $20,000
The University of Cincinnati Press will publish Thinking About Ohio, a series of paperback and open access books highlighting Ohio’s heritage, history, and innovation starting in 2025. The grant provides royalty advances for the first 8 authors placed signed, and peer review honoraria for these manuscripts, and funds to publish the first 3 in the series by June 2025. Also included are marketing efforts to achieve these results including publicizing the call for proposals and series using email campaigns to faculty and scholars, advertising on NPR and promotion at tabling at the 2024 Columbus Book Festival.
Organization: Miami University – Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum
Project: Culture Crops Photography Project
Community: Oxford, OH
Amount: $12,500
This project engages fine arts photographer Tina Gutierrez to conduct site visits to create photographic portraits that serve as a celebration of Ohio’s history and diversity of food growing communities. Culture Crops includes stories of Indigenous, immigrant, and local community and family farmers, and the history of the food they produce. The project raises awareness of the depth and breadth of Ohio residents and the land they cultivate across SW Ohio and beyond. The resulting series of photographic portraits and selected video interviews tell the stories of these present-day Ohioans, their experiences of food growing, and the history of food growing and farming traditions.
Organization: Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities
Project: From Mekoche to Mac-A-Cheek – Identity and Place
Community: Logan, OH
Amount: $20,000
This grant will fund a statewide campaign promoting a multi-faceted exploration of Ohio history. In consultation with Chief Glenna Wallace, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Chief Benjamin Barnes, Shawnee Tribe, the site will be a place for visitors to consider the meaning of identity for the Mekoche division of Shawnee living here in the 1700s and these tribes’ story of resilience. Recent research will be integrated into exhibits, tours, a children’s book, workshops, and free events.
Organization: Ohio Biological Survey
Project: The Heart of it All was the Start of it All – Celebrating Ohio’s Native Flora and Northwest Expansion
Community: Hilliard, OH
Amount: $30,000
The project centers on the legacy of Ohio’s natural heritage captured in the notes of the first surveyors to cross into this wilderness in the 1780s. The project highlights the stories of Thomas Hutchins and Rufus Putnam (the surveyors), whose teams provided vegetation data that is scientifically relevant today; builds on that data to create a free, digital, interactive vegetation map to inform research, education, and land-use planning; commemorates the important, often difficult stories of conflict between early settlers and indigenous people; and offers visitation to historically important natural areas. Deliverables (free, available statewide) include: a regional historic tour brochure, study guides, curated content on dedicated webpages, 7 public programs at state nature preserves, displays at 3 conferences, and interactive displays for 12-days of the 2024/2025 Ohio State Fairs.
Organization: Middletown Arts Center
Project: OhioReflections250 – Reflecting on Ohio’s Past to Illuminate our Future
Community: Butler County
Amount: $20,000
The OhioReflections250 Project (OR250 Project) is a collaborative endeavor illuminating Ohio’s rich history through the captivating lens of glass artistry. Led by the Middletown Arts Center (MAC) and the vision of master glass artist Darren Goodman, this ambitious project brings together community stakeholders, historians, educators, artists, and regional organizations to showcase Ohio’s profound impact on local, state, and national levels. By intertwining art and history, the OR250 Project seeks to foster a deeper understanding of Ohio’s past, celebrate its present achievements, and inspire a shared vision for the future.
Organization: Fort Recovery Historical Society
Project: Sharing a “New View” of Ohio’s Northwest Indian War Legacy
Community: Mercer County
Amount: $25,000
“Sharing a ‘New View’ of Ohio’s Northwest Indian War Legacy” is a proposal to reformat an NEH-funded exhibit to fit on 23 retractable panels. Fort Recovery Historical Society would like to print two sets of the panels: One to stay at Fort Recovery, and one to travel the state.
Organization: National First Ladies Library
Project: American Icons – The Untold Stories of Ohio’s First Ladies
Community: Canton
Amount: $37,500
“American Icons: The Untold Stories of Ohio’s First Ladies” aims to provide an interactive traveling exhibit focused on the untold and inspirational stories of how Ohio’s eight First Ladies have impacted our nation over the past 250 years. The exhibit will debut at the National First Ladies Library & Museum in Canton, Ohio, in June 2025 and will travel to numerous other presidential historic sites and cultural museums across the state during the America 250 celebration throughout 2026.
Organization: University of Cincinnati
Project: The Last Tribe in Ohio – The Wyandot Removal Trail
Community: Cincinnati
Amount: $22,500
The Wyandot Removal Trail will develop 1) a historic marker series across 13 Ohio communities; 2) community-engaged groundbreaking ceremonies; 3) a companion website with an interactive timeline and map, short biographical sketches, and resources for educators, students, and life-long learners. This project is a collaborative partnership between the Wyandotte Nation and the University of Cincinnati.
Organization: Westcott House Foundation
Project: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House – Past, Present & Future of an American Icon
Community: Springfield
Amount: $12,500
The celebration of America 250-Ohio coincides with the 20th anniversary of the completion of the major restoration and public opening of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House. The Westcott House plans to produce a documentary that reflects on the site’s fascinating and dramatic past; its significance and impact at the present, and the aspirations for this landmark’s ongoing relevance for future generations.
Organization: Norwood Together
Project: Norwood Indian Mound – Historic, Educational and Interpretive Markers and Placemaking Landscaping
Community: Hamilton County
Amount: $27,500
The Norwood Mound is an earthwork believed to be constructed by the Adena – a Pre-Columbian indigenous people. In 1875, the Mound was dedicated for public stewardship. The City plans to reverse this by highlighting the Mound and improving the adjoining park with an historical marker, an educational “History walk” and native plant landscaping.
Organization: Summit County Court of Common Pleas (General Division)
Project: Discovering Justice
Community: Akron
Amount: $17,500
This project aims to educate Ohioans about the American justice system through an innovative approach. Utilizing an activity book and community workshops, the program will delve into the workings of federal, state, and local courts. The highlight of this initiative will be three public mural displays in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas juror’s room. commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, focusing on the significance of the Juror’s Oath in safeguarding American freedom and justice. By engaging students and participants statewide in creative exercises, the project will foster a deeper understanding of the courts’ function and responsibilities.
Organization: WOSU Public Media
Project: Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks Digital Series
Community: Columbus
Amount: $30,000
The project will produce a digital video series on the history of the Hopewell Culture and their Ceremonial Earthworks, which were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in September 2023. This series will illuminate the Ohio Hopewell sites, including the Great Circle and the Octagon in Newark, Fort Ancient in Warren County, and 5 National Park Service sites in Chillicothe-Mound City, Hopeton Earthworks, High Banks Works, Hopewell Mound Group, and Seip Earthworks.