As I was writing the headline for this blog, I had to wonder at what point I might have to start referring to the “depression.” I shudder to think of all the devastation that will surely come about as the result of what’s still to come.
The Ohio Historical Society receives 60 to 70 percent of its funding from the state government. According to published reports, the budget put forth by the State of Ohio for Historical Society funding has already shrunk 13% in this decade, from $13.8 million in fiscal 2001 to $12 million in fiscal 2009. The society’s budget has been cut every year for the past 7 to 8 years, reducing full-time staff totals from about 400 a decade ago to 235 today. And with tax revenues continuing to decrease, the state will have less money to spend next year on such frivolous things as historic preservation (I say that with tongue in cheek). But it’s a fact that the cash for non-entitlements is going to continue to shrink.
According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch of March 29, the Ohio Historical Society has furloughed employees and closed many sites this week. Some places may reopen on Saturday – others are scheduled to reopen Monday. The Society has also eliminated 25 positions (both full and part time).
A number of sites will operate with reduced hours, with many open only on weekends. Ohio historical sites are not to be seen from Sunday through Thursday this year. The Society says that it will close the last of its 18 staffed sites this July unless it receives an additional $1.2 million in state funding beyond what is currently proposed.
As an example, Campus Martius and the Ohio River Museum will close without more funding. The idea of getting local partners who would be willing and able to operate historic sites has been bounced around. A number for groups (like the D.A.R.) are out there that are willing to step in and volunteer their time – but coming up with cash to cover the inevitable shortfalls might be more difficult.
This is all coming at at a time that we need to be putting more resources into historic preservation. According to a short article (titled “Ohio’s struggle to save documents”) in the March 3, 2009 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio State Archivist, Jelain Chubb, worries that a vast number of the documents from the 1990s and first decade of this century will be lost unless changes are made within the system. Electronic data is an issue our forefathers didn’t have to deal with. We do…
Thanks to John H. Ramey for the clipping from the March 4, 2009 Akron Beacon Journal.
For more information, see the March 31, 2008 edition of the Marietta Register.
Also see: the March 29, 2009 edition of the Columbus Dispatch.
