Small Museums Scholarship Application
2015 AASLH Annual Meeting and Online Conference
Louisville, Kentucky
DEADLINE: 12 June 2015
The American Association for State and Local History will hold its Annual Meeting and Online Conference in Louisville, Kentucky from 16-20 September 2015. This year’s theme – The Power of Possibility – examines the personal, communal, and organizational journeys that lead to vibrancy, authenticity, social change, and sustainability.
Small museum stars Janice Klein and Lisa Anderson pose with History Hound at the Minnesota Historical Society during the 2014 AASLH Annual Conference
Unfortunately, many working in our nation’s small museums feel as if we can only dream of attending this meeting. In a perfect world, boards would grant every request to fund our professional development. Institutions of modest means, however, may not have the resources to help us become effective stewards of our community’s memory.
Websites, listservs, and social media constantly offer new sources of technical and psychological support, but nothing is better than the face-to-face fellowship of sharing survival strategies. Every year, increasing numbers of Annual Meeting sessions address issues specifically affecting small museums. These sessions can be as practical and wide-ranging as training, marketing, and strategic planning. Other sessions focus on creative ways to forge and re-energize relationships with the surrounding community.
Now in its tenth year, AASLH’s Small Museums Committee is offering scholarships to any AASLH members who are full-time, part-time, paid, or volunteer employees of small museums. Each $500 scholarship will cover the cost of the conference registration and the Small Museums luncheon. Any remaining funds may be used to offset travel and/or lodging expenses.
To qualify, the applicant must work for a museum with a budget of $250,000 or less. They also must be either an individual AASLH member or work for an institutional member. Application instructions are available here.
The deadline for applications is 12 June. The committee will notify award winners through email by 29 June. For questions, please contact Bruce Teeple, Small Museum Scholarship Subcommittee Chair.
