History(TM) Announces Save Our History Grants

History(TM) Announces Save Our History Grants

11 Communities Awarded Grants To Preserve Their Local History

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- History(TM) today announced that eleven organizations across the country will receive Save Our History preservation grants in an effort to help communities preserve their local history. Each winning organization, with the support of their cable affiliates, will use the grants to fund innovative, educational projects designed to bring communities together and actively engage young people in the safekeeping of their local heritage for future generations. This year History has committed over $100,000 dollars in support of eleven outstanding initiatives which have been awarded grants of up to $10,000 each. History will also award three Save Our History Block Grants later this year in amounts totaling more than $10,000 each.

History, with the counsel of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) and the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH), created the Save Our History Grant Program as an extension of the Save Our History initiative. Save Our History is committed to inspiring and motivating local communities to learn about and take an active role in the preservation of their past through projects involving artifacts, oral histories, sites, museums or landmarks that exist in their own neighborhoods. A few of the projects include:

-- California: The Redlands Conservancy will partner with 4th grade
students in the community to preserve the Zanja connection - an 189
year-old irrigation system dug by local Indians. The Conservancy will
work with students to create and install 30 historic site markers
along the Zanja, marking historic events and locations. High School
students will photograph and create the text graphics for a slide show
of the Zanja, which will be distributed to every 4th Grade teacher for
inclusion in the existing local history curriculum.

-- Virginia: The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, with the
assistance of local historians and archivists, will partner with
Charlottesville High School government teachers to educate students
taking Government and Leadership classes in how to conduct historical
research using primary source documents from their community. Students
will document and preserve the voices of individuals who lived during
the turbulent years of desegregation in Charlottesville by collecting
oral histories. The final product, hosted by the Albemarle
Charlottesville Historical Society, will include a museum exhibition
as well as an online site consisting of oral histories, photographs
and copies of School Board primary source documents.

-- Wisconsin: The Neville Public Museum, Preble High School and the
University of Wisconsin (UW)-Green Bay will digitize and make
accessible an archival collection of 1,721 records relating to local
soldiers from World War I. Together with the Museum, students from
Preble High School and UW-Green Bay will scan the entire archival
collection and through a UW system database, the collection will be
put online. Utilizing this information Preble High School teachers
will develop educational lesson plans, deploy them, and access them in
a 9th grade social studies class and a 12th grade AP History class.
The records will also be featured prominently in the Preble High
School curriculum. The Neville Public Museum will ask the high school
students to choose artifacts from the museum's WWI collection for an
exhibit opening in June 2009, and will involve volunteer students as
"guest experts" in the local history workshop.

In addition to these projects, History is also awarding Save Our History grants to historic organizations in Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee, Louisiana and Montana.

"History is proud to recognize the outstanding work of all of our grant recipients. These Save Our History projects exemplify the dedication and creativity needed to preserve our communities' pasts. These students, teachers and organizations are saving history not just for today but for the future as well. Involving new generations in the importance of history and preservation is the key," stated Dr. Libby O'Connell, SVP Corporate Outreach and Chief Historian, History.

Since its inception in 2004, Save Our History educational grant projects made lasting impressions on thousands of participating students. Achieving a goal of instilling a sense of responsibility and pride in their communities, many students have not only expressed great excitement about their involvement, but some students have even volunteered for project-related initiatives outside the scope and timeline of the program. In its inaugural year, a Save Our History project in Cleveland saw student attendance during this program increase to nearly 100% each day. In 2006, projects in Miami, New York, Phoenix and Augusta, GA received commendations from the mayors of each respective city, and still other projects, such as The Black Damask Project in Baltimore, will extend indefinitely, apart from the Save Our History program. Overall, History, together with its cable partners, has committed over a million dollars towards Save Our History projects as of the 2008 - 2009 calendar years.

Historic organizations interested in receiving funding for preservation projects developed with local schools or youth groups are encouraged to apply for a 2009/2010 Save Our History Grant. Applications will be available beginning in early 2009.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors is an independent, nonprofit service that helps donors to create thoughtful, effective philanthropy throughout the world. RPA provides research and counsel on charitable giving, develops philanthropic programs, and offers complete program, administrative and management services for foundations and trusts. In 2006, RPA advised on and managed more than $150 million in annual giving in more than 30 countries. For more information visit www.rockpa.org.

About AASLH

AASLH was born in 1904 as a part of the American Historical Association. Over one hundred years later, AASLH is the only national association dedicated to the people and organizations that practice state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all Americans. These history organizations are American leaders in preserving, researching, and interpreting traces of the past to connect the people, thoughts, and events of yesterday with the creative memories and abiding concerns of people, communities, and our nation today. History organizations are foremost education institutions, and they excel in creating the enlightened, engaged citizenry that the founders envisioned. From its headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH provides a variety of programs and services, as well as leadership in the national arena.

About Save Our History Educational Materials

History(TM), in collaboration with leading educators from the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), developed a comprehensive Educator's Manual containing standards-based lesson plans, enrichment activities, and resources that help elementary, middle and high school teachers connect American History content to their local history. The manual guides teachers to engage students in hands-on, experiential preservation projects. The Educator's Manual is supplemented by Save Our History lesson plans available to educators who register online to receive them at www.saveourhistory.com. To date, more than 60,000 educators at schools, youth groups, history museums, and historic sites have used the educational materials to teach over 1.8 million students about their local history and the importance of preserving it.

About Save Our History

Save Our History is an Emmy(R) Award-winning strategic initiative of History(TM) that launched in 1998, designed to further historic preservation and history education. The program supplements the teaching of history in America's classrooms, educates the public on the importance of historical preservation and motivates communities across the country to help save endangered local historic treasures. The Save Our History campaign includes original documentaries, special teachers materials, national promotion on History(TM), broadband activities in schools, and has worked with The Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National World War II Memorial, American Rivers and The White House 200th Anniversary.

Additional information about the grassroots Save Our History program, including a comprehensive school manual containing suggested lesson plans for grades two through 12 and details about working with local preservation organizations can also be found at www.saveourhistory.com.

History(TM) and History HD(TM) are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning, original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connects history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the networks' program offerings are hit series such as Ax Men, Battle 360, The Universe, Cities of The Underworld and Ice Road Truckers, as well as acclaimed specials including King, Life After People, 1968 With Tom Brokaw, Lost Book of Nostradamus, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed and Sherman's March. History has earned four Peabody Awards, three Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 10 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take A Veteran to School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. History's website, located at www.History.com, is the definitive historical online source that delivers entertaining and informative content featuring broadband video, interactive timelines, maps, games podcasts and more.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: History

CONTACT: Cara Tocci, +1-212-210-9083, Cara.tocci@aetn.com, or Heather
DiRubba, +1-212-210-9760, heather.dirubba@aetn.com, both for History

Web Site: http://www.history.com/
http://www.rockpa.org/
http://www.saveourhistory.com/

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