Apply for the second Activating 21st Century Local History cohort!

The Activating 21st Century Local History is a program that partners the Vermont Historical Society with local historical societies to help them develop advanced skills in approaching their work from within an Active Collections framework. The goal is to help them establish collections priorities, right-size their collections, and energize their community engagement strategies to help increase organizational sustainability and ensure the continuing preservation of local history.  

The program launched in the fall of 2024, and included the Bixby Memorial Library (Vergennes) and the historical societies of Brookfield, Sharon, Thetford , and Waterbury in the initial cohort. That cohort has completed their work, and VHS is now accepting applications for the next. If your local historical society is looking to revitalize your collecting priorities and tell meaningful stories about your town, you'd be a great fit for this program. A previous virtual Information Session was held on October 21, 2024 via Zoom, and you can watch a recording here. 

Applications are due on Friday, November 14th, and you can find out more here.  

This project has been funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (Grant 21MP-256386-OMS-24). In April 2025, we received notice that the grant was terminated. In May 2025, the grant was reinstated in response to a temporary court injunction, which is still in effect as of October 2025. The long-term status of federal project funding is still unclear. We are grateful to multiple donors, including Marilyn Blackwell, and Lola van Wagenen & George Burrill, who contributed to sustaining the program.