Special to 1812Blockhouse
Since 2013, the Ohio History Fund has made 94 grants in nearly 40 counties totaling approximately $870,000. Proving there is a strong need for the program, it has received over 430 grant proposals totaling $5.3 million in requests.
This year, the City of Shelby was a recipient.
Money for the grants comes from citizens, who can help in three ways: 1) contributing a portion of a state income tax refund to the Ohio History Fund, line 26 on Ohio’s tax return, 2) purchasing Ohio History “mastodon” license plates, and 3) making a direct gift to the Ohio History Connection for the Ohio History Fund. The more everyone contributes, the more grants are made.
Grants recipients are announced at the annual Statehood Day event. Ohio Statehood Day is March 1.
The City of Shelby received $2,967 for its “Shelby City Council Minutes Digitization Project.”
The city will digitize and transcribe approximately 5,800 pages of city council minutes, incorporation record and ordinances spanning 1863-1934. The 13 volumes containing these records are fragile and grant funds will pay a professional digitization company to complete the work.
The goal of the project is to make the information in these primary sources accessible, as they record details about the beginnings of the community up to its early years as a small city. Little has been written about the city’s history, but this project will make an effort easier by providing digital access to these records.
Source: Ohio History Connection
