[MassHistPres] Town Funding for Historical Societies

[Joyce Anderson]

Hello Everyone,
First, I would like to say how much I appreciate this forum. It is always helpful to share concerns and questions with others involved in the goal of preservation. 

My question arises from the role that historical societies play and whether or not the town should assist the them financially. Since the 1920’s, the Princeton Historical Society, has been privately funded by donations. Currently we are renting space in a town-owned building where we are paying over $2,000 a year in rent to the town. This space is used to display our town artifacts, including important historical documents. We have a small endowment but need to use some of that to pay our rent, so over time, the endowment has dwindled.

My question is, would it be realistic to expect the town to help fund a portion of our rent, and how can we go about changing a precedent that has been set? Are there any historical societies, that you know of, that have financial assistance from the town? Our goal would be to have the town pay our rent (or a portion of it) to help sustain the Princeton Historical Society.

Sincerely,
Joyce Anderson
Princeton Historical Commission, past chair, and Princeton Historical Society, board member

Joyce Anderson
jabanderson at gmail.com



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