Minutes from the April 10, 2017 meeting of Museums and Historical Sites of
Greater Cincinnati
The meeting was called to order by President Aashi Mital at the Delhi Fire
Museum at 10:00 a.m. Those in attendance were: Aashi Mital; Adam Wanter,
MidPointe Library; Cora Arney, Delhi Historical Society and the Betts House;
Mary Finn, Delhi Historical Society; Peg Schmidt, Delhi Historical Society;
Kerry Wood, William Howard Taft National Historic Site; Louis W. Trent,
Anderson Township Historical Society; Betsy Kruthoffer, Lloyd Library; Bill
Dichtl, Heritage Village Museum; Ed Creighton, Governor Bebb Preserve; Kathy
Creighton, Butler County Historical Society; Rich Spence, Friends of White
Water Shaker Village; Bay Warren, Over the Rhine Museum; and Kathryn
Gibbons, Harriett Beecher Stowe House.
Treasurer Ed Creighton handed out copies of the list of paid members, minus
anyone who had paid via PayPal, which he can't access. Aashi will handle
getting into the PayPal account. MHS had no outstanding bills.
The minutes were approved as sent.
Adam Wanter stated that 5-6 organizations are having WW I exhibits and he
requested information on them for the MHS flyer.
The Marketing Committee has requested that all members check their
information on our website and send Aashi any changes. You must join the
listserve to get meeting information. Also they asked everyone to complete
the membership survey that was sent out a month ago.
The membership committee's next meeting will be at the Cincinnati
Observatory on April 24 at 10:00 a.m.
Ed Creighton reported on the Ohio Local History Alliance meeting in March.
He stated that many commented that it was a good meeting and had better than
average attendance. Ed was elected to a full term as a Region 8 Director
(he had been appointed in December 2016). OLHA is trying to grow its
membership in Region 8. The annual meeting will be in October.
Old Business:
The committees are currently working hard.
New Business:
Ed Creighton reminded everyone that the W.E. Smith Family Trust grants are
due April 15 and include members from the Tri-State area. He reported that
the Smith Trust really liked sponsoring the History Tent that we did for two
years and are opening to sponsoring a similar type event in the future.
Museum Day is being considered for Fall 2018. A committee is being
organized to explore putting this event together. If you are interested in
serving on the committee, let Aashi know.
The members present reported on what's going on at their institution.
Harriett Beecher Stowe house reported that they will have a concert on April
29 from 7-9 p.m. at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Cincinnati. Jay
Unger and Molly Mason are the headlining act. June 11 will be the Harriett
Beecher Stow Birthday Party.
Over the Rhine announced a concert and silent auction on April 19 and
tickets were still available. They also needed to borrow easels for the
event.
Friends of White Water Shakers announced that their annual meeting was well
attended and was held at the Fernald Preserve. Thomas Grooms was the
speaker from Ohio History Alliance. The site will be open on Memorial Day
in conjunction with the Crosby Township Celebration.
Butler County Historical Society reported that their WW I exhibit is opening
April 22. Dr. George Vasick will be speaking on The Road to War at 1:00
p.m. They have had so much material come in that they are considering doing
a book on Butler County and WW I.
Heritage Village announced several upcoming events. April 22-23 will be
"Spring in Cincinnati" that includes a military muster. April 29 will be
the opening of their new exhibit on the removal of the Native Americans from
Ohio in the 1840s. They will be having an art auction on May 13. On June
3, they will host a Beer Baron's Bash that will include beer sampling, a
Cincinnati Brewery Exhibit, talk on the history of Cincinnati Breweries and
a silent auction and raffle.
The Lloyd Library has a new exhibit opening in insects in South America in
the early 1800s and an upcoming lecture on June 16. They are also working
on a new website.
Anderson Township Historical Society opens for the season on May 7, and they
are open the first and third Sundays of the month. May 13 will be their
annual plant sale. They are working to stabilize their facilities with
plans to open more buildings in the future.
The William Howard Taft House hosted Steve Chabbot for a special private
tour in April. They also hosted an Easter Egg Hunt in April.
Delhi Historical Society is hosting a lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Murray on the
archaeological work being done at Music Hall. The have an exhibit on the
1937 Flood in Cincinnati. They will be hosting a flower sale and a bus tour
to New Richmond in May.
The Betts House has opened the exhibit "A Day in a Life". There will be
bread making demonstration this weekend and a walking tour the weekend of
April 22.
MidPointe Library is hosting a program on Samuel Augspurger on April 20, and
a talk on the Native American Cultures of the Miami Valley on April 13.
The continuing education program was a round table discussion on how
organizations need to tell their story. The discussion was started by
considering the following three questions:
. Did you meet your year-end fundraising goals?
. What does your organization do better than anyone else?
. What do you want people to say about your organization?
We then were asked to thing about three questions, and what we want people
to know about our organizations.
Some points that were made:
. You need to concentrate on a core challenge - what you do and what
you do best - this is your focus story
. You need to be emotionally connected to your organization
. You need to ask your donors and past donors for testimonials
. You need to humanize your story
. You get a better response from a written message rather than an
e-mail
. Look for founding and impact stories
You need to stay genuine and passionate on your message and you must be
flexible and adaptive.
You MUST FOLLOW THROUGH!
Following the round table discussion, we toured the Delhi Township Fire
Museum.
Respectively submitted,
Kathy Creighton
Kathy Creighton
Executive Director
Butler County Historical Society
327 N. Second Street
Hamilton, OH 45011
513-896-9930
