Saving History
The Museum spends over $100,000 annually to support digital initiatives that continue to grow as the need for online access to resources and programming increases.
Our goal this year is to raise $50,000 for digital preservation. $10,000 in matching funds have been received to encourage giving.
The McLean County Museum of History is committed to preserving, educating, and collaborating in sharing the diverse history of this county.
To do so, we ask for your financial support to meet the demands of the digital age that such high-quality programming requires.
The Museum spends over $100,000 annually to support digital initiatives that continue to grow as the need for online access to resources and programming increases.
Your contribution will support:
Digitizing prints, photos, and documents from the Museum’s archives, including the Pantagraph Negatives Collection
Creating a virtual rendition of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk for schools, senior centers, and more
Providing livestream programming of Lunch and Learns, talks, readings, and community events
Updating and expanding our website and online Social Justice Walking Tour
Continuing to upload items from our collection to an online database, making the 18,000 objects and millions of archival items that we hold in our collection accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time
The importance of high-quality digital programming was accentuated by the pandemic. We live in a new age.
Livestreaming our programming not only allows remove viewing, but also records the program for future discovery.
Haitham Eid, Director of the MA in Museum Studies Program at Southern University at New Orleans, writes,
“...the effective utilization of digital in the museum context can amplify marginalized voices, disseminate facts and reliable information, cultivate community responses, share lived experiences, and encourage collective actions across diverse groups of people”
American Alliance of Museums, 2022.
Actress Jennifer Rusk portraying Ella Lee Stokes gets a laugh from Evergreen Cemetery Walk attendees. Producing a virtual option increases access to this educational event.
Our goal this year is to raise $50,000 for digital preservation.
$10,000 in matching funds have been received to encourage giving.
Saving Y(our) History! #savinghistory
Please contact the Development Office for additional information.