The Luzerne County Historical Society’s headquarters, located in this 1876 building on South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, are seen on Friday. The group, founded and formally known as The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, has received a $30,000 federal grant.
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society — more commonly known as the Luzerne County Historical Society — has received a $30,000 in federal funding that will assist with retaining staff and other needs.
The award, which comes in the form of a National Endowment for the Humanities CARES Act economic stabilization grant, was announced this week by U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic.
It will enable the society to retain three full-time and part-time staff positions and technical consultation to oversee collection digitization and virtual outreach activities.
“While working from home during the quarantine, staff realized how little access there was to our historical documents, photos and artifacts,” said Mary Walsh, Interim Director, Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. “The NEH funding gives us the opportunity to retain all four staff members who will digitize items from our collection and make them available on our website. We thank Congressman Cartwright for his support and are very grateful to receive this funding.”
This award is one of 317 grants made nationwide that will allow cultural organizations to retain staff to preserve and curate humanities collections, advance humanities research, and maintain buildings and core operations, a release from Cartwright’s office said.
The Pennsylvania Humanities Council, which supports the arts and humanities across the Commonwealth, also received $792,000 through the NEH CARES Act funding to state and jurisdictional humanities councils.
“The arts and cultural organizations help us create a sense of community,” Cartwright said. “They also amplify our hospitality and tourism industries, which are just recently opening to an eager public. This grant will help sustain the Historical Society and its part enhancing our regional offerings and preserving our culture and history.”
Founded in May 1858, The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society is the oldest county historical society in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Its offerings include exhibits, events, lectures and tours at its museum, library and historic houses, as well as stewardship of a comprehensive local history collection of objects and documents.
For more information, visit https://luzernehistory.org/.
