COLUMBUS — On Tuesday, America 250-Ohio, the official state commission charged with leading Ohio’s recognition of the semiquincentennial, awarded $600,000 in grants for 61 community-based projects as part of the commission’s second funding cycle. More than 170 organizations throughout the state submitted applications for the second round of the grants program, which is managed in partnership with Ohio Humanities. Projects funded in this round must be completed between June 15, 2024 through May 31, 2025.
Projects in the region that received funding include:
Southeast Ohio History Center, in Athens, will receive funds to create an event called “Defining American Liberty — New Perspectives on the Fort Gower Resolves.” On Nov. 5, 1774, a group of American officers who had taken part in Lord Dunmore’s War gathered at Fort Gower on the banks of the Hockhocking River. There, they drafted a series of resolves that articulate their defense of American rights and privileges, while still professing loyalty to King George III. In honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Fort Gower Resolves, the Southeast Ohio History Center is planning a two-day commemorative event that will include educational programing with schools on Nov. 8, 2024, and a conference hosted at the History Center on Nov. 9, 2024. The conference will include speakers who will put the Fort Gower Resolves in a broader context of Lord Dunmore’s War, the Enlightenment ideas of the time period, and their effects on American Indian’s struggle for independence in the Ohio Country.The Village of Chauncey will receive funds for a mural depicted the village’s history. Grant funds will be used to paint an historical mural on the side of the Chauncey Village Hall on Converse Street.Little Cities of Black Diamonds will receive funds for Little Cities Day Festival in Perry County. Little Cities Day will be a coordinated multi-site festival of regional history. It will take place Oct. 12, 2024 in the villages of Corning and Rendville in Perry County. The event will feature talks, musical performances, an exhibit hall and tours of local historic landmarks. Content from the event will also be shared online for virtual attendance.Meigs County Commissioners will receive funds for a DAR America 250-Meigs County Revolutionary War Patriot Marker to be built in Chester. The project is to place a DAR America 250 Patriot Marker on the grounds of the oldest standing courthouse in the Northwest Territory, in Chester. Landscaping will be completed, with the possible addition of bricks displaying the individual names of the soldiers. An unveiling ceremony involving local historical societies and veterans’ organizations will take place on Memorial Day 2025.
Additional grants will fund artistic, historical, and educational endeavors throughout the state, and support numerous public events.
“The breadth and depth of the projects being submitted for grant consideration has been nothing short of astonishing,” said Todd Kleismit, executive director at the America 250-Ohio Commission. “America 250-Ohio is honored to play a role in helping bring about community-driven initiatives that will enhance the historical and cultural legacy of our great State for the next 250 years.”
America 250-Ohio has awarded a total of approximately $1 million to 85 organizations across the state. To be eligible, parties were required to be non-profits registered within the State of Ohio, educational, and local governmental organizations located in Ohio. Individual artists, authors, or performers were required to apply through a non-profit fiscal agent/sponsor. Complete information on the grants program is online at America250-Ohio.org/grants/.
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