Grants will be used to fund revitalization project, part-time staff salaries
DEARBORN – The Dearborn Historical Museum was awarded grants from the Michigan Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Michigan Humanities awarded the museum a Humanities Organizations Pandemic Emergency grant for $5,000 in September. The grant is being applied toward part-time staff salaries and to avoid utilization of the museum’s limited savings.
The museum also received this grant for $6,600 as part of CARES Act funding in May 2020. Funding for both grants has been provided by Michigan Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the American Rescue Plan.
For more information on Michigan Humanities, go to www.michiganhumanities.org.
In addition, the museum received a $10,000 grant in October from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to be used toward revamping and revitalizing the Historical Museum’s Commandant’s Quarters. Originally constructed in 1833, the Commandant’s Quarters is Dearborn’s oldest building in its original location, and a member of the National Register of Historic Places. It opened as a museum just over 71 years ago in October 1950.
Through the IMLS grant, the Historical Museum is pursuing a long-term goal of revamping the museum into a more traditional and inclusive space with rooms covering different eras and topics of Dearborn history, including Henry Ford and automotive history, the city’s history as a center of immigration and more.
“We really feel like we’ve been generating some positive momentum at the Historical Museum,” said Paul Talpos, assistant chief curator. “It’s so great to have these grants helping us continue that momentum.
“We’re so excited to be able to tell the whole history of Dearborn. We’ve done a good job of focusing on the arsenal, but there are so many other Dearborn stories we’re going to be able to tell.”
This is the first time in the museum’s 70-year history that it has received a grant from the IMLS.
“We would like to thank Michigan Humanities, the ILMS, as well as all of our elected officials whose support made the American Rescue Plan possible,” Talpos said.
To learn more about the Dearborn Historical Museum and its programming, go to www.thedhm.com or call 313-565-3000.