It has collaborated with numerous civic organizations in Henryetta, and has advertised the town on statewide television and placed brochures in all of Oklahoma’s Tourism Centers. It is Henryetta’s representative to Green Country, and promotes local businesses with business member maps at the Museum. In 2006, it is sponsoring “Dee Boone Days” as a celebration of Henryetta’s heritage and as a means to bring tourism to Henryetta.
The Henryetta Historical Society received ten grants in 2005 alone, and over twenty grants in the last five years. It will be opening the $50,000 Hardin Permanent Photograph Exhibit to coincide with Dee Boone Days on October 14th and 15th. This exhibit has been funded under National Endowment for the Humanities’ We the People initiative with additional major funding by the Sam Viersen Family Foundation, Sarkeys Foundation and Inasmuch Foundation.
The Leadership in History Award of Merit will be presented in September at the Annual Conference of the American Association for State and Local History in Phoenix, Arizona.
Henryetta's Museum Receives
Prestigious National Award
The Henryetta Territorial Museum, which has already received significant state and national recognition, has been selected as the only museum in the state of Oklahoma to receive one of the highest national awards in the museum field, the prestigious Leadership in History Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).
“This is a great day for Henryetta and for all of Oklahoma,” said Henryetta Historical Society President Mike Doak.
The AASLH Awards Program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout North America. The Leadership in History Award honors significant achievement in the field of local history, and brings public recognition to small and large organizations, institutions, and programs that contribute to this arena.
The Henryetta Historical Society, which operates the Territorial Museum, was founded in 1982 by Pauline Hudson and other community-minded individuals to preserve Henryetta’s 1905 one-room school. The historic structure was moved to what is now Pauline Hudson Territorial Park, restored by local craftsmen, and opened to the public as Henryetta’s museum in 1985.
Since its inception, the Historical Society has been a leader in the community. The Territorial Museum has become one of Oklahoma’s highest awarded museums in the past three years. Its curator, Ed Hudson, was awarded the 2005 Oklahoma Heritage Distinguished Service Award for State and Local History, and earlier this year it received a Governor’s Commendation from Governor Brad Henry for its achievements. The group has become Henryetta’s largest and most active civic organization, and has more than 250 individual, family and business members.
The Society brings music, art and literature to Henryetta on a regular basis. It brought the Arkansas State Bluegrass Champions to Henryetta, held fifteen book signings in three years, and has held art exhibits. It has for over 20 years brought first graders to the Territorial Museum for a “Children’s Christmas” introduction to museums. It rescued and preserved the Joseph W. Hardin Photography Collection, recognized as of “national significance” in a 2003 Heritage Preservation Conservation Assessment Program survey. The organization was one of only 45 nominees nationwide accepted to compete for the 2005 Institute for Museum and Library Services National Service Award.