History Skills Workshops®

Due to current circumstances and social distancing, all workshops will be REMOTE ACCESS ONLY until further notice.

You can enjoy the content from the comfort and safety of your home. Connecting is easy! Instructions for remote access will be e-mailed to participants in advance.

These training opportunities help historical organizations and interested history advocates gain skills that can be applied in museums, organizations, and personal collections.

If you are a personal member of HSM or represent an organization that itself is a member of the Society, registration is $39 .

of HSM or represent an organization that itself is a member of the Society, . Registration for nonmembers is $79 and includes a one-year HSM Household Membership .

and a one-year HSM Household . New for 2020: Our Doubleheader sessions offer a workshop in the morning and another in the afternoon on related topics. You can sign up for either the morning or the afternoon OR register for the whole day, and double your training experience. HSM members who take both workshops on Doubleheader days receive a special price of $59! Nonmembers, $118.

Registration closes at noon the day BEFORE the scheduled workshop.

If you can watch and listen to a video on YouTube or Facebook, you have all the technology you need to join us remotely.*

Materials are included with your registration. Any handouts from the presenter will be sent to remote attendees after the workshop.

*Instructions on how to remote-in to the workshop will be sent to attendees several days before each workshop.

Saturday,

September 19 Raising Funds Doubleheader This workshop is only available through remote access. Morning: 9 a.m. to noon Bringing in the Bucks: Grant Writing 101 with Caitlyn Perry Dial, Michigan State University “Just write a grant for it!” That’s easy to say, but why do some grants win approval while others are turned down? This workshop will show how small museums and historical organizations can fund collections, planning, and programming projects by writing successful grant applications to local, state, and national funders. Saturday,

September 19 Raising Funds Doubleheader This workshop is only available through remote access. Afternoon: 1 to 4 p.m. Putting the Fun in Fundraising with Paul Keep, Historical Society of Michigan Come to learn the fundamentals of raising money and maximizing results. This workshop will discuss improving your fund-raising efforts, developing a fund-raising plan, expanding your donor base, and finding new donors. The presenter will also review how to create a compelling message that will engage potential donors. Friday,

September 25

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. Demystifying Museum Registration Methods with Sarah Hume, Grand Rapids Public Museum What numbering system should we use? Where do you write the numbers? How do you apply the numbers, and with what? What is Chenhall’s Nomenclature? If these questions sound familiar, this workshop is for you. An experienced registrar will demystify museum registration methods and help you catalog collections the right way. Friday,

October 9

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. A Stitch in Time: Identifying and Preserving Quilts with Marsha McDowell, Michigan State University Museum Do you have quilts in your museum collections or ones that were handed down in your family? These unique folk art items require special care. What patterns did the quilt makers use, and what can they tell us? Learn how to identify and preserve these stitched artifacts in this workshop. Friday,

October 23 My Old House Doubleheader This workshop is only available through remote access. Morning: 9 a.m. to noon Respectful Rehabilitation of Your Historic House with David Muylle, Muylle Enterprises You can restore and renovate your old house without turning it into a museum. In this workshop, an experienced contractor will teach you how to renovate your own historic home—retaining its timeless beauty and keeping it true to its character—yet make it still livable for the twenty-first century. Friday,

October 23 My Old House Doubleheader This workshop is only available through remote access. Afternoon: 1 to 4 p.m. If These Walls Could Talk: Researching Your Historic House with Cassandra Nelson, Preservation Lansing Every house or building has a great story to tell. In this workshop, you will learn how to uncover house histories, including who built them and when, their architectural styles, and the stories of the families who called them home. After that, you will learn what to do with that information. Friday,

November 6

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. Getting Seen and Being Heard: Marketing for Small History Organizations with Nancy Feldbush, Historical Society of Michigan Encore presentation: Nowadays, you need to be a Jack-(or Jill)-of-all-trades to communicate with visitors, members, and the general public. It can be daunting, especially if you haven’t had much practice working in that area. This workshop will offer suggestions for sprucing up your marketing efforts so your messages can get seen and be heard. Friday,

November 13

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. Archives 101 with Megan Badgley-Malone, Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections This workshop is designed for small organizations that struggle with how to preserve and organize archival materials in their collections. The speaker will discuss proper storage and handling of collections, basic arrangement techniques, and affordable solutions for supplies and enclosures, along with making archival materials accessible to researchers, students, and the general public. Friday,

November 20

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. Keeping Cemeteries Alive! Preserving Headstones and Monuments with Jessie Lasorda, Rediscovered History and Loretta Stanaway, Memorial Minders Cemeteries contain an abundance of historical information, but those stories can be lost if the cemetery is in disarray. The speakers will discuss the importance of preserving, maintaining, and enhancing cemeteries. Participants will learn how to establish a “friend group” for preservation and relationships with governing agencies for the purpose of maintenance. Friday,

December 4

9 a.m. to noon

This workshop is only available through remote access. Picture This: Digitizing Photographs 101 with Ken Hafeli, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library (Ret.) This program covers scanners, digitizing photographs to TIFF and JPEG formats, and editing using software such as Adobe Photoshop. The presenter will also discuss scanning documents to PDF using Optical Character Recognition, which allows any part of the scanned page to be copied and become editable text.

Refunds will not be issued for cancellations less than one week before each workshop. Your registration fee can be transferred to another workshop in the series within one year of the date of your original workshop registration.



History Skills Workshops Registration Form