Tulsa Historical Society

Programs: It is an honor and certainly a privilege to serve as the executive director of the tulsa historical society & museum. I have been employed by ths for almost 17 years and have definitely seen growth and change. I am grateful for our board, our members, our volunteers and especially a professional staff. The ths staff continues to amaze me, thrill me, educate me and definitely broaden my horizons. Our community is in a much better place because of their commitment to telling all of tulsas stories of all cultures and economic classes. In october 2013, the ths executive committee, some former board presidents, and staff met to develop a long range plan. With the help of a facilitator the following initiatives were identified and subsequently approved by the board for adoption & implementation. This strategic plan was revisited in the fall of 2015 and a recommitment was made to these same five initiatives. 1. Take care of our fiscal position2. Take care of our physical facility3. Become a respected research repository4. Enhance our technology5. Expand our education initiativesour board, staff and volunteers work day in and day out to fulfill our mission by implementing this long range plan. 1. Fiscal house like other non-profits, we are certainly having our challenges in raising operating budgets. In discussions with other local, national and international organizations, i find that we are all experiencing about a 30% short fall. The really good news is that, unlike many other institutions, we are debt free. We have almost $685,000 of funds in either restricted or unrestricted funds that could be used in a variety of ways to either fund or supplement some of our operations. While this is not my desire, nor the desire of the board, it is an option. Operational cuts are being considered and a reduced 2017 budget will be submitted at the december board meeting. Thank you to our board treasurer, paul nelson and our cpa kelly kirby for being ever vigilant to make sure we adhere to best non-profit practices. 2. Physical facility the new museum wing is now eleven years old and we have a 100 year old renovated house and a 2. 7 acre campus. We have constant challenges but our head is above water. Leaks on the second floor, seem to have been abated. Wish us luck. While we have done some maintenance, each task has been carefully weighed as to cost/benefit. Our staff have been collecting cost proposals for various projects and repairs. These include: refinishing the travis mansion wood floors and additional led lighting, re-carpeting the stairs. 3. Research repository our mission is to share our collection with the public and we are committed to finding outreach opportunities. Thanks to the generosity of the hagler pinkerton foundation, ths was able to purchase a large scanner so that certain photographs and documents can be digitized. We now have over 12,000 photographs, documents and images of selected artifacts accessible through our website. Adding to this digital collection is a major objective for our archival staff and volunteers. A number of new collections have been brought into our collection. Those include: the hopkins photographic collection, which is larger than the beryl ford collection. Other additional large collections received include: tulsa people, the ymca, an art deco three dimensional collection from peter childs. Because of the care and the exhibit, the heirs of university of tulsa professor, tossca berger, gave the reset of her collection to us. Recently, we received collections from kotv weatherman lee woodward (lionel) and peggy cooper who was miss peggy on romper room. These collections, added to uncle zebs leafy bark will allow us to do a an exhibit of childrens television in the future. 4. Technology 2015 saw the premiere of both an 8 minute marketing film and the 45 minute documentary boomtown. And boomtown won the heartland emmy in july 2015. Boomtowns success proved that there is interest and a market for additional documentaries. Fundraising is underway for our next project. A new ths website is needed and is one of the projects that will be submitted for funding. 5. Education tulsas history is more accessible than ever to people of all ages, especially children. The board and staff are committed to providing curriculum and experiences to the tulsa metro area schools, both public and private. Our educational programs continue to expand with new curriculum, teacher workshops, author lectures, book signings and presentations both at the museum, in the community and in schools. The number one question ths receives is still about the 1921 tulsa race riot and those requests from around the world. In july, i was honored to be invited to be a part of a nine member tulsa delegation to an international conference on just governance held in caux, switzerland. Four members of the delegation live in tulsa and we have been able to collaborate on programming and education regarding tulsas race relations. The conference in switzerland was attended by 300+ delegates from 69 countries. Tulsas delegation was the american delegation and i can assure you, the world is watching how america deals with race. Through my collaborative efforts with other tulsa organizations, i have been appointed to serve on the official 1921 tulsa race riot centennial committee. Oklahoma state senator, kevin matthews and us senator james lankford, chair this committee. Our race riot and art deco aps continue to be expanded and are useful tools to the museum visitor and professional historians. While our technology is in place for the oral history program, volunteer and marketing of the program need to be enhanced. The tribune research library is well on its way to becoming a reality and is housed on the second floor. We are still adding some historic photographs and other memorabilia of the jones family. We continue to work every day to implement our long range goals, which then give credit to our mission and affirm that we are worth support from the tulsa community. We have welcomed international travelers. Our 8 galleries continue to rotate with engaging exhibits that foster a deeper understanding of the human condition. Our programs, exhibits and curriculum propel us to ask, what has changed, what has altered and what is still the same? By engaging in the study of history, we come to know people, people who are different from ourselves and people who are just like us. Future challenges will definitely be archival storage and administrative space. Our new museum wing is now eleven years old and we have a 100 year old aging house with 2. 7 acres to maintain. We receive no public funds and need of a million dollars to meet our budget needs each year. The really good news is that the tulsa historical society & museum is poised to take our next steps in fulfilling our mission to the community through education, research and technology.