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January 8, 2008

TFF supports Aberdeen Museum of History

Aberdeen Museum of History is a place I have been and they are doing worthwhile things in that small Washington community. Here is the letter I received from Anthony Airhart describing their project...

My name is Anthony Airhart and I am president of the Aberdeen Museum of History. I would like to pitch a proposal we are working on at the museum and hope you will find it worthy of support.

We have a small but growing initiative known as the Women of Grays Harbor Project. Basically it is an effort to capture and preserve stories and histories of the women that helped build Grays Harbor. In our male dominated society the contributions of women are far too often ignored or minimized. We are trying to make sure that we collect stories while there are people who remember them.

This is not just for the wealthy, prominent or well known women. We are collecting the stories of the homemakers, the teachers or the grandmothers. Women who may have inspired someone or even just those who worked in obscurity but were heroic in their own way. It is a way to capture what life was like for pioneer women...or the women that stepped into the workforce during WWII...or perhaps someone with an unusual talent.

This is also the year Washington State will be celebrating women in history and we'd like to participate in that in a meaningful way.

So, my pitch. I want to find funds to pay a stipend to local high school or college students who will research and write entries for our collection or short scripts for performances about these women. In particular, we'd like to hold an event this year where we will perform these vignettes or readings for the public.

Exact specifics for this event are, quitre honestly, waiting until we see how much funding we can access. We are a small museum and we cannot fund such a project from our own resources.

We already have some funding to go towards costumes and producing this event. Some of that is a grant from a local foundation and some from much smaller donations to our Women of Grays Harbor fund. But we need funds for the student's stipends. I would ask you to contribute $XXXXX. This would be enough to launch the project and move forward.

I will add just my own personal perspective. I am in my third year as prsident of this organization. I am an average guy but have a deep love for my community and long interest in local history. I was laid off at Cosmopolis Pulp Mill after 31 years and am back in school retraining for a new career as I am too young to retire. My love for the Aberdeen Museum is hereditary. My folks have been involved since the first organizational meeting more than 30 years ago. Now in their 80's, they still work 20-40 hours a week, keeping the museum open and active in the community. So I have a deep rooted personal stake in making this place a success.

I am hoping you will be able to help us.

Sincerely,

Anthony Airhart

Posted by Martin at January 8, 2008 9:57 PM

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