Providing Public History Programs for Adults and Youth in Western North Carolina

FAIN: ZPP-284251-22

Smith Mcdowell House Museum (Asheville, NC 28801-4817)
Worth Trevor Freeman (Project Director: May 2021 to October 2025)

The planning, marketing, and implementation of new in-person programs at a historic house in Asheville, NC, and retention of one job.

In 2020, our adult and youth public programming shifted from in-person to virtual in order to comply with public health guidelines while also fulfilling our mission. Now that COVID-related restrictions are easing, we will restart our in-person programming while also maintaining our new virtual programming, which has allowed us to reach a wider and more diverse audience than ever before. However, our virtual events have not brought in the income required to fully fund our full-time Public Programs Director position. We are requesting four months of salary and benefits for our full-time Public Programs Director, so that we can fully fund the position while we restart planning, marketing, and implementing a schedule of in-person events. Once in-person events resume we expect to see an increase in earned income as well as an increase in associated donations and annual membership fees that will allow us to fully fund this position after the NEH funds are expended.