About the Grant
The History Channel has awarded the Days
of ’76 Museum a $10,000
Save Our History grant to partner with local high school and college
students to research and catalogue the museum’s abundant rodeo
archives and interpret the impact the sport had on Deadwood’s
American Indian population.
This is the first Save Our History grant
awarded to any organization in South Dakota.
The Days of ’76 Museum is one of 27 history organizations
that will receive Save Our History community
preservation grants. These will fund innovative,
educational projects designed to bring communities
together, actively engage children in the preservation
of their local history and communicate the
importance of saving local history for future
generations.
The History Channel, with the counsel of Rockefeller
Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), created the Save
Our History Grant Program as an extension of
the Save Our History philanthropic initiative
and is committed to inspiring and motivating
local communities to learn about and take an
active role in the preservation of their past
through projects involving artifacts, oral
histories, sites, museums or landmarks that
exist in their own neighborhoods.
To date, The History Channel, together with
its sponsors, has contributed nearly $750,000
in grant funding toward this cause.
The project, entitled "The Cowboy is
an Indian: Recovering Indian History at the
Days of '76" will engage 11th and 12th
grade students from the Department of Indian
Education at the Rapid City School District,
under the guidance of students from Black Hills
State University and Oglala Lakota College,
and document the Days of '76 Celebration in
Deadwood. Over the course of eight weeks, the
students will research the history of the Indian
population in this area and will focus their
research efforts on the impact the Rodeo had
on the American Indian population. Working
with the raw data at the museum on the history
of the Days of '76 celebration and the rodeo
archives, students will help to research and
organize over eight decades worth of history
and ultimately create a permanent museum exhibit
within The Days of '76 Museum.
“Going into our third year with the
Save Our History grant program, it never fails
to amaze me the dedication and creativity that
these students, their teachers and the great
partner organizations bring to the act of learning
about and preserving history,” said Dan
Davids, President of The History Channel -
USA. “Together with our sponsors, Lowe’s
and American Express, as well as our cable
affiliates, it makes us proud to assist in
the efforts to bring local history to life
in these communities and to make it relevant
to kids across the country that participate.
These 27 grant projects are among the most
promising and the most important we’ve
had the good fortune to fund. Over the next
year, we’re eager to follow the students
along on their path to the past and have them
teach us a thing or two about who we are and
from where we come.”
"For over a decade, American Express
has supported the work of leading historic
preservation groups across the United States
through our philanthropic program,” said
Jim Hedleston, Vice President of Global Media
and Content Distribution at American Express. "Sponsoring
The History Channel Save Our History programs
is another great opportunity for us to expand
our longstanding commitment to preservation
by supporting programs that engage children
and their schools in the exploration of the
past in our local communities."
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