The Mission: Advocacy and Support for Public History
The mission of the Massachusetts History Alliance and its annual conference is to support and advocate for all public history organizations and their work in Massachusetts by maximizing connections and cross-fertilization, and supporting skills development in the field of public history in Massachusetts. It is explicitly but not exclusively committed to supporting the paid and volunteer staff of the Commonwealth’s many small historical organizations in their efforts to collect, preserve, make accessible, and interpret local history, enhancing their sustainability and relevance to their communities.
An Alliance of Organizations
The Mass History Alliance is a network of organizations and institutions, whether single organizations (e.g. New Bedford Historical Society, Public History Track UMass Boston, the Lowell National Historical Park, Leverett Town Clerk’s office, or Weymouth Historical Commission) or consortia (e.g. Pioneer Valley History Network or Essex National Heritage Area). Click here to JOIN
Organizations or groups are invited to participate in the alliance on more than one level: for example, the Plainfield Historical Society is also a part of the Pioneer Valley History Network. Massachusetts-based organizations that belong to participating consortia/organizations (for example, the Pioneer Valley History Network, NEMA) are invited to be members of MHA of their own accord. The MHA Members page lists participating organizations.
How do I participate?
Sign up and contribute! Sign up your organization, participate in the conversation, post information to the Google group listserv or Facebook group, volunteer to serve on one of the committees that is building the Mass History Alliance ( check out the Activities page or send us an email at facilitator1@masshistoryalliance.org), volunteer to help manage the network, build and manage the website, build a regional network, get connected, and ….. contribute financially so we can build a strong network, strong advocacy, and put on great networking programs like the annual Mass History Conference.
How Can individuals join?
Individuals are invited to join in networking and sharing information by becoming part of the MHA List-Serv network and also by joining the Mass History Alliance Facebook group. If you’d like to be a listed Associate, sign up here.
It’s all free?
It’s free if you want it to be, but as you know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Doing things costs money. This website costs time and money. We strongly encourage participating organizations and individuals to support the Alliance by making periodic contributions of any size.
Is the Massachusetts History Alliance, Inc., a 501(c)3?
Yes.
The Massachusetts History Alliance (Mass History Alliance / MHA) was founded on November 16, 2016, by a group of volunteers and professionals from a wide variety of organizations active in local and public history in Massachusetts. Read the notes from that meeting here.
Get Involved
Add your organization to the Massachusetts History Alliance community today, participate as an individual, and help support our ongoing work on behalf of public and community history in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.