Rallies for History on Thursday, June 11, 2009

Here is an e-mail that I received from Jackie Barton, the Ohio Civil War Sesquicentennial coordinator for the Ohio Historical Society about a large rally to be held on Thursday, June 11, to protest the slashing of the OHS budget by the Ohio Senate yet again:

Thank you to everyone who has shown their support of the Civil War 150th and the Ohio Historical Society by contacting your State Senators about funding!

Here’s the situation:

The Senate approved their version of the budget yesterday without restoring our funding, BUT there is still time to act. We’ve been hearing from the offices of state Senators and Representatives that our message is being heard!

What now?

The budget will go into conference committee, where members from the House, Senate and the Governor’s Office will reconcile differences in the budget. HERE is where our funding has the best chance of being restored.

What can you do?

RALLY:

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, June 11 from noon – 1 p.m. to Rally for History! at the Ohio Historical Center, located at I-71 and 17th Avenue in Columbus. You’ll also have an opportunity to visit the statehouse if you have time at the end of the rally.

The Ohio Senate voted yesterday to approve the next two-year state budget, which includes significant budget cuts that would reduce the state’s investment in the Ohio Historical Society to the lowest level since 1994. Now the budget goes to a conference committee made up of a small number of House, Senate, and Governor’s Office officials.

There is still time to make an impact and help restore funding for historic sites and the Society’s Outreach programs that affect students, teachers, local history organizations and Ohio communities. It’s time to Rally For History! Please join us on Thursday, June 11. We’ll be thanking all who participate in the rally with FREE parking and admission to the Ohio Historical Center. More details coming very soon…

EMAIL and CALL:

If you have already called and emailed your State Senator, call and email your State Representative. You can also call, write and email Governor Strickland to show your support of restoring funding to the Ohio Historical Society in budget line 509! If you’d like to contact all three at once, use our Legislative Action page: http://capwiz.com/ohiohistory/home/

MAKE A STATEMENT:

We have some ideas about what you can do in your own community to make a statement about these budget cuts. If you want to hear more, call or email me.

Please feel free to call me with questions and thanks for your support! We’ll update you on rally details early next week.

Thank you again-your support is so important!

Jackie

Today, Jackie passed along a link to a new site, Save Ohio History!. Check it out. And, if you live in Ohio, please do what you can to ensure that the dolts in the Ohio State Senate hear your demand that the funding for the OHS not be slashed yet again. If you can’t make it to the big rally in Columbus, the web site will have some ideas of some other things that you can do to ensure that your voice is heard.