Osage County Historical Society asks for continued support as programming and digitization expand

A representative of the Osage County Historical Society updated commissioners on programming, volunteer capacity and plans to digitize the museum's collections.

The speaker said the society has received several large private donations that funded urgent building repairs, including brickwork and roof work. "We did receive a few large private donations this year that have allowed us to make some desperately needed improvements to our building," the representative said.

The society described grant applications for higher‑fidelity scanning equipment as the first phase of a disaster‑preparedness plan, intended to create digital backups of records and artifacts. The rep said the scanning work and digital outreach would help long‑term preservation and expand access: "we're working really hard to kinda try to download that brain trust into actual paper and more people, because we have to look at long term sustainability of this knowledge."

The society also reported rising out‑of‑county and international research requests, interest in school programming (including living history and one‑room school tours), and partnerships with local groups for heritage tourism. Museum public hours were stated as Wednesday–Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with appointments available outside those times.

Commissioners thanked the society and asked for any needs to be forwarded to county staff for consideration during budget discussions. No appropriation or formal action was taken during the meeting.