Ohio Historical Society receives NEH grant for Native American project

March 7, 2013

 

Defiance College’s Buchman one of key scholars to work on project

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College Professor Emeritus Randall Buchman will be one of the key scholars taking part in an Ohio Historical Society (OHS) project to increase and share knowledge about Midwestern Native American tribes with community college educators. The OHS has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is one of only three national awards the NEH made this year under the Bridging Cultures for Community Colleges program.

OHS and its grant partner, the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Community College, designed Native Americans in the Midwest: Bridging Cultures at Community Colleges, a cooperative agreement with the NEH for a three-year faculty and curriculum development project for 36 community college faculty on the history of Midwestern Native American tribes.

OHS’s project has pulled together key scholars and tribal members working in the field, including Buchman, to work with community college faculty and academic administrators to increase their knowledge of existing research and scholarship on the history of Ohio’s Ten Historic Tribes and their removal; introduce faculty to contemporary Native American cultural experiences; and facilitate a community of learning and research through course development and enhancement.

“This grant is an excellent opportunity for OHS to deepen our connections with regional educators interested in understanding Ohio’s historic Native American tribes,” said Sharon Dean, director of museum and library services for OHS.

The NEH grant will support the project from 2013-2015. During that time, OHS and NEO A&M will host three conferences for community college faculty and administrators and provide professional development by compiling historical resources for Midwestern Native American history, exposing community college faculty to scholars and Native American experts, and bringing them to locations that are critical to the Midwestern Removal story. For more information about the project, visit www.bccc-nam.org.

Professor Buchman is currently city historian for the City of Defiance. He is widely known for his knowledge of Native Americans in Ohio. Defiance College has hosted two major conferences on Native American Removal from Ohio under his leadership. Professor Buchman has taught Native American History at Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla., a Native American college. Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

Founded in 1885, the nonprofit Ohio Historical Society provides a wide array of statewide services and programs related to collecting, preserving and interpreting Ohio’s history, archaeology and natural history. The society has more than 1.5 million items in its collections throughout its 58 sites and within its 287,000-square-feet Ohio History Center at 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus. The society receives a portion of its funding from the state, but relies on admission fees, memberships, grants, donations and other forms of revenue to continue to serve Ohioans in the future. Information about OHS can be found at www.ohiohistory.org.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.