The historical societies, history organizations, and museums up and down the Housatonic Heritage Area form a chain along the river, often holding pieces to each others’ stories.
Sometimes these organizations are run completely by volunteers; other times, they are mostly paid professional staff; and sometimes a combination of staff and a corps of volunteers do the work. Regardless of size and funding, they are all dedicated to keeping and interpreting our stories.
Housatonic Heritage is a conduit in that chain, through which the small and large history organizations connect with one another. In the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010, we convened focus groups with history organizations throughout the region to learn about what the Heritage Area could do to help history organizations with their work, and then we organized an advisory group to interpret and prioritize what we learned. Through that advisory group, the History Alliance was born: a catalyst and a clearinghouse for history organizations.
