Minnesota's Local History Community
Since 1991, The Alliance has been the voice of the local history community in Minnesota. Together, history groups large and small have supported each other, fostered professionalism in the field, and collaborated on important projects.
Minnesota has about 500 history organizations. We are big.
Minnesota is one of five states that has a history organization at the county level for every single one of our 87 counties. We are comprehensive.
Local history organizations collectively welcome about 1.5 million visitors every year
in Minnesota. We are popular.
The American Association for State and Local History in Nashville has awarded about 10 percent of all of its awards in the last decade to Minnesota history projects. We do quality work.
Don't be fooled by the "Museums" in our name.
Most of our members operate museums in historic homes, community centers, state of the art new buildings, railroad depots and other historic buildings. However, some of our members do not own museums, but do preservation work, offer pop-up exhibits or provide online resources.
Most are county and city historical societies, but some focus on genealogy, neighborhoods or immigrant groups.
Most of our organizations do more than operate a museum. Many offer research libraries, extensive artifact collections, and community gathering spaces. Many are open to the public, free of charge or with a nominal admission fee.
All of our members have one thing in common: they are committed to collecting, preserving, and telling their communities local history.
Our Mission
The purpose of the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums shall be to nurture and encourage an appreciation of the local history of the state of Minnesota by providing the structure to foster collaborative local history projects, communicate curatorial and education information, and encourage professionalism among local and specialized historical organizations in Minnesota.