Our Boston NPR stations are in the middle of pledge-drive mania. I like to make the occasional contribution to them and to PBS for the great work they do. (Or maybe just to make the pledge drive stop). Here at the Historical Society we also have to pass the hat, so to speak, now and then, and ask members and non-members for renewed support. I paste here part of current society president Mark Smith's recent email on the subject.
"The Historical Society continues to do good work as it enters its second decade. It is the institutional embodiment of history understood as a civilizing enterprise, focusing the talents of the academy outward to general readers, teachers, and the society at large.
Our partnership with the National Council for History Education (NCHE), for instance, puts every issue of Historically Speaking into the hands of thousands of K-12 history teachers. The Society fosters venues for genuinely open conversations among historians and makes those conversations available to the larger public. . . . [Consider signing up and you will receive both Historically Speaking and the Journal of the Historical Society.]But the Society faces considerable challenges, particularly in the current economic environment. Although we function on a bare-bones budget, we depend upon the generous contributions of friends and members who share our vision. To end the year in the black, we need to raise an additional $25,000. . . . our goal is reachable.
Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to the Historical Society. You can do so quickly and securely at www.bu.edu/historic/donate. If you decide to donate $50 or more, we will send you two volumes of your choosing from the University of South Carolina’s excellent Historians in Conversation book series, edited by Historically Speaking senior editor Don Yerxa and Historically Speaking editor Randall Stephens."
