Museum Services

Texas is home to more than 950 local history museums. Whether housed in a historic structure or a state-of-the-art new building, each one is dedicated to telling the story of a community’s unique history. Collectively, they preserve the real places and the real things that tell the whole story of Texas.

The Museum Services Program enables small history museums to better carry out their missions by helping them to increase their capacity for meeting professional standards. We do this by providing the following services at no cost:

• Training
• Resources
• Consultations
• Communications

To be included in the THC Atlas, a history museum must exhibit and interpret objects and stories in a structure designed for public visitation, on a regular schedule at least 120 days per year.



For the latest informaiton about COVID-19/coronavirus and museums, the American Alliance of Museums' comprehensive resource for museums is being regularly updated as more information becomes available. Many organizations are also offering free webinars on a variety of topics related to the pandemic. 

Training

Free Webinar—Grant Evaluation: Setting Goals and Measuring Impact
Wednesday, July 22, 2:00 p.m. CT
Anjali Zutshi, Friends of the Texas Historical Commission
Learn more and register now!

Free Online Workshop Series—Going Local: Creating Local Texas History Exhibits Your Visitors Won't Forget
Thursdays, July 23 through August 20, 10:00 a.m. CT
Erin McClelland, MuseWork
Learn more and register now!

Free Webinar—Building a Collaborative Online Archive: A Case Study
Wednesday, August 5, 10:00 a.m. CT
Michelle Johnson, William J. Hill Texas Artisans and Artists Archive
Learn more and register now!

Resources

The Helpful Resources page provides a number of downloadable resource lists, articles, and other useful information for museums. All previous Museum Services Webinars are archived and available to view at any time. The Connect and Learn page provides links to trainings hosted by other organizations and services, as well as listings of museum professional organizations. Grants and Fundraising offers resources for grant-writing, fundraising ideas, and an extensive list of grant opportunities relevant to museums in Texas.

Consultations

Program staff can provide free, individualized assistance and support to museums in any aspect of museum operations, including but not limited to:

• Starting, planning, or reorganizing a museum
• Writing mission statements
• Strategic planning
• Disaster preparedness and recovery
• Educational program development
• Exhibit planning and design
• Interpretation of collections
• Board development and relations
• Volunteer recruitment and training 
• Special events
• Marketing and social media
• Collections care
• Security
• Fundraising
• Professional ethics

Communications

Program staff sends email notices on timely information about current trends, available resources, upcoming grant deadlines, training opportunities, and other types of assistance.