St Louis County Historical Society

“The society has members. Levels: 30 individual, 50 family, 75 supporter, 125 cornerstone, 250 benefactor, 500 patron, and 1,000 governors' circle.”

“Members elect the board of governors at annual membership meeting.”

“Members vote on changes to the articles of incorporation.”

“Only the executive committee may act on behalf of the society's board of governors. They must report all actions taken to the full board of governors.”

“Form 990 is reviewed by financial services manager, executive director, and manager of administrative services. Form 990 is approved by the audit and finance committee with the executive committee and then by the board.”

“Board members complete disclosures annually. Any potential conflicts of interest are disclosed beforehand to the board. Disclosures are filed and recorded in the minutes of the applicable board meeting. Board members are prohibited from voting in matters in which a conflict exists.”

“The borad established the executive director's salary range based on the minnesota council of nonprofit's annual salary survey materials and adjusts for cost of living adjustment. Board of governors reviews and approves any compensation changes for the executive director per the annual budget developemnt and approval process.”

“Thr organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request and on the organization's website.”

“The st. Louis county historical society (slchs) is responsible, per state statute, to collect, preserve and present the history of st. Louis county (as recognized by the minnesota state historical society) and is eligible, accordingly, for county taxpayer support. The society is unique (and privileged) in that it is housed as a tenant in a county owned building with premier arts/cultural non-profit service providers. Slchs also grants county funds to a system of six iron range affiliates in hibbing, virginia, chisholm, ely, tower, and embarrass. In addition, slchs was assigned responsibility (and county funding) for veterans' "history services" in the 1990s and built the veterans memorial hall program, which it still maintains today. To date 29,000 of st. Louis county's 35,000 veterans are identified in the veterans memorial hall veteran's information database. The veterans memorial hall gallery and the albert j. Amatuzio research center are repositories for local veteran history. The veterans memorial hall program recorded 4 oral histories for the the albert j. Amatuzio archive and research center. The veterans memorial hall program initiated a veteran's day event in partnership with duluth women of today. The event was held on veteran's day and recognized area veterans. At the direction of st. Louis county, slchs participated in the museum assessment program through the american alliance of museums. This self- study program included a two-day site visit from a museum peer reviewer who prepared an organizational assessment final report. Slchs based exhibits were made available to 208,782 depot visitors in 2024. Numbers provided by depot management, staff of st. Louis county. 24 volunteers contributed approximately 3,530 hours of work for society programs and research. Approximately 75,000 individuals (actual numbers not available) viewed society exhibits and/or materials. These include artworks on loan to the kitchi gammi club in duluth, statues located at the duluth international airport, and traveling exhibits installed in various locations throughout the county, including aurora, hibbing, and duluth. 19 traveling exhibits covering a wide range of topics were view by approximately 430,000 people in st. Louis county. 13,000 individual 3d artifacts are estimated to be held in public trust. A water leak from a non-museum space caused significant damage to veterans memorial hall and the albert j. Amatuzio archive and research center. No artifacts or archives were damaged, but all exhibits and floor coverings were beyond repair. Slchs initiated a grant from the minnesota historical society to continue the collections cataloguing initiative in progress. The depot foundation awarded a 61,885 grant to the society. The grant funds have gone toward a native american traveling exhibit on treaties, purchase of exhibit cases, and electrical work in the veterans memorial hall. Staff fielded an estimated 650 requests for information through various contact methods (email, phone, social media, and walk-ins) as a matter of regular duties for staff. One annual scholarship was awarded in cooperation with the duluth community foundation, with fund balance originating through society efforts or through partners. (mike colalillo medal of honor scholarship and erie mining company scholarship). Slchs archival collections are maintained at the kathryn a. Martin library, where the university of minnesota duluth provides quality archival services. The northeast minnesota historical collection is on permanent loan to the university of minnesota duluth.”

“Removal of capitalized collections -3,103,006”