Preparing History for the Future: Connecticut Humanities Council

With the end of the Cold War, Connecticut suffered a major economic recession thanks to a slump in arms, helicopter, and submarine sales—all previously vital industries in the state. By the mid-1990s, the phrase “cultural heritage tourism” began being bandied about by various public and private agencies eagerly seeking a solution to the fiscal dilemma. And that suited many players just fine—especially those in the arts who had always received the generous support of state and corporate funders. But now tourism officials were touting the possibility of finding economic relief through the promotion of Connecticut’s historical heritage and that’s where Bruce Fraser, executive director of the Connecticut Humanities Council (CHC), saw a fundamental flaw.

“I found myself sitting in tourism meetings regularly asking the tourism folks just how they could imagine that these institutions could be capable resources for the industry given their sorry situation and meager prospects for improvement,” explains Fraser. “How...could they imagine a major new economic initiative of considerable significance to the state without either a sophisticated sense of product or a clear plan of product development?”

The obvious answer was to help the state’s struggling heritage attractions develop better products for visitors. With whose money, you ask? Well, CHC felt it was time the state gave some funding to its historical assets. In fact, CHC believed that promoting history as a tourism commodity warranted funding from the industry itself and proposed that the state’s existing 12 percent lodging tax should be the source of revenue for cultural heritage tourism development.

Through aggressive lobbying and with the support of the state museum association, historical societies, tourism districts, and the Connecticut Lodging and Attractions Association, CHC succeeded in getting the General Assembly to establish the Cultural Heritage Development Fund (CHDF) in 1995. The fund receives an annual $1 million allocation for the purpose of making Connecticut’s cultural heritage a significant resource for the tourism industry.

Toward that end, CHDF gives grants to historical societies, museums, and other cultural institutions in four categories: technical assistance, professional development, planning, and implementation. Since the first granting round in 1996, the fund has awarded 480 grants totaling in excess of $6.3 mission. Grants were matched by more than $3.8 million from grantees. An economic impact study indicates that the grants provide a 10:1 return on that investment in spending by tourists in Connecticut.

For further information, visit the Connecticut Humanities Council at or email info@ctheritage.org.

Click here for Story Credits