To raise awareness about the great holiday events and gifts available at historic sites and through history organizations across the country, in November 2012 we created the holiday campaign for history, "Make this holiday historic!"  Based on the response, we'll make this an annual event.

All history organizations and all organizations with history-related events or exhibits are welcome to participate.  

► If your organization doesn't already use The History List, you'll find details and a link to sign up here.  The History List is the largest list of history happenings across the country.  It was designed to meet the specific needs of history organizations.  There is no cost to add your organization and events.

Add your holiday events to The History List

• You can add your holiday events any time.  Just check the box near the bottom of the event entry page that indicates that this is a holiday event.  (Example of a holiday event entry: The Christmas Candlelight Grand Masquerade at Tryon Palace.)
• These events will appear on The History List with a red holiday gift icon on their page and next to their event on the list of all events.
• If you find that one of your events has already been entered and you want to edit the entry, or you want to add the holidays icon to a holiday event, click "Edit" at the bottom of the listing and check the holidays box at the bottom of the page.  Anyone who is signed in can enter and edit, regardless of who entered the information originally.

Go ahead and enter your events for other seasons, too, and they'll be listed on The History List, the calendar system for history organizations.  Learn more about how other history organizations use The History List to manage their list of events on their own site and reach others in their community and across the country.

Use any of the holiday campaign for history in your print and electronic newsletters, on your website, at your historic site, and elsewhere.  It's all free and ready to use immediately.  For example, the table top signs, such as the one shown here, are all formatted.  Just put a piece of cardstock paper in your printer and hit print.  More details and the link to download them all here.

Organizations that join and help build The History List during this first 12 months receive the "Founding Member" designation.  Logos for websites and materials are now available.  Adding a "Founding Member" logo to your site and linking to The History List shows your contribution and helps others learn about this resource.

There are five sizes available, and logos are suitable for both websites and print materials.

View all the sizes and get the code for your site.

The slides and more details also appear in this blog post.

Updated April 30, 2014: We've added more logos so that the slides now include examples from 66 local historical societies.

Updated August 30, 2012: If you'd like your organization's logo add to this compilation, add your organization and logo, along with any upcoming events to The History List.  Start with an event and click on "Add event" below the picture at the top of the page.  You'll be walked through the steps, and when you're finished with events, add information on your organization and upload your logo and any other images.  You can also add a Founding Member logo to your page on The History List and to your website.  Then send a note with a link to your page on The History List and we'll add your logo the next time we revise these slides.

We compiled 50 logos from local historical societies.  These logos were selected to represent the wide variety of graphical styles used.  If you have one you'd like to see included in the future, post a link in the comments below or send it to us.  [See update above.] We also compiled the logos of the 50 state historical societies.

These slides also appear in the "Resources for organizations" section.

Updated March 5, 2013: Includes the new logo from the Rhode Island Historical Society.

The idea of collecting the logos of the 50 state historical societies sprang from a project to create a logo for the local historical society on whose board I serve.  Looking at the wide variety of logos for local historical societies got me thinking about the wide variety of logos of state organizations.

To our surprise, compiling these was no simple matter.  In some cases, it wasn't clear if the organization had a logo they or had one they were using now.  In some cases it took awhile to confirm which organization, and it was typically a state government agency, that was filling the role of a state historical society in those states that without one.  (In those cases, we included the logo from the organization we found.) 

If we got any of this wrong, please let us know and we'll update the slides.  If you have a local society logo you would like considered for our compilation of those, please send it or a link to it.  We also compiled the logos of 50 66 local historical societies.

September 2, 2012: Slideshare featured this presentation on their home page today.

These slides also appear in the "Resources for organizations" section.