About the Cordova Historical Society
History
The Cordova Historical Society was created in 1966. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the City of Cordova and the Society work cooperatively to assure the continued preservation of the area’s history and heritage.
The MOA, updated in 2018, is unique in the state, and possibly beyond. It represents an exceptional partnership between a non-profit organization and a municipality. The unique collaboration benefits Cordova as a whole – increasing grant opportunities through either non-profit or governmental resources. The Society saves the City money by providing funding for City-paid museum staff to attend annual training at the Museums Alaska Conference.
Mission
The Cordova Historical Society collects, preserves, interprets, exhibits and researches objects and works of art which represent the history and cultural background of Cordova, Copper River, Kennecott, Katalla, Prince William Sound, and adjacent areas in order to educate and to promote historical knowledge.
What We Do
The Society oversees the policies governing the collection and provides support for preservation of artifacts, research, and interpretation of the collection. The Society owns the collection, which is made available to the public through the Cordova Historical Museum.
Cordova Historical Museum
The City manages and staffs the museum, working alongside seasonal employees paid by the Society. The museum, an educational institution, is a museum of cultural and economic history to record and interpret everyday life in the Copper River, Bering River and Prince William Sound to help people understand the past, explore the present and plan the future. The museum accomplishes this through exhibitions, programs, publications and other activities that engage, enlighten, educate and entertain children and adults of both community residents and visitors.
Financial Support
The Society collects admissions donations and operates and receives the proceeds from the museum store.
Funds raised from the store and admissions are returned directly toward Museum operations, conservation of the collection, new acquisitions, and collection storage.
Partnership with City of Cordova
City operates and maintains the Cordova a Center and insures the building and contents (including the CHS collection, which would revert to City (public) ownership if ever the CHS was disbanded.
CHS provides travel and training funds for museum staff and chs members.
Staff
Ashley Bivin, Museum Director, abivin@cityofcordova.net
Denis Keogh, Curator of Collections and Exhibits, curator@cordovamuseum.org
Paula Payne, Cultural Leader, paula@cordovalibrary.org
Board
Barclay Kopchak, President
Wendy Ranney, Vice President
Cathy Pegau, Secretary
Liz Senear, Treasurer
Tamara Russin
John Stack
Monika Reghetti
Join Us!
It’s easy to become a member of the Society and
members receive a 10% discount in the museum store.
Board and Membership
The Historical Society is an avid group of folks who want to preserve Cordova’s past for the future!
Seven trustees serve on the Cordova Historical Society Board. Elected by the membership, the trustees set policy, fundraise, and recruit new members.
A member of the Society is appointed by the Cordova City Council to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission.
Membership meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Meetings are held in the upper level of the Cordova Center. The public is welcome.