Strategic Collaborations are a Key to Success – Person County Museum of History
Hyco Lake Magazine cover with the store in the background.
Working at a local history museum in a place where you didn’t grow up is always an adventure. When I started at the Person County Museum of History (PCMH) in 2019, all I knew about this place was what I had learned when I visited with my kids for a few hours in 2017.
On my first day of work, I was lucky to have board members, volunteers, and others showing up to help me learn the ropes. The museum campus has eight buildings and thousands of artifacts. I was excited about the potential of the spaces, but also very, very overwhelmed. To cap off the day, I managed to set off the security alarm and activate a police response. Two of Roxboro’s finest showed up and were thankfully good sports about my ineptitude. It was a funny ending to a whirlwind of a day.
I started working as a museum professional, my third career path, in 2016 at the Burwell School Historic Site in Hillsborough, where I often collaborated with the Orange County Historical Museum. This was my first venture into the nonprofit world, and it was an eye-opening experience. From an outsider’s point of view, I had taken for granted that these stewards of our history would always be there.
Museums are an important part of the landscape of our lives. When communities are ranked for livability, access to cultural institutions plays a large role in determining the ratings. A study conducted by the American Alliance for Museums in 2018 and 2023 indicated that “more people visit art museums, science centers, historic houses or sites, zoos, or aquariums than attend professional sporting events.”[1] Despite this high level of engagement, a 2017 study indicated that more than 50 percent of museums operate on a budget of $100,000 or less per year.[2] At historic sites and museums across the country, individuals are working hard behind the scenes to keep the doors open on shoestring budgets.
Before I started at PCMH, I viewed museums as sites of education and reflection, but beyond the dedicated volunteers who are absolutely necessary to keep any cultural institution afloat, I did not expect to interact with members of the community outside official events. It didn’t take long for me to understand that in Person County, the museum was more than just a collection of artifacts, it was a community gathering place.
Over the years, I would meet and develop relationships with so many locals who brought to the table a wide range of interests, skills, and knowledge. People would just stop by to chat, which wasn’t always great when I was on a deadline, but those conversations and connections were always valuable in one way or another.
There is never enough time or money in the nonprofit world, and PCMH is no exception. It is free to visit the museum, and we rely on support from the county and city, as well as donations and fundraisers to meet our annual budget. I often feel like I am channeling my grandmothers, who both endured the Great Depression as children. I’ve learned to stretch one dollar into three and create something out of nothing. I would argue that nonprofit organizations, along with school teachers, are some of the most creative groups on the planet.
The necessity of this creativity leads to the development of some amazing partnerships, and in Person County there are notable standouts that we often work with at the museum. Fellow nonprofits like Person County Habitat for Humanity, Person County Education Foundation, and the Person Veterans Council are regular collaborators with the museum, along with the Person County Tourism Development Authority and the Roxboro Chamber of Commerce. In a county with a population of just under 40,000, it is imperative that we utilize these partnerships and pool our efforts on programming and events, otherwise we will draw too many times from the local well of funding and not be able to meet our goals.
The museum mission is to preserve and present the history of Person County, and this presentation assumes a consumer. To get people through the doors of the museum, we must first let them know that we are here. Advertising is a large line item on any budget, but when you work in a nonprofit it is also one of the first to be cut when belt-tightening is required. Such was the case when I started at PCMH. To make ends meet, as the saying goes, we slashed our advertising budget to zero. But with no advertising, how did we reach the public? It was time to get creative. I started writing a column in the local newspaper, and of course we used social media, but there was a gap in our reach that I was stumped about how to fill.
When you enter the museum, we have a table on local attractions and activities. In addition to brochures and calendars, we always have a stack of Hyco Lake Magazine for visitors to pick up. One day, when owner Peter Berry was dropping off the newest issue for us to distribute, he and I started talking about what was happening at the museum and some of the challenges we faced.
Hyco Lake Magazine has a mission to enhance the community it serves by telling the stories of the people, places, and businesses in this region. This desire to connect at the personal level resonates deeply with the mission of the museum. Over the course of our conversation that day, Peter offered to run a story on our transformation of the general store on our campus. Just like that, the museum suddenly had a mouthpiece to share with a wider audience what was happening in our corner of Person County
The R.P. Brooks General Store was on the cover of the fall issue of Hyco Lake Magazine in November 2023, and the story ran in the sister publications as well. It wasn’t long before visitors started showing up to see our pre-World War II store. When we asked how they heard about the museum and our exhibit, the response was regularly, “We saw it in Hyco Lake/River City Area/SoBo Halifax Magazine.”
Over the years, other articles about the museum ran in these publications. They led to not only an increased awareness of PCMH, but also the addition of new volunteers. With only one employee, volunteers are essential to our operation. Our small but mighty volunteer force gives thousands of hours a year to the museum, and their impact is almost impossible to quantify in monetary value. By informing a wider audience of the work we do, we were able to attract individuals we never may have reached. These volunteers have unique skill sets and are providing valuable work as a service to the museum.
The evolution of our relationship with Hyco Lake Magazine was organic and came at a time of growth for the museum. As an organization, PCMH continues to evolve, and it is more important than ever that we engage the public in our mission and continue to serve the community with exhibits, programming, and educational opportunities. We are so pleased to count on our friends at NCVA Media, who publish Hyco Lake Magazine, as part of the team that keeps the museum going and the visitors showing up.
309 N. Main Street
Roxboro, NC 27573
(336) 597-2884
personcountymuseu[email protected]
www.PCMuseumNC.org
[1] Museum Facts and Data. American Alliance for Museums. URL: https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museum-facts-data/#_edn13 Accessed: 1.21.2025
[2] Engaging Places: https://engagingplaces.net/2022/03/30/nearly-50-of-history-museums-operate-on-less-than-100000/#:~:text=The%20second%20surprise%20is%20that,Or%20are%20they?
