Together we ensure the continued success of the West Volusia Historical Society, funding programs, exhibitions, and ongoing research into local history at the DeLand House Museum, Conrad Educational and Research Center, DeLand Memorial Hospital and Veterans Museum and Burgess Pavilion.  

We are grateful to all our supporters, who recently, along with our partnership with the City of DeLand, allowed us to complete a thorough renovation of the DeLand House Museum. We have a strong 50-year history of researching local history and finding interesting ways to share the stories we uncover behind that history.  

For the past 30 years, Volusia County grand funding has been available to help WVHS grow, plan innovative programs, events, and workshops, and safeguard local historical artifacts. We are grateful for those civic grants, given because county leaders recognized the economic values and quality of life benefits that support for the cultural arts brings to a community.

Recently, however, the County Council abruptly cancelled its entire cultural arts grant program, on which 33 local cultural arts groups counted. WVHS had applied for a county grant and had anticipated approximately $10,000 - about 10 percent of our operating budget. That money would have shored up our infrastructure, now held together by dedicated volunteers. Losing the grant could mean postponing needed technology upgrades for our local history collections, fewer free programs and events, less access to our library and archives, reduced operating hours, and sending our local history out to larger repositories for safekeeping.

We work hard to raise funds and hope that our new events, such as the Speakeasy Soiree will round out this year's budget. But losing the county grant was a shock, and we are asking that our supporters make further investments in WVHS as they are able.

It takes money to make things happen and when you donate to WVHS we use those funds to help offer and promote tours of the DeLand House Museum, the biannual Holiday Tour of Historic Homes, the Oakdale Cemetery Walk, Conversations with the Pioneers, History Seekers youth programs, Lunch and Learn, and walking tours of our National Historic Districts. We also curate the early medical and Bert Fish exhibits at the DeLand Memorial Hospital and the exhibits on early black life and children's exhibits at the adjacent Burgess Pavilion, the first hospital for black citizens in West Volusia. Our Makers' Guild produces items for our gift shop, and volunteers staff all our events and programs. We offer monthly programs of interest to history lovers and maintain a lbrary and archives on local history.

With only one part-time staff member, we stay busy and remain committed to seeing our mission through every day: To Preserve and Promote the History of West Volusia County.  With your support, the voices of yesterday will continue to inspire tomorrow.