EIN 41-0713907

Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS)

IRS 501(c) type
501(c)(3)
Num. employees
549
Year formed
1849
Most recent tax filings
2022-06-01
Description
The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota.
Total revenues
$63,620,828
2022
Total expenses
$55,381,723
2022
Total assets
$275,417,631
2022
Num. employees
549
2022

Program areas at MNHS

Historic Sites and Museums: MNHS operates 26 historic sites and museums throughout the state that allow people to access history through public programs and tours. After two years of pandemic restrictions, MNHS was able to welcome visitors back to our sites in the summer of 2021 and forward into 2022. While still limited, our sites and museums were open to the public four days a week. After more than two years of revitalization and rehabilitation, Historic Fort Snelling reopened to the public in 2022. The revitalization included a new visitor center inside a rehabilitated 1904 cavalry barracks, stunning river overlooks, Indigenous landscapes with native plantings as well as expanded interpretive spaces, scenic walking paths, and enhanced accessibility. The site is now open to the public year-round.
Library and Collections: Our library and collections departments maintain and make available to the public the MNHS' collection of books, newspapers, maps, objects, photographs, works of art, oral history recordings, private manuscripts, and periodicals on Minnesota history. MNHS catalogs, restores, and digitizes documents and records to make them available for public use. This program includes the acquisition, preservation, and cataloging of public records, as well as the Historical Society's responsibilities as State Archivist. Our collections continued to grow in FY22 with the addition of more oral histories and over 1,900 new artifacts. The Gale Family Library reopened to visitors in 2021-2022 on a limited basis. In addition, the Art Speaks exhibit showcased MNHS's Minnesota art collection, which is the most comprehensive in the world. More than 160 new paintings, sculptures, and photos that have been acquired over the last five years were featured in the exhibit. The Archaeology program continues to perform services for the State of MN Department of Natural Resources as well as other historic and archeological surveys as required.
Education, Outreach, and Content Development: MNHS develops Minnesota history curriculum, provides teacher education, and coordinates the Minnesota History Day program. After two years of restrictions due to COVID-19, school groups returned to the Minnesota History Center for on-site programming in 2022. History Day continues to be a signature program for MNHS. In FY 22, 17,000 of Minnesota's students, from 134 schools, participated in the program, in school, regional, state and national levels. In addition to in-person learning, MNHS continues to expand our virtual educational programming. That has enabled us to serve a much broader audience, including fifth and sixth grade students through the Northern Lights digital curriculum. Diversity and inclusion are a focus of our educational programming and outreach by engaging with traditionally underrepresented communities. It is our goal to ensure the diversity of Minnesota is reflected in all that we do. Our Native American Initiatives department continues to work on building relationships and being an advocate for Native peoples across Minnesota and beyond. Our Native American Undergraduate Museum Fellowship exposes Native American students to careers in the museum field and our Native American Artist in Residence program expands Native American artists' understanding of traditional art. Additionally, The MNHS Press launched a major collaboration with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to publish Ojibwe stories. Our exhibits department, which plans, fabricates and installs exhibits at Society interpretive facilities and museums throughout the state, hosted Our Home, the Minnesota History Center's first permanent exhibit devoted to Native American content, and prepared for the opening of Sherlock Holmes exhibit in FY 2023.
Heritage Preservation: Our Heritage Preservation department provides technical assistance and grants for historic preservation, administers grant programs supporting projects in preservation and interpretation of Minnesota history, and administers the National Historic Preservation Act in Minnesota. In FY22, statewide preservation saw almost $8.0M awarded in Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund monies awarded through 201 Legacy grants across Minnesota. These grants serve many purposes across the entire State of Minnesota, including historic preservation, education and programming, digital preservation, archaeology, exhibits, inclusion and community engagement, publications as well as several partnership agreements.

Grants made by MNHS

GranteeGrant descriptionAmount
Science Museum of MinnesotaLegacy Grants for New Windows, Dakota Collections Exhibit, Pederson Excavation, and Animal Remains Research$266,836
St. Olaf CollegeLegacy Grants for Book Completion, Discovering Musical Stories, and Categorizing the Rise of St Olaf College$174,824
History Center of Olmsted CountyLegacy Grants for Rehabilitation of Smokehouse, Hcoc Lighting, Building Mechanical System, and Purchase of New Software$159,597
...and 107 more grants made totalling $3,205,993

Who funds Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS)

Grants from foundations and other nonprofits
GrantmakerDescriptionAmount
Saint Paul and Minnesota FoundationMultiple Grants for Multiple Purposes$399,151
Hardenbergh FoundationGeneral$375,000
WEM FoundationGeneral$250,000
...and 85 more grants received totalling $3,130,842
Federal funding details
Federal agencyProgram nameAmount
Department of the InteriorHISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND GRANTS-IN-AID$317,622
Department of the InteriorHISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND GRANTS-IN-AID$204,288
PROMOTION OF THE HUMANITIES_PUBLIC PROGRAMS$184,597
...and 6 more federal grants / contracts

Personnel at MNHS

NameTitleCompensation
S Kent WhitworthDirector and Chief Executive Officer$260,876
Fred NeherChief Financial Officer$134,549
Jennifer PogatchnikChief Development Officer$120,299
David KelliherDirector, Public Policy and Government Relations
Briana JoynerDirector Human Resources and Chief Inclusion Officer / Director , Human Resources$106,061
...and 9 more key personnel

Financials for MNHS

RevenuesFYE 06/2022
Total grants, contributions, etc.$50,615,882
Program services$6,738,939
Investment income and dividends$1,341,791
Tax-exempt bond proceeds$0
Royalty revenue$0
Net rental income$0
Net gain from sale of non-inventory assets$3,496,480
Net income from fundraising events$0
Net income from gaming activities$0
Net income from sales of inventory$1,103,929
Miscellaneous revenues$323,807
Total revenues$63,620,828

Form 990s for MNHS

Fiscal year endingDate received by IRSFormPDF link
2022-062023-05-02990View PDF
2020-062021-05-20990View PDF
2019-062021-01-21990View PDF
2018-062019-11-15990View PDF
2017-062018-06-14990View PDF
...and 7 more Form 990s
Data update history
July 8, 2023
Posted financials
Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2022
June 30, 2023
Updated personnel
Identified 4 new personnel
June 27, 2023
Used new vendors
Identified 1 new vendor, including
May 16, 2023
Updated personnel
Identified 7 new personnel
May 10, 2023
Used new vendors
Identified 1 new vendor, including
Nonprofit Types
Arts, culture, and humanities nonprofitsMuseumsCharities
Issues
EducationArts, cultural, and humanitiesHistory
Characteristics
MembershipsPolitical advocacyLobbyingConservation easementState / local levelReceives government fundingEndowed supportCommunity engagement / volunteeringTax deductible donations
General information
Address
345 Kellogg Blvd West
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Metro area
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
County
Ramsey County, MN
Website URL
mnhs.org/ 
Phone
(651) 259-3000
Facebook page
minnesotahistoricalsociety 
Twitter profile
@mnhs 
IRS details
EIN
41-0713907
Fiscal year end
June
Taxreturn type
Form 990
Year formed
1849
Eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions (Pub 78)
Yes
Categorization
NTEE code, primary
A80: Historical Societies, Historical Preservation
NAICS code, primary
7121: Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions
Parent/child status
Independent
Free account sign-up

Want updates when MNHS has new information, or want to find more organizations like Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS)?

Create free Cause IQ account