WARREN, Ohio – The Trumbull County Historical Society has received a $20,000 grant from the Ohio History Connection to help fund the Sutliff Museum’s move from the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library to a climate-controlled section of the Morgan History Center, 328 Mahoning Ave. NW.
The Sutliff preserves Warren’s Underground Railroad history. The move will involve 3,500 nationally significant artifacts pertaining to the anti-slavery movement and 19th-century Warren.
The Sutliff Museum has been housed in the library since 1971. The historical society was approached in 2023 to acquire the collection and move it to the Morgan History Center.
The historical society and the newly formed Sutliff Committee will curate new exhibits, keeping at the forefront Phebe Sutliff’s original vision of highlighting the anti-slavery movement. The society also will ensure the long-term preservation of the collection, as well as transcribe more than 800 documents and letters and improve accessibility to the collection for researchers and the public.
The review panel recommended this project because it would transfer to a highly competent and growing organization a collection of statewide and national importance.
The grant was one of 12 announced this week by the Ohio History Connection, and the only one in the Mahoning Valley.
Dubbed Ohio History Fund grants, the gifts go to community history organizations.
Pictured at top: The Morgan History Center in Warren. Photo courtesy of Trumbull County Historical Society.