Montana Heritage Project

Montana Heritage Project (MHP) is a program where high school students are encouraged to take their communities as the subject of serious historical research. Specifically, students compare and contrast community life of Montana in past generations with Community life today. Cultural heritage is the subject matter; field and research are its educational strategies.

MHP was started by the Library of Congress with encouragement and funding from Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation (LCAOF) in 1995. Since then it has been administered by the Montana Historical Society and funded by the LCAOF. Its mission is to engage young people in the scholarly study of their own communities and of Montana, using oral history and primary documents. Each research project culminates in gifts of scholarship to the community and the state. As of today, the project has sponsored research projects in 28 Montana communities: Bigfork, Brady, Broadus, Browning, Centerville, Chester, Columbus, Corvallis, Dillon, Eureka, Fairfield, Fort Benton, Gardiner, Great Falls, Harlowton, Lewistown, Libby, Polson, Pryor, Red Lodge, Ronan, Roundup, St. Ignatius, Simms, Thompson Falls, Townsend, Whitefish, and White Sulphur Springs. Over 6,000 students have participated. Wibaux County High School and Lincoln County High School were not official part of the Heritage Project but were invited to participate in special projects.

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