The Oklahoma History Center is pleased to announce that it will host the interpretive staff from George Washington's Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens on Thursday, January 29, at 7 p.m. These interpreters will give firsthand accounts of life at Mount Vernon, including stories of General Washington beginning with the French and Indian War and ending with his final hours, introducing the listener to a George Washington few individuals know. Portrayals will be of Dr. James Craik, Washington's close friend and personal physician, and Nelly Custis, Washington's youngest granddaughter.

The History Center doors will open at 6 p.m. and the program will start at 7 p.m. The event is free but seating is limited. For more information please contact the Oklahoma History Center Education Department at education@okhistory.org or 405-522-3602.

This program is funded in part by SONIC, America's Drive-In.

The Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) announces its annual matching grants to state, local and tribal governments and nonprofit organizations for the preparation of National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nominations. The SHPO has reserved $10,000 of its FY 2015 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) allocation from the U.S. Department of the Interior for the program. The funds will be equally divided for award in two grant rounds with any funds remaining from round one carried over for round two. Applications and detailed instructions will be available from the SHPO on February 1. The deadline for round one applications is 5 p.m., April 1, and the deadline for round two applications is 5 p.m., June 3. Each grant is limited to $1,000, and the applicant must provide a nonfederal, cash match of at least $700. Grant recipients will use the grant funds and nonfederal match to retain an appropriately qualified professional to prepare a complete individual property nomination package for the NRHP. Applicants must be aware that $1,700 (federal grant plus nonfederal match) is only an estimate of the cost for such projects and that more than the minimum $700 nonfederal match may be necessary to cover the consultant fee. Consultants must consider the nature of the property proposed for nomination and many other factors as they develop their fee proposals.

The NRHP is the catalogue of our nation's significant buildings, structures, sites, districts, objects and landscapes important in our past. While listing is not a guarantee of preservation or of financial assistance, the NRHP status of a property is often critical to the strategy for its preservation. The NRHP provides increased public awareness of these irreplaceable resources, provides limited protection for them, qualifies property owners for federal and state tax credits under certain circumstances, and may qualify the property owner for grant assistance when such programs are funded.

To submit a NRHP Nomination Grant application online or to obtain an application form, visit www.okhistory.org/shpo/nrgrant.htm. You may also contact the SHPO at 405-521-6249. Information about the SHPO and its programs, including the NRHP, is available at www.okhistory.org/shpo.

The Chisholm Trail Museum is proud to announce that, due to popular demand, the temporary exhibit "No Lady of Leisure," will be extended through March 2015. The items in this exhibit are on loan from one of the foremost collectors and historians of Victorian era attire, Marna Davis of Shooting Star Enterprises in Oklahoma. The exhibit showcases 24 original, rare Victorian era handmade dresses worn by women from the Civil War through the turn of the 20th century. The exhibit also displays original patterns and equipment women used to make their clothing, such as an 1880 metal dressmaker and numerous original pattern guides.  Through narrative and original photographs the exhibit reveals "what a difficult situation most respectable but poor in the purse women found themselves in" who out of necessity found a way to clothe themselves respectably, "yet still be able to perform household duties which were their sole domain." The exhibit also delves into the invention and availability of the sewing machine, the development of the sized sewing pattern and the development of the network of roads and railroads to provide women with materials to create their own clothes during this time. The dresses on display represent various geographical and socioeconomic styles, from those who lived on the frontier during and after the land runs in Oklahoma to those who lived in large cities in the United States throughout the Victorian and early Edwardian periods.

Also on display is an early post-Civil War era bustle wrapper dress, an original 1883 "McDowell drafting system" made of adjustable brass strips, 1880s bright turkey red wrapper dress and a late 1890s original crochet booklet with pattern examples. The exhibit reveals the extremely difficult situation in which most middle-class women found themselves regarding appropriate attire while also bearing large numbers of children and running households on the farm and in the cities.

After touring the "No Lady of Leisure," visitors are encouraged to tour the rest of the museum where they will learn the histories of Jesse Chisholm, the Chisholm Trail, the Land Run of 1889, and early territorial and statehood days in Kingfisher and Kingfisher County. There is also a Victorian Era historical site on the museum grounds with five original historical structures, including two original log cabins, the first bank building in Kingfisher, an original one-room school house and a one-room rural church. Additionally, visitors can enjoy a guided tour of the Governor Seay Mansion that was owned by the second territorial governor of Oklahoma, Abraham Jefferson Seay. This beautiful, Victorian Era home is decorated in the Victorian style with original, handcrafted crown molding and pocket doors. The home is furnished with many of Governor Seay's original belongings.