The Dayton History Fund

Funds donated to the Dayton History Fund help preserve and interpret more than 40 buildings and millions of artifacts and provide year-round educational programming.

These funds are used for a variety of purposes, such as:

  • Collecting and preserving the artifacts and stories connected to our region’s history.
  • Conserving and maintaining the 1905 Wright Flyer III—the only airplane designated a National Historic Landmark, the world’s first practical flying machine, and what the Wright brothers considered their most important aircraft.
  • Providing students with high-quality educational experiences.
  • Operating and maintaining Deed’s Carillon—Ohio’s largest carillon.
  • Assisting with the costs of operating and maintaining the Deed’s Carillon, Ohio’s largest carillon
  • Providing exciting summer learning opportunities for children.
  • Maintaining Carillon Historical Park’s scenic and beautiful grounds.

Did you know that…

Just $5.00 enables a child to participate in one of our school field trips.
Donations of any size are valued.

$25 Buys five pounds of wool for spinning demonstrations on a historic loom
$50 Buys enough beeswax for three classes of schoolchildren to learn candle making
$100 Buys 6 gallons of oil to keep the lights burning in Locust Grove Schoolhouse or historically accurate garden tools for the William Morris House garden
$250 A full cord of firewood for educational programming at the William Morris House or a professionally made, historically accurate costume for our historical interpreters to wear to help bring history to life
$500 Audio visual equipment maintenance for the Object Theatre in the Wright Brothers Aviation Center and other exhibits or cookware and stoneware pieces for the hearth cooking workshops


Larger gifts are always welcome.  They can provide a way to make future projects our reality.