The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science was established 178 years
ago as a privately funded institution.  About ten years ago, we started to
receive a small grant from the city ($10k) but it is subject to an application
process annually.  In 1986, a county bond issue was passed to pay for the
restoration of Union Terminal to house  both the Museum of Natural History
and the Cincinnati Historical Society and its museum.  The Museum Center
openedin November, 1990.  Five years later, a merger of the two institutions
was announced chiefly for economic reasons.  There are separate admission
charges for each museum and for the OMNIMAX theater, and last week, the first
price increase in five years went into effect.  One of our permanent exhibit
installations had major support from NSF, but government support is
nil.  As Julia Moore so aptly put it, there's nothing evil about earned income
and we are attempting to expand those areas such as outreach, overnight pro-
grams and our shops (which are among the best museum shops I've seen).

Anne Arenstein
Director, Public Programs
Museum of Natural History and Science
Cincinnati Museum Center
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