Begin Main Content Area

PHMC Reopening Resources 

​Reopening Resources

The following links have been collected by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission to help guide us as we move forward from the COVID-19 crisis to reopen our archives, museums and historic sites and restart our historic preservation initiatives. We share them here in hopes that they will be beneficial to the larger community and that others will alert us to resources we may have overlooked. This page will be updated as needed.

Health and Safety Guidance

For health-related information always consult trusted medical sources. The following sites are frequently updated with new information as it becomes available:

Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID-19

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Archives and Records

Centers for Disease Control / "Mitigating COVID-19 When Managing Paper-Based, Circulating, and Other Types of Collections"

Northeast Document Conservation Center / "Disinfecting Books and Other Collections"

Re-Entering a Collection that was Closed by COVID-19

Community Preservation

Main Street America / “COVID-19 Main Street Resources”

National Trust for Historic Preservation / “Resources in Response to the Coronavirus”

Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations / “COVID-19 Resources”

Pennsylvania Downtown Center / “COVID-19 State Resources”

Pennsylvania Downtown Center / “Funding Resources”

Pennsylvania Downtown Center / “#ReadyForPreservation: Tools and Tips to Support Your Downtown’s Recovery and Revitilization”

Pennsylvania Downtown Center / “PDC Reopening Resource Briefs”

Pennsylvania Historic Preservation / “PA SHPO COVID-19 Update”

Pennsylvania Historic Preservation / “Supporting Pennsylvania’s Main Street”

Pennsylvania Historic Preservation / “Continuity of Operations During COVID-19 State Office Closures”

Museums and Historic Sites

American Alliance of Museums / “COVID-19 Information and Resources for the Museum Field”

American Alliance of Museums / “Museums and Equity in Times of Crisis”

American Alliance of Museums / “Consideration for Museum Reopenings” (PDF)

American Alliance of Museums / “Preparing to Reopen”

American Alliance of Museums / “Centering Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion”

American Association for State & Local History / “COVID-19 Resources” (includes sample reopening plans)

Association of Science and Technology Centers / “Science Centers and COVID-19”

Cuseum / Includes free webinars and recordings on digital engagement and issues related to reopening

Know Your Own Bone (Colleen Dilenschneider) / COVID-19 impact on visitor-serving institutions and visitor intentions

New England Museums Report on Early Impacts from COVID-19

Studio Tectonic / “Tips and Thoughts for Museums in a COVID World”

Texas Historical Commission / Webinars and recordings on social media and visitor engagement during COVID-19

Funding Resources

PHC CARES: Emergency Relief Grants