Bronx Historical Society

What Bronx Historical Society does

The Bronx County Historical Society (The Bronx County Historical Society, Inc.) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1962 and headquartered on Bainbridge Avenue in The Bronx, New York. It operates four primary assets: the Museum of Bronx History, the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage on Grand Concourse, the Bronx County Archives (established 1974, holding 160+ municipal collections), and a Research Library containing over 198,000 items including books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, and microfilm. Core programmatic outputs include rotating exhibits (e.g., "When The Bronx Moved" on Bronx dance cultures 1970-1984, "The Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame," and the new permanent "The Bronx; Crucible of Liberty"), community-based oral history projects (the Bronx African American History Project with Fordham University and the Bronx Latino History Project with Lehman College, both initiated in 2002), a digital repository called Bronx History Online built on the Omeka platform, group educational tours, and a retail gift shop.

The Society is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees led by President Jacqueline Kutner with Dr. G. Hermalyn as CEO. Headcount is approximately ten. Revenue mechanics are diversified across suggested-donation admissions ($5 adult / $3 child-senior regular; $25 / $12 for private tours), an eight-tier annual membership program spanning $20 (Senior/Student) to $950 (Gouverneur Morris Club), retail sales of books, calendars, journals and branded merchandise, freewill charitable donations (including bequests and gift annuities accepted via PayPal donate button), and project grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and individual state legislators.

The GTM motion is direct-to-consumer through physical site visits and tours, supplemented by digital distribution via the Omeka-hosted online repository, an email newsletter, a LinkTree aggregator linking to social profiles, and a Culture Pass NYC channel partnership that funnels library cardholders into free admission. Customer base spans high-school and college students, academic researchers and historians, genealogists, journalists, community activists, government researchers, and general heritage-tourism visitors — with five primary segments flagged as equal-weight: general public/tourists, students, researchers/scholars, schools/educational groups, and community members. No revenue is publicly disclosed.

Name

Bronx Historical Society

Legal name

The Bronx County Historical Society, Inc.

Website

https://bronxhistoricalsociety.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bronx County Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates the Museum of Bronx History, Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, the Bronx County Archives, and a 198,000-item Research Library, serving students, scholars, genealogists, and general visitors to The Bronx, NY.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum and Historical Society Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Historical Sites (71212), Libraries and Archives (519210), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ)

Keywords

• Historical society services
• Museum and exhibits
• Archival research services
• Historical publications
• Heritage education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

The Bronx

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Admission & Donations: Suggested admission donations at Museum of Bronx History ($5 adults, $3 children/seniors) and private tour fees ($25 adults, $12 children). Members enjoy unlimited free admission. Free admission available through Culture Pass NYC.
2. Store Sales: Sale of books, calendars, gifts, merchandise including journals, historical publications, Poe-related items, and memorabilia through the Bronx History Gift Shop.
3. Memberships: Annual membership tiers providing benefits including free museum admission, with Individual ($25), Family ($35), Senior ($20), Student ($20), Non-Profit/Library ($30), Gouverneur Morris Club ($950), Bronx History Sustainer ($100), Scholar ($450), and Fellow ($200) options.
4. Digital Archive Access: Digital collections accessible online through Bronx History Online repository.
5. Donations & Charitable Support: Tax-deductible donations accepted, including bequests, charitable gift annuities, and individual charitable trusts. Organization is a qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bronx County Historical Society preserves and shares the history of the Bronx through a museum (Museum of Bronx History), a historic house museum (Edgar Allan Poe Cottage), a research library holding 198,000+ items, the official Bronx County Archives with 160+ collections, and a digital repository (Bronx History Online). It sells historical publications and merchandise through a gift shop, runs group tours and educational programs, and operates tiered membership programs funded by donations and grants as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Product overview

The Bronx County Historical Society operates a multi-faceted historical preservation and education organization consisting of physical sites (Museum of Bronx History and Edgar Allan Poe Cottage), research facilities (Research Library with 198,000+ items and Bronx County Archives with 160+ collections), digital collections (Bronx History Online powered by Omeka), rotating exhibits (When The Bronx Moved dance exhibit, Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame), America 250 commemorative programming, a gift shop with historical merchandise and publications, group educational tours, and tiered membership programs. The Society serves as a major resource for students, scholars, journalists, activists, and general public researching Bronx history and culture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum of Bronx History Historic museum at 3266 Bainbridge Ave., The Bronx, open Saturdays and Sundays with rotating and permanent exhibits on Bronx history, including the permanent exhibit "The Bronx; Crucible of Liberty" covering 1600–1850. Open to the general public via suggested-donation admission.
• Edgar Allan Poe Cottage Historic house museum at 2640 Grand Concourse where Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1846–1849, featuring multimedia permanent exhibits on his life and literary works including "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Annabel Lee." Open to the public via suggested-donation admission.
• Research Library Bronx-focused research library at 3309 Bainbridge Ave., containing over 198,000 books, pamphlets, still images, manuscripts, recorded sounds, moving images, microfilm, and microfiche. Open by appointment Monday–Friday for researchers, scholars, and students.
• Bronx County Archives Official municipal archive repository for the Bronx, established in 1974, containing over 160 separate collections with original documents, manuscripts, still images, sound recordings, moving images, maps, and city directories covering Bronx, NYC, and lower Westchester County history. Includes Bronx African American History Project and Bronx Latino History Project collections.
• Bronx History Online (Digital Collections) Online digital repository (digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org) providing public access to digitized items from the Bronx County Archives and Research Library, including historical journals, newspapers, photographs, and archival materials, with finding aids and research guides. Built on the Omeka platform.
• Group Tours and Educational Programs Guided tours and educational programs for groups at the Museum of Bronx History and Poe Cottage, including private tours outside regular hours at $25 adults / $12 children. Coordinated by the Director of Education for school groups, teachers, and community organizations.
• Membership Programs Annual membership subscription program with multiple tiers (Individual, Family, Senior, Student, Non-Profit/Library, Fellow, Scholar, Gouverneur Morris Club, Sustainer) priced from $20 to $950, providing unlimited free museum admission and other member benefits.
• Bronx History Gift Shop Online and on-site retail store selling books ($3–$30), journals ($15), calendars ($12), educational materials, commemorative pins, mugs, prints, maps, and other gifts related to Bronx history and Edgar Allan Poe. Operated by the Bookstore Manager.
• America 250: The Bronx Programming Multi-year programming series of events, lectures, and exhibits marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, telling the story of how The Bronx shaped the American struggle for freedom. Anchored by the related permanent exhibit "The Bronx; Crucible of Liberty."

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 160 separate archival collections maintained
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fordham UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002Partnership through the Bronx African American History Project, started in 2002, for collecting and documenting African American experiences in the Bronx through oral histories and community-based research projects.
• Lehman CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through The Bronx Latino History Project, a joint undertaking for collecting and documenting Latino experiences and history in the Bronx through oral histories and community-based projects.
• Culture Pass NYCminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProgram providing free museum admission for public library card holders from NYPL, Queens Public Library, and Brooklyn Public Library.
• The Bronx Basketball Hall of FameminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDerek Doward, CEO of The Bronx Basketball Hall of Fame, curates a temporary exhibit at the Museum of Bronx History highlighting basketball histories in the Bronx.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lower East Side Tenement Museum: NYC historic-house museum combining preserved site, immigrant/community history narratives, and educational programming. Closely comparable operating model to Poe Cottage + Museum of Bronx History combination.
• Brooklyn Historical Society: Borough-level NYC historical society operating a museum, research library, and community history programming. Most structurally comparable to The Bronx County Historical Society in scale, mission, and funding model.
• Alice Austen House: Staten Island historic-house museum operated as a small nonprofit with a single anchor property and community-heritage programming. Comparable in scale, mission, and donor-dependent revenue model.
• Dyckman Farmhouse Museum: Manhattan-based small historic-house museum with similar weekend hours, suggested-donation admission, and borough-level identity. Operates as a comparable community-anchored heritage nonprofit.
• Queens Historical Society: Borough-level NYC historical society with similar small-staff footprint, historic-house operations, and archive/research library function. Direct peer in funding competition and audience overlap.
• Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum: Bronx-based historic-house museum operated as a small nonprofit with comparable weekend hours, suggested-donation admission, and educational programming. Most directly comparable single-site Bronx peer.
• Historic Richmond Town: Staten Island historic-village museum combining multiple preserved structures, demonstrations, and educational programming. Comparable multi-property heritage operation with similar revenue mix.

Broad incumbents

• New-York Historical Society: Largest and oldest NYC historical society, operating a major museum, research library, and educational programming. Competes for cultural tourism, school groups, and grant funding against the Bronx society at a much larger scale.
• Museum of the City of New York: Citywide NYC history museum with permanent and rotating exhibits on New York's past. Overlaps with the Bronx society's tourism audience and competes for the same donor and grant pools at greater scale.

Regional players

• Van Cortlandt House Museum: Bronx-based historic house operated as a small heritage site within Van Cortlandt Park. Directly comparable in geography and historic-house mission; serves as an in-borough peer for local tourism.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@BronxHipHopProject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bronx-historical-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bronx Historical Society