Dallas Historical Society

What Dallas Historical Society does

Dallas Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1922 and the oldest organization in Dallas County dedicated to preserving and sharing regional history. It operates the Hall of State at Fair Park — an Art Deco landmark built for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition and listed on the National Register of Historic Places — under a management agreement with the City of Dallas dating to 1938. The Society maintains an archive of approximately 3 million items and 10,000+ bound volumes, delivered through the G.B. Dealey Library, rotating exhibits, and the Moody Digital Immersive Learning Experience, an augmented-reality exhibit aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards.

Its core product portfolio spans museum exhibits, educational field-trip programming (serving ~20,000 students annually, more than half at free or discounted rates), the Dallas Historicals educational games line, fee-based archival research services, and a multi-tier membership program ranging from $30 student rates to $10,000 Presenter-level giving. Revenue is generated through a diversified nonprofit model: individual and corporate membership dues ($30–$10,000), event rentals of the Hall of State facility for corporate events and weddings, foundation grants and corporate sponsorships (Scovell Family, Hillcrest, Summerfield G. Roberts, Summerlee, Bass, Moody, H-E-B), the Adopt an Artifact conservation program ($200–$10,000), donations and planned gifts, merchandise sales, and paid research services. Digital reach is extended through the UNT Portal to Texas History partnership and the TARO archival network.

The Society combines a heritage preservation mandate with a community-engagement go-to-market — driving awareness through school outreach, the annual Dallas History Makers Awards Luncheon, the Author's Table Dinner Series, Brown Bag and evening lectures, and active social media channels. Customer segments span K–12 schools and educators, general public visitors and history enthusiasts, corporate event planners, individual and corporate members, and academic researchers. Strategic focus is on modernizing the visitor experience through AR-enabled exhibits and digital games while preserving its archive and Art Deco venue as differentiated assets.

Name

Dallas Historical Society

Legal name

Dallas Historical Society

Website

https://www.dallashistory.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dallas Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1922 that preserves and exhibits Dallas and Texas history from the Hall of State at Fair Park. It serves ~160,000 annual visitors and ~20,000 students through museum exhibits, archives, AR-enabled educational programs, and event rentals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage / Museum Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums (712110)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

Keywords

• Historical preservation services
• Museum exhibits and collections
• Educational programming
• Archival research services
• Cultural heritage institution

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership subscriptions with multiple tiers ranging from $30 (Students/Educators) to $10,000 (Presenter level). Corporate membership tiers range from $1,000 to $10,000 annually.
2. Event Rentals: Rental of Hall of State facility for weddings, corporate events, meetings, and special occasions. Rental fees support operations of the Dallas Historical Society. The Hall of State is not available for rental during September or October due to the State Fair of Texas.
3. Donations and Tribute Gifts: Financial contributions from individuals, including tribute/memorial gifts and planned giving through wills, retirement plans, life insurance policies, or living trusts.
4. Adopt an Artifact Program: Donations to sponsor conservation of artifacts or contribute to general preservation fund. Conservation costs range from $200 to $10,000 for specific items.
5. Grants and Sponsorships: Funding from foundations and corporate sponsors for exhibits and educational programs. Major sponsors include Scovell Family Foundation, Hillcrest Foundation, Summerfield G. Roberts Foundation, Summerlee Foundation, and others for the Battle of the Alamo Exhibit.
6. Merchandise Sales: Sale of Texas History Trail Card Game and other educational products. Member discounts available on store purchases.
7. Research and Archive Services: Fee-based extensive research services by staff. Collections staff answers questions via email at no cost up to fifteen minutes. Extensive research undertaken on a fee basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Dallas Historical Society preserves and shares Dallas and Texas history through museum exhibits, educational programs, and archival collections housed in the Hall of State at Fair Park. It operates free public exhibits, TEKS-aligned K-12 educational programming and field trips, a research library with 3 million items, event rentals of the historic Art Deco venue, and a multi-tier membership program supported by donations, grants, and corporate sponsorships.

Product overview

The Dallas Historical Society operates as a traditional historical society and museum organization offering a unified portfolio of heritage preservation and education products and services centered at the Hall of State at Fair Park. The core offerings include physical museum exhibits (Exhibits, Hall of State venue), educational programming (Educational Programming and Field Trips, Dallas Historicals Educational Games), research access (G.B. Dealey Library and Archives, Online Collections), and public programming (Programming Events, Dallas History Makers Awards). Digital products include The Moody Digital Immersive Learning Experience (augmented reality exhibit) and Texas History Lens (interactive digital exhibit), while membership and event rental services support operational funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hall of State: The iconic Art Deco building at Fair Park that serves as the home of the Dallas Historical Society, available for event rentals including corporate dinners, meetings, weddings, and gala events.
• Dallas History Makers
• Dallas Historicals
• G.B. Dealey Library

Products and services

• Hall of State Museum Historic Art Deco museum at Fair Park built in 1936 for the Texas Centennial Exposition, housing the Society's exhibits, collections, and programming. Open Tuesday–Saturday and Sundays with free admission; available for educational visits, tours, and community programming.
• Museum Exhibits Rotating and permanent museum exhibits showcasing Dallas and Texas history, including Unquiet Legacies: Dynamic Dallas Women, the Battle of the Alamo Interactive Diorama, the Texana Collection, and other historical artifact displays. Free admission to the public.
• Educational Programming and Field Trips School field trips, building tours, and educational outreach programs aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and STAAR-style questioning, serving approximately 20,000 students annually with guided tours and outreach; scholarships and free decks available to support classroom participation.
• Dallas Historicals Educational Games Educational games division producing the Texas History Trail Card Game (aligned with 7th grade Texas curriculum), Mexican-American War Poker Deck, and digital games covering flags, events, documents, battles, geography, figures, and terms of Texas history, with free decks available for classrooms.
• G.B. Dealey Library and Archives Research library housing over 3 million historic documents, more than 10,000 bound volumes, photographs, diaries, maps, newspapers, and rare books documenting Dallas and Texas history; open by appointment for academic, genealogical, and historical research.
• Online Collections Catalog Digital database providing online access to the Society's collections, including objects, photographs, library materials, archives, and people records, delivered via the catalogaccess.com platform in partnership with the University of North Texas Portal to Texas History and TARO.
• Event Rentals at Hall of State Facility rental services for the Hall of State building, available for corporate dinners, meetings, weddings, galas, and conferences in spaces including the Great Hall, Hall of Heroes, Texas Rooms, and the 392-seat Margaret & Al Hill Lecture Hall; unavailable September–October due to the State Fair of Texas.
• Membership Programs Multi-tiered annual membership program including Director's Inner Circle (Presenter, Statesman, Patron, Fellows, Junior Fellows), Legacy Membership (Philosopher, Academic, Scholar, Collector, Biographer, Historian), Corporate Membership (Founder's Circle, Tradition, Legacy, Historical), and a discounted Students & Educators tier; individual dues range $30 to $10,000 and corporate tiers $1,000 to $10,000.
• Dallas History Makers Awards Annual awards program honoring outstanding individuals and organizations for contributions to Dallas since 1981 across categories such as Arts Leadership, Business, Education, Health/Sciences, Humanities/History, Philanthropy, Sports Leadership, and Volunteer Community Leadership, culminating in the Dallas History Makers Awards Luncheon.
• Public Programming Events Public programming including the Author's Table Dinner Series, Texas History Symposium, Evening Lectures, Brown Bag Lectures, Pour Yourself into History events, and Historic City Tours, offered to members and the broader community.
• Adopt an Artifact Program Donation program enabling individuals and organizations to sponsor conservation of specific artifacts or contribute to the general preservation fund, with conservation costs typically ranging from $200 to $10,000 per item.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serves approximately 20,000 students annually with educational programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of North Texas - Portal to Texas HistorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide online access to Dallas Historical Society documents and materials through the Portal to Texas History. Enables broader digital access to archival collections.
• Texas Archives at UT Austin (TARO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing online access to Dallas Historical Society archival documents through the Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) database.
• City of DallascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Dallas owns the Hall of State building. The Dallas Historical Society has managed the building since 1938 at the request of the City. The Society operates and maintains the historic landmark building.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: Dallas-based history museum focused on the life, death, and legacy of President Kennedy. Highly comparable as a Dallas-located, mission-driven history museum operating permanent exhibits, K–12 educational programming, and public events at a single landmark site.
• Texas State Historical Association: Statewide nonprofit dedicated to preserving and publishing Texas history, including the Handbook of Texas Online and educational programming. Comparable as a Texas-history nonprofit combining archival/publishing assets with educator resources and member-supported funding.
• Old Red Courthouse (Dallas): Historic Dallas landmark preserved and operated as a museum/heritage site by a local history nonprofit. Comparable as a historic-building-based Dallas heritage institution focused on civic history, exhibits, and educational programming.
• Frontiers of Flight Museum: Dallas-based specialty history museum (aviation) operating exhibits, educational programming, and events. Comparable as a single-site Dallas specialty museum with free/low-cost admission, school field-trip programming, and event-rental revenue.

Regional players

• Perot Museum of Nature and Science: Major Dallas museum combining permanent and traveling exhibits with extensive K–12 STEM educational programming. Comparable in Dallas footprint, school-field-trip model, AR/immersive exhibit investment, and corporate-sponsor-driven revenue mix.
• Dallas Museum of Art: Large Dallas art museum with free general admission, large-scale K–12 programming, and a multi-tier membership program. Comparable in operating a free-admission model in Dallas while converting visitation into memberships, donations, and special-event rentals.
• Houston Museum of Natural Science: Large Texas museum combining permanent exhibits, traveling shows, and extensive K–12 educational programming. Comparable as a Texas-based museum monetizing immersive exhibits and curriculum-aligned educational content at scale.

Others

• Heritage Auctions: Dallas-based auction house specializing in historical artifacts, rare books, and Americana. Comparable as a Dallas-rooted commercial counterpart monetizing historical artifacts and archives, representing a potential distribution/licensing channel for DHS collections.

Broad incumbents

• Texas Historical Commission: State agency responsible for historic preservation, heritage tourism, and Texas history programs. Comparable as a Texas-wide history-preservation stakeholder and potential partner or funding source for DHS programming.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation: National nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic places. Comparable as a heritage nonprofit operating membership tiers, fundraising events, and member-exclusive programming tied to historic properties.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dhshallofstate
• Facebookfacebook.com/DallasHistoricalSociety
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dallas-historical-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Dallas Historical Society