Sherman Museum brings back History Comes Alive fundraiser Nov. 7

The Sherman Museum will hold its History Comes Alive fundraiser again on Nov. 7, 2026, according to the museum's website. The museum's collection documents Grayson County and the surrounding Red River area.

In a September 2014 announcement, the City of Sherman called that year's event the museum's major fundraiser and described costumed actors telling the life stories of local residents at West Hill Cemetery. The museum's 2019 announcement advertised cemetery tours with historical portrayals. Tickets that year were $20 for adults, $15 for museum members and $10 for students with identification.

At the Sept. 16, 2019, Sherman City Council meeting, museum board member Bea Harmon reported that rain had forced cancellation of the previous year's History Comes Alive and that fundraising had been difficult, according to the meeting record.

Council members voted 6-0 that night to approve Resolution 6525. The resolution authorized $50,000 in base hotel-motel tax support for the museum and up to $20,000 in matching operating funds. City staff contrasted the arrangement with the city's previous contribution of $70,000, the record shows.

The museum was founded in 1976 to preserve local heritage, according to its published history. It reports holding more than 50,000 objects. A volunteer board governs the museum, which says the city provides part of its funding.

The museum lists memberships as financial support for History Comes Alive and its other programs. Annual rates run from $25 for students or veterans to $75 for families. It also says rentals of its community room, at $50 an hour with a three-hour minimum, help support operations and special events. Regular adult admission is $5. The Texas Historical Commission lists adult admission at $6 for the Eisenhower Birthplace in nearby Denison.

Nationally, the American Alliance of Museums surveyed 511 museum directors in July and August 2025. The group found that 55% of responding museums remained below their 2019 attendance. Among the museums in that survey, 86% said they were exploring new revenue approaches, including membership changes and expanded facility rentals or private events. Directors most often named changes in philanthropy, at 63%, as a business challenge they expected in 2026. The figures describe responding museums nationally, not the Sherman Museum.

Gainesville has a comparable program. The Morton Museum promotes an annual Historic South Gainesville Home Tour each December, using historic properties for public history programming.

The Sherman Museum occupies a former Carnegie library built in 1914 and has acquired an adjacent historic church for collection storage. Sherman transferred the library building and the museum collection to the Friends of the Red River Historical Museum in 2005, according to the museum.