About our Hosts for NAFOW 2023
The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project, and the Arvonia Historic Preservation Society

The Welsh Museum and Archive for Welsh America became a reality in 2001 to preserve the Welsh ancestry which started in the late 1800’s.  Young men and women seeking a better life came for Nebraska farmland initiated from the Homestead Act of 1862.  Welsh was spoken in the town of Wymore, the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church and in the one-room school located closely to the surrounding farms.  Since 2001 we have grown exponentially with a state-of-the art Archive which houses one-of-a-kind artifacts along with the early microfilm of the Y Drych.  We now own and maintain the one-room school which was historically restored in 2018.  The growth has come from Welsh Societies throughout the U.S. and Canada donating for future generations, their histories along with oral interviews of many long-time Welsh speakers. Numerous dedicated volunteers have made the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project nationally and internationally known. By their hard work, we are humbled to receive the 2023 North America Wales Foundation Welsh Heritage Medallion Award.
The Arvonia Historic Preservation Society was established in 2014 to promote the Arvonia community and its Welsh heritage.  The society’s mission is to provide guidance in the preservation and restoration of the Welsh settlement of Arvonia.  A part of this mission is to raise awareness of the community and to share the history of the school, church, township hall and community as a whole.  This includes the Welsh heritage that was once a very important part of the community.  The organization raises funds for the upkeep, preservation, and restoration of the buildings through private donations, fundraising and grants.  The organization also raises funds for programming and education.  The AHPS received the Kansas Preservation Alliance Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation Advocacy in 2016. 

The AHPS hosts field trips from local schools, tours, an Easter Sunrise Service, a Fall Festival, a Christmas Candlelight church and other activities for the surrounding communities and their supporters.