The National Park Service (NPS) today announced $25.7 million in Save America’s Treasures grants to fund 59 projects that will preserve nationally significant sites and historic collections in 26 states and the District of Columbia.
In New York State, eight institutions were awarded a total of $3,106,544.
“The Save America’s Treasures program began 25 years ago and continues to enable communities across the United States to preserve and conserve their nationally significant historic properties and collections,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “It’s fitting to celebrate this milestone anniversary through a wide range of projects that help to pass the full history of America and its people down to future generations.”
Since 1999, the Save America’s Treasures program has provided over $405 million from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) to more than 1,400 projects to provide preservation and conservation work on nationally significant collections, artifacts, structures, and sites. Previous awards have gone toward restoring the Park Inn Hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; the USS Intrepid, an Essex class carrier on display in Manhattan; and the Saturn V Launch Vehicle, a three-stage rocket designed for a lunar landing mission.
Today’s award of $25,705,000 will be matched by almost $50 million in private and public investment. NPS partners with the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services to award the grants.
Established in 1977, the HPF has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations. Administered by NPS, HPF grant funds are appropriated by Congress annually to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural and historic resources.
The HPF, which uses revenue from federal offshore oil and gas leases, supports a broad range of preservation projects without expending tax dollars. The intent behind the HPF is to mitigate the loss of nonrenewable resources through the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.
Applications for next year’s round of the Save America's Treasures Grant Program will open in the fall of 2024. $25.5 million in funding will be available.
Learn more.
American Jewish Historical Society, $165,288
The American Jewish Historical Society will use the funds to process records of the Anti-Defamation League’s Civil Rights Information Center and its Center on Extremism, which includes documents that illuminate ADL’s initiatives to expose and mitigate antisemitism, racism, and other forms of hate. The subseries of the collection is about 100 linear feet and includes correspondence, records of court cases and legislation, periodicals, reports, and research files. Selections will be digitized after processing and will be made available to researchers both on-site and online. The project will be matched with $181,998 in non-federal share.
Great Hudson Heritage Network, $269,038
The Greater Hudson Heritage Network will use funds to conserve objects from 10 small and mid-size museums in New York State. The objects include 35 items of historical significance and a wide range of materials, which, after a preliminary assessment, were selected as those items most in need of treatment. A panel of conservators will work on the objects over the course of 8-10 months and will also participate in a Community Engagement Conservation Workshop at each museum for staff and visitors to highlight unique challenges and new discoveries during the process of conserving these unique stories from New York State. The project will be matched with $269,359 in non-federal share.
Historic Hudson Valley, $630,300
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, a National Historical Landmark, was the estate of author Washington Irving from 1835 until his death in1859. Sunnyside, known as America’s first “literary landmark,” preserves the ideals of the Romantic movement. Irving’s Cottage, one of the buildings on the property, experiences water penetration, moisture, and temperature fluctuations, deteriorating masonry and stucco, and harmful UV light. This grant project will create a site drainage system and redirect water collection as well as repair damage to lime-based and clay materials on the building envelope. This work will ensure important access to Sunnyside and continued engagement with Irving’s life and cultural legacy for future generations. The grantee is providing $640,365 of matching funds.
Livingston County Historical Society, $150,000
The Livingston County Historical Museum will improve the storage of approximately 30,000 artifacts relating to Indigenous people and habitants of the post-colonial Finger Lakes Region. Project activities will include purchasing and installing new collections storage and environmental controls, security, and fire prevention measures. Building upon a detailed assessment of storage needs conducted by an interdisciplinary team, project staff will engage experts to ensure that the equipment will properly store collections and mitigate further damage. The rehoused material will facilitate the creation of future exhibits and allow staff to rotate and rest objects from the collection. The grantee will provide $150,000 in matching funds.
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, $88,670
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will use the funds to make a portion of their archaeological collections accessible to the public through processing documents and photographing artifacts. The collections include two significant archaeological excavations in Lower Manhattan excavated in the late 1970s and early 1980s: the Stadt Huys Block Site, the first major urban excavation in New York City, and 7 Hanover Square, associated with highly significant 17th century households. There are 20,595 documents that will be processed, digitized, and data made available through the LPC’s online archaeological repository, and 8,400 artifacts that will be photographed; two digital exhibits will also be created to showcase the data for public and researcher access. The project will be matched with $96,312 in non-federal share.
St. Bartholomew's Conservancy, Inc., $749,840
The Stanford White Triple Portal is the main entrance to the St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. The Triple Portal, boasting three sets of spectacular bas-relief cast bronze doors and carved stone iconographic sculpture by renowned artists of the early 20th century, was the defining feature for the design and construction of the new St. Bartholomew’s Church building in 1918, heralded by architect Bertram G. Goodhue as “perhaps the most beautiful thing of its kind in America.” Over time the building has experienced deterioration from pollution and age. The SAT grant will focus on the preservation of the Cipollino marble columns, iconographic sculpture, the bronze doors and the limestone steps that comprise the Stanford White Triple Portal. The grantee is providing $2,957,505 of matching funds.
Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, $303,408
The Staten Island Museum will inventory and rehouse approximately 185 linear feet of archival material in preparation to move the collections into a new climate-controlled storage space. The collections include the papers of renowned scientists including Nathaniel Lord Britton, John J. Crooke, and Mathilde Weingartner. The archives also include archaeological descriptions of Lenape sites on Staten Island. This project will support the purchase of archival supplies, as well as a part-time project archivist and museum fellow, who will carry-out the collection inventory and rehousing activities. Additionally, the museum will work with a contractor to conserve and digitize 11 journals of William T. Davis, a prominent naturalist, entomologist, and historian. The project will result in improved preservation of the collection, enhanced intellectual control, and the creation of new finding aids that will increase accessibility of the collection for staff and researchers. The grantee will provide $303,408 in matching funds.
The Paley Center for Media, $750,000
The Paley Center for Media will use the funds to digitize and catalog approximately 2,500 items within their African American Collection. The collection holds rare and at-risk television media and historic programs featuring figures such as Nat King Cole, Bayard Rustin, Bernard Shaw, Toni Morrison, from Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. The Paley Center for Media will work with multiple vendors to digitize the collection. Once digitized, these materials will be used by the Paley education staff for its K-12 media education program and for the museum's public exhibits. The project will be matched with $750,000 in non-federal share.
