$9.5 Million Awarded in Federal “Save America’s Treasures” Grants
NEH to administer grants for five of the 41 funded projects
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will be administering five of the 41 “Save America’s Treasures” grants announced Wednesday by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and the National Park Service (NPS). The Save America’s Treasures program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, ensures our nation’s cultural and historic legacy by funding the preservation and conservation of significant historic sites and collections. The program is administered by NPS in partnership with PCAH, the National Endowment for Arts, NEH, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. To date, more than 500 competitive grants have been awarded to recipients representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Midway Island.
The 41 Save America’s Treasures grant awardees announced today will receive a total of $9.5 million in funding; the five grants administered by the Endowment will receive $291,104. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and must be matched dollar-for-dollar with non-federal funds. Below is a list of the five projects supported by NEH. See the complete NPS/PCAH list of the 41 projects here.
Carrère and Hastings Architectural Collection, St. Augustine, Fla.
This Flagler College collection consists of the early architectural drawings and blueprints by John Carrère and Thomas Hastings, who are best known for their design of the New York Public Library. Among these fragile drawings are the blueprints for their first commission, the Hotel Ponce de Leon, which launched their careers. The funds will assist with the preservation of these recently rediscovered records and make them accessible to researchers. ($49,562)
Friendly Association Papers, Haverford, Pa.
The Papers of the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measure (1745-1792) at Haverford College are a unique record of an experiment to build peaceful relations between colonists and native peoples at a time of horrific bloodshed on both sides. These documents offer insights into vanished cultures, as well as colonial America that have seen heavy use by scholars and historians and grant funds will assist in the stabilization and digitization of the collection to ensure their future. ($31,065)
Paley Center for Media, New York, N.Y.
This collection of 500 hours of post-World War II television documentaries produced from 1951 to the early 1980s offer unparalleled coverage of a pivotal era in American history, both sparking and focusing the national dialogue on epochal events from the Cold War to the women’s movement. This grant will support the restoration and transfer of this material to digital media, ensuring that this collection is accessible to the public now and in the future. ($104,924)
Tufts University “This I Believe” Collection, Medford, Mass.
This Save America’s Treasures grant will support the stabilization and preservation of 200 reel-to-reel audio tapes from the radio program “This I Believe,” which was hosted by Edward R. Murrow from 1951 to 1955. Each week, he asked different people to convey the values by which they live; participants ranged from teachers and cab drivers to notable figures like Jackie Robinson and Eleanor Roosevelt. ($58,783)
William Still Collection of Papers, Photographs, and Abolitionist Pamphlets, Philadelphia, Pa.
William Still, one of the most successful black businessmen in Philadelphia’s history, was a prominent and respected leader of Underground Railroad activities in the area and author of The Underground Railroad, the only first-person account of black participation in this freedom movement. His papers, at Temple University, are in a state of severe deterioration. Funds will assist in the conservation and digitization of 140 documents and 14 photographs. ($46,770)