Connecticut
Faith Ringgold (b. 1930), Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail 2007
The Mattatuck Museum recently received a gift to the collection from the Wright family in honor of the 100th birthday of Waterbury-native and family matriarch, Lyda Hawkins Wright. The work by artist Faith Ringgold is a limited edition illustration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. Many artists responded to Dr. King’s efforts on behalf of civil rights, among them Faith Ringgold. Artist-activist Ringgold created eight color screenprints that illustrate Dr. King’s letter with scenes of protests, segregation, and racial injustice alongside scenes of daily life, bringing the inequalities King describes into sharp focus. She reflects in the introduction, “What Dr. King has to say about the life and struggle of black people in America is a treatise on freedom and justice and a model for democracy in the world.” Ringgold’s legacy of social activism is crucial, and the book is a valuable impetus for community discussion.
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum has received a donation of outstanding Herter Brothers furniture from R. Joseph Wiessinger, a collector and resident of Belleair, Florida, and frequent LMMM visitor. LMMM’s new acquisition will be displayed for viewing in the Museum’s Period Rooms.
The Glebe House Museum recently announced that the Summer Experience for Children will continue this year with the help of the Ion Bank Foundation. The Museum has received a grant from the in the amount of $2625 to help support summer programming. With the help of the ION Bank Foundation and the Gabrielson Family Charitable Fund the Glebe House will be able to present educational programs that provide area young people with experiences which have inspired them to remain as youth volunteers and summer counselors.
Holcombe Education Center
A new facility dedicated to expanding and enlivening the public programming and education offered by the Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum will be named the Holcombe Education Center in recognition of Lucy Eaton Holcombe, whose bequest helped make the project possible. The Holcombe Education Center will enable WDS to offer year-round, and expanded programming to the public, school groups, and private-tour groups. In addition to providing exhibition and public-meeting spaces, facilities for research, and access for people with disabilities, the Center will boost the museum’s economic impact on the surrounding community, benefitting area businesses and bolstering Wethersfield’s heritage tourism.
The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center will receive a $1,617,168 grant-in-aid from the State of Connecticut to address urgent repairs and ADA accessibility upgrades to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center’s historic campus that will preserve the eminent Hartford site and enhance its community and programming use. The project will address critical preservation needs at the Katharine S. Day House, a publicly accessible building located on the corner of Farmington and Forest streets and visually the most prominent historic house in the neighborhood. Additional priorities include ADA accessibility and landscape amenities to facilitate community use of the Stowe Center’s park-like campus, supporting quality of life and community wellbeing for Hartford and Asylum Hill residents. The state’s support matches a $385,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Capacity and Infrastructure Building Challenge Grant received in December 2020. Additional project contributors include the Norman & Nancy B. Beecher Lifetime UniTrust that has supported an outdoor classroom on site.
State Gives Arts and Culture Sector Financial Boost, CT Humanities Receives $30 Million in Funding Connecticut Humanities (CTH) announces they will receive more than $30 million through the state’s budget process. The allocation will be used to stabilize state cultural organizations of the course of the biennium. Centering equity, the funding will assist the arts and culture sector as it recovers from the pandemic, provides support for upgrading technology and expanding digital programming and be used to better connect K-12 students to the arts and humanities. CTH will receive up to $20 million in FY 2022 and up to $10.7 million through the FY 2023 budget. Funding will be awarded through a collaboration between CT Humanities and the CT Office of the Arts. Awards will provide stability within the cultural sector with an eye towards the future sustainability of organizations.
The New England Air Museum recently received a Pandemic Innovation and Education Award from the Education Professional Network (EdCom) of the American Alliance of Museums for Virtual SOAR for STEM Program. For more than fifteen years, the New England Air Museum’s grant funded SOAR for STEM program has used the museum’s collection of historic aircraft to bring science, engineering, and aerospace history to life for hundreds of students each year at no cost to local schools. When school districts switched to remote learning in the wake of COVID-19, the museum pivoted its programming to meet their needs, launching Virtual SOAR for STEM in the fall of 2020.
From July 1 to September 6, Connecticut children age 18 and under plus one accompanying Connecticut resident adult can visit participating museums free of charge through the Connecticut Summer at the Museum program. The program is part of Governor Lamont’s larger plan to use recovery funds to provide students and families with engaging summer enrichment and learning experiences in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecticut Summer at the Museum is made possible through an investment from the federal COVID-19 recovery funding Connecticut is receiving from the American Rescue Plan Act. The program is administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of the Arts in partnership with Connecticut Humanities.
Maine
The Brick Store Museum is the recipient of a national Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for its Century Saturdays Program Series. The Century Portals (which can still be accessed on the Museum's Digital Learning Center) included video lecturers; at-home activities; historic recipes; and related social histories like music, gardening, and more (even century take-out dinners!). Overall, the museum’s portals welcomed nearly 13,000 virtual visitors between May and December 2020 - more than its average in-person visitation in a normal year (roughly 8,500). The project was funded by grants from the Maine Humanities Council, Kennebunk Savings Bank and the Maine Bicentennial Committee.
The Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine officially opened June 24 at its new location at Thompson's Point in Portland.
The Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity received two generous grants to provide scholarships for Bridgton-area children to attend Camp Invention®. Brick & Beam Society, a giving circle within the United Way of Greater Portland, and the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust provided funding for 25 children to attend the week-long camp held at Stevens Brook Elementary School in July. The scholarships provided by the museum helped children whose families might not otherwise be able to afford the program.
The Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity has acquired two exciting collections items that furthers its mission to celebrate Rufus Porter and his story. In April, the museum purchased the only known Rufus Porter wooden tall clock, circa 1834. This handsome timepiece, made by an unidentified cabinetmaker, houses a clockwork mechanism that is attributed to Porter. The clock was purchased by the museum from a private owner thanks to the generosity of Jim and Beth Cossey of Bridgton. The museum was also pleased to accept a donation of an album containing 23 cartes de visite from David Robinson of Steep Falls in May. Included in the album is an original photographic image of Rufus Porter.
Massachusetts
The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announce a generous donation from the North of Boston Media Group of one million photographs from the vast and historically significant archives of the Gloucester Daily Times. This important collection of images of Cape Ann events, people, and historic moments dates from 1980 to 2005 and will be housed at the Museum's Library & Archives.
Boston Children's Museum has received the 2021 Mayor Thomas M. Menino Legacy Award by Preservation Massachusetts for the renovation of the historic Hood Milk Bottle structure. The award recognizes preservation projects that are transformative, catalytic, embrace the community, create partnerships, and revitalize the best of the past to make something good for the future. With the generous support of long-term partner, HP Hood, the iconic Milk Bottle underwent a major renovation in 2020 to its facade and infrastructure. In addition to the complete renovation of the façade, the Milk Bottle has new windows, new awnings, new exterior lighting, and new HVAC system.
Boston Children's Museum has launched a special Summer of Play initiative that will help families rediscover the joy and wonder of play that was so curtailed during the last year due to pandemic related restrictions
Tower Hill Botanic Garden recently received grants from the North American Rock Garden Society and the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Cultural Facilities Fund. The Cultural Facilities Fund grant will assist with the expansion of the parking lots, allowing more visitors to enjoy the beauty of Tower Hill. Currently on view through September 30 is the exhibition Wild Hideaways: Designed for Adventure, a fantastical collection of interactive, outdoor hideaways inspired by art and nature. Construction work continues on The Ramble, a 1.5-acre woodland garden designed to stimulate and inspire interest in the environment and science in children, families, and the young at heart. A $500,000 challenge grant from the Manton Foundation to the Growing Boldly campaign has contributed to helping make The Ramble possible.
The Old North Foundation recently announced it received a $250,000 donation from Bloomberg Philanthropies to support the national landmark’s operations over the next five years. The Old North Foundation said the gift comes at a time of rebuilding for Old North as the institution slowly re-opens after a 13-month closure in response to the COVID-19 crisis. With more than 90% of its operating budget generated through ticket sales, tours, school trips, and merchandise, the organization said it developed a new five-year strategic plan to expand programming and evolve its business model in advance of Old North Church’s 300th anniversary in 2023 and the 250th anniversary of its famous lantern signal in 2025. The donation will enable staff to begin implementing the new strategic plan, which includes confronting Old North’s history with the slave and cacao trades and developing programs and curricula that facilitate dialogue around the ongoing impact of slavery and racism in this country.
For more almost three centuries, the Avery-Bennett gallery clock has kept time at Old North Church & Historic Site. A muted observer of war and peace, the 18th century relic has survived battles of the American Revolution and Civil War, met world leaders, including the Marquis de Lafayette and Queen Elizabeth II, and witnessed our nation’s transformations, from winning our independence to the desegregation of congregations and most recently a 13-month shutdown of Old North Church during the COVID-19 crisis. On June 16, Ken Pearson, a lineal descendent of the clock’s 19th century repairman, completed a two-month restoration and re-install the time piece on the front gallery of the organ loft where it has ticked since 1726. The Old North Foundation received an $1,800 grant from The Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars and The General Society of Colonial Wars to repair the pinion gears of the inner workings, which ensure the brass wheels run to keep time. The clock was constructed by Richard Avery in 1726, and the case was made by Thomas Bennett, proprietor of pew No. 56, for the cost of 12 shillings. These two church members had never built a clock before and never built one after and yet the Avery-Bennett gallery clock functions like typical grandfather clocks still created today.
The Fitchburg Historical Society recently received a Mass Humanities grant of $2,790 to support project, Digital Accessibility for Historic Photos and Documents. In addition, they have received a Bridge sponsorship from Mass Humanities, for $1500 to help support three new TV programs on Fitchburg History that we will create at the Fitchburg Access TV studios.
Forbes House Museum are the proud recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Award for $40,000 to help fund the development of their 2022 exhibition entitled "Opium: The Business of Addiction." Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the exhibition do not necessarily represent the views of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Plimoth Patuxet Museums is delighted to announce the launch of their new website, plimoth.org. The site was designed to place the user experience front and center. Plimoth.org emphasizes user experience through streamlined, intuitive navigation and responsive design. The new website grew out of foundational research and follows best practices in web design and user experience principles.
Mayflower II
Plimoth Patuxet Museums has been named a recipient of the 2021 Paul and Niki Tsongas Award by Preservation Massachusetts, the statewide non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the Commonwealth’s historic and cultural heritage for the Mayflower II, its historic tall ship. The accolade highlights Plimoth Patuxet’s successful four-year, multi-million-dollar restoration of the iconic reproduction of the ship that in 1620 carried the Pilgrims to the land known to Indigenous people as Patuxet and to the English as Plymouth.
Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology announced plans to restitute a pipe tomahawk that formerly belonged to Ponca chief and civil rights icon Standing Bear. A joint agreement between the Peabody, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, and the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, is currently underway to secure the return of the heirloom, which has been in the museum’s collection since 1982. While the date of the return has yet to be announced, tribal representatives will visit the museum this September to view the tomahawk, along with a necklace, moccasins, and a pipe bowl, all associated with Standing Bear.
Historic Beverly received a generous in-kind donation from Cummings Properties in Beverly to digitize a collection of 500 glass plate negatives depicting images of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC). The collection of glass plate negatives were donated to Historic Beverly in the summer of 2018 from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Museum of American History Branch. The Cummings Properties graciously offered their digital scanning capabilities to scan, digitize and edit the negatives turning them from a negative image into a positive. This donation is not only significant for the Historic Beverly collection in adding these images to our online collection which allows for the public to access them for free from any location around the world but this donation and partnership with Cummings Properties is historic for the city of Beverly as well. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation was a manufacturing company in Beverly from 1902-1986 and was located in the heart of downtown Beverly employing over 6000 people during their height of production. Once the USMC closed in the 1980s, Cummings Properties purchased the location and has made the Cummings Center a hub of business in the heart of downtown Beverly housing over 500 businesses inside the old USMC buildings and honoring and continuing the history of business and employment in the city.
A generous $100,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation makes it possible for The House of the Seven Gables to continue its settlement work despite steep revenue losses caused by the pandemic. Since its start in 1910, The Gables has executed a dual mission — preserve the historic structures on site and create programs that help immigrants establish themselves here on the North Shore. Operations depend on the revenue from the house tours and programming, all of which came to a halt last spring.
The Marblehead Museum has recently purchased the brick building adjacent to its1768 Lee Mansion, which served as the out-kitchen and slave quarters for the Lee family. The brick building that sits at 157 Washington St. was built by Lee while he was building his mansion next door. In 1804, the brick kitchen was rented out after being purchased by Marblehead Bank as part of the Lee estate. The Brick Kitchen became a West India goods store and then Frank Brown’s grocery.
The USS Constitution Museum ranks #5 in USA Today’s 2021 10 Best Readers’ Choice travel awards in the category of “Best History Museum!” In a competitive category of top museums from around the United States, online votes determined the winners from 20 initial nominees. The Museum was the sole nominee and winner in this category from New England.
The Cambridge Historical Society, established in 1905, is now History Cambridge. History Cambridge recognizes that, just as every person who lives in Cambridge knows something about its history, everyone in Cambridge is a steward of Cambridge history. History Cambridge believes that we are all caretakers of our city and its history.
Preservation Massachusetts, in partnership with The 1772 Foundation, has announced the final recipients of a historic preservation matching grant program for Massachusetts. In this latest grant round, the 1772 Foundation worked with statewide historic preservation organizations, including Preservation Massachusetts, to administer 1:1 matching grants of up to $10,000. Grants will be given to historic preservation projects for building exteriors. Grant recipients in Massachusetts were: Old Sturbridge Village for the Richardson House, Bixby House & Thompson Bank buildings; Historic Salem, Inc. for the Nathaniel Bowditch House; Essex National Heritage Commission for the Oil House at the Bakers Island Light Station; Historic Northampton, Inc. for the Isaac Damon House; Norwood Historical Society for the F. Holland Day House; Holliston Historical Society for the Col. Asa Whiting House; West Stockbridge Historical Society for the Old Town Hall; and New Bedford Historical Society for the Nathan and Mary Johnson House.
The COVID-19 Cultural Impact Commission released its final report recently, concluding in a series of recommendations to the Legislature that include the utilization of $575 million of the $5.3 billion in federal funding received by the state through the American Rescue Plan to address the recovery of the creative and cultural sector over the next four years, as well as several additional policy recommendations. The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for the Commonwealth's arts and cultural institutions, with the latest figures coming from the Mass Cultural Council showing a loss of $588 million by non-profit and municipal cultural organizations and $30.4 million in lost revenue reported by individual artists, teaching artists, and scientists/humanists from March 2020 to April 2021.
New Hampshire
The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire has been awarded a $3,000 grant from Whole Kids Foundation to support the “CMNH Learning Garden - Edible Education” at its outdoor space. Whole Kids Foundation’s Garden Grant Program helps schools and organizations in the US, Canada and the UK connect students to real food through edible learning gardens aimed at improving children’s nutrition and wellness. CMNH will use the grant to make needed improvements to the garden, after a year-long hiatus due to COVID-19, and for programming aimed at educating children about healthy food choices and the environment.
New York
Southold Historical Museum (formerly Southold Historical Society) has reopened with a new name and new logo and invites visitors to come explore its three historical locations filled with artifacts that will bring you back in time.
Rhode Island
The combined efforts of Senators Melissa Murray and Roger Picard, have helped to provide funding for all Woonsocket fifth graders to receive virtual educational programs from the Museum of Work & Culture. The $2,000 Senate grant has allowed for more than 450 fifth graders to participate in a multi-part Civic Pride program aimed at having students reflect on why they should be proud of their city. In January, every Woonsocket fifth grade class participated in virtual field trips of the Museum of Work & Culture. Each student also received a free Family Pass, which enables every member in the student’s immediate household to visit the recently reopened Museum. As part of the program, each student has also contributed to a virtual project reflecting on what makes them proud, which will be shared online as part of the Woonsocket Proud program in May.
The Preservation Society of Newport County has received the prestigious Garden Club of America Historic Preservation Medal for 2021, recognizing the Society’s “outstanding achievements in preserving historic homes, gardens, and landscapes of international historical, cultural, and architectural significance.” The Preservation Society has a long history of preserving and rehabilitating historic landscapes and gardens, including the restoration of the Sunken Garden at The Elms; rejuvenating the Rose Garden at Rosecliff; the ongoing revival of the historic Breakers landscape, including the Serpentine Path; the continuing preservation of Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth; and the Society’s accreditation as an arboretum by the Arbnet Arboretum Accreditation program in 2015.
Kelly House Museum
The National Park Service (NPS) has awarded the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) a $49,650 grant to research and develop fourth grade educational materials for the Captain Wilbur Kelly House Transportation Museum and surrounding property. The Kelly House Museum, located across the Blackstone River from Ashton Mills, was the home of the son of Wilbur Kelly, a ship’s captain during Rhode Island’s 18th century trade with China. He later invested in the purchase and expansion of a mill and was involved in the construction of the Blackstone Canal which ran alongside it. The history of the property straddles either side of the river in present day Lincoln and Cumberland. The funding covers two parts of the project: consultation with local fourth grade teachers, followed by further research and development of materials for educational use.
Lippitt House Museum recently received the news that it has won a competitive grant from The Champlin Foundation. This significant capital grant will support a vital project to update the museum’s 36 year-old fire detection and alarm system. The Champlin grant , together with individual donations designated for capital projects, will go far in ensuring the long-term preservation of Lippitt House. The new alarm system, based on wireless technology, will require minimal invasion of the original 1865 historic building fabric. Final design will be completed this summer, and the project will be completed by year’s end. When completed, the updated system will contribute to the preservation of this National Historic Landmark in Providence, and most importantly, protect the safety of those who live, work and visit in this special building.
William Vernon House
Newport Restoration Foundation is pleased to announce that a grant-funded Historic Structure Report is currently underway on one of their most historically significant homes, the William Vernon House (ca. 1708) located on Clarke Street in Newport, Rhode Island. A Historic Structure Report studies a property from every perspective to fully understand the history of the resource, its current condition, and the work needed to ensure its future preservation. This will be the first time a comprehensive report of this kind will be performed on this home.
Preserve RI, in partnership with The 1772 Foundation, recently awarded matching grants to 13 nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island for projects at their historic sites: Belmont Chapel Foundation; Bristol Statehouse ; Coggeshall Farm Museum; Dirt Palace Public Projects; Fort Adams Trust; Friends of Linden Place; Historic New England; Little Compton Historical Society; Narragansett Historical Society; Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society; Scituate Preservation Society; South County History Center; and Westerly Armory Restoration.
Vermont
Officials at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury say a major construction project has been postponed due to pandemic-related pricing and labor and subcontractor shortages. The museum bid out the Science Annex project this spring and planned to start construction in July until the project came in $2 million, or 68%, above estimates. Museum Director Adam Kane says the museum has decided to postpone construction until 2022 in hopes of driving down costs and do additional fundraising. Kane is also hopeful that the 6,000-square-foot, three-story Science Annex will be supported by additional federal funding.