(DENVER) - Interior's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Aurene Martin announced today that Secretary Gale A. Norton approved $1,088,000 in federal Save America's Treasures grants to help protect and preserve the nation's American Indian cultural heritage. Martin made the announcement at a meeting today at a national Indian education summit in Denver, Colo. The meeting, "Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow: Accountability for Results," is sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs. Laura Bush, honorary chair of the Committee on the Arts and the Humanities said, "The story of America is told through historic architecture, art and writings. The grants provided by Save America's Treasures will help preserve the pieces of our heritage for future generations." The SAT federal grants program is administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the Committee on the Arts and Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library services.
"The Save America's Treasures Program will fund much-needed conservation and repair efforts for several important American Indian collections and structures," Secretary Norton said. "These awards illustrate the Interior Department's 2003 National American Indian Heritage Month theme, 'Celebrating the American Indian Spirit.' We must do all we can to preserve and protect these treasures for future generations of Americans," Martin said. The awards, which coincide with the celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month, were given to five projects in four states and the District of Columbia for conservation, restoration and preservation of collections of American Indian artifacts and records.
Today's announcement totals $14,389,925 for 63 projects in 29 states and the District of Columbia. The SAT grants to protect and preserve the nation's American Indian cultural heritage announced today include the following:
Navajo Nation Council Chamber, Window Rock, Ariz. - Constructed by the Navajo Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, the Navajo Nation Council Chamber has remained in continuous use as the seat of government of the Navajo Nation. It is now proposed for designation as a National Historic Landmark. This grant will be used to repair the roof that now threatens the building and its murals.
Award amount: $250,000
Anthropology Collection, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, Calif. - This award will be used to implement a climate control system to protect the collection of more than 65,000 cultural artifacts from the indigenous peoples of western North America. The collection includes an extensive array of objects associated with the Chumash people and the oldest verified human remains in North America.
Award amount: $82,500
Bureau of American Ethnology Photograph Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. - Funds will be used to provide conservation treatments and appropriate archival storage for the collection of more than 100,000 glass-plate and acetate film negatives and vintage photographic prints. The collection provides an unparalleled photograph record of American Indian life and of Federal governmental relations with Native people.
Award amount: $153,500
North Carolina Archeological Collection, University of N.C., Chapel Hill - This grant will be used to support re-housing the collection of more than 5 million artifacts and associated records covering 12,000 years of pre-Columbian history in a climate-controlled facility.
Award amount: $450,000
Ozette Artifact Collection, Makah Cultural and Research Center, Neah Bay, Wash. - Funds will be used to support an improved climate control system to preserve this important collection of more than 55,000 artifacts excavated from the village of Ozette, which has been occupied for several thousand years by the Makah Indian Nation. The collection provides a remarkable view of Northwest Coast material culture prior to European contact.
Award amount: $152,000
Secretary Norton announced 58 other historic projects in 29 states and the District of Columbia. "I am delighted to share in advancing the protection and preservation of this national legacy for future generations to learn from and enjoy," Norton said. "These historic structures tell important stories of our freedom, culture and heritage."
Other historical projects that were awarded SAT grants include the following:
California
SS Jeremiah O'Brien, National Liberty Ship Memorial, San Francisco-A national historic Landmark, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien is the last surviving, fully operational vessel of the World War II Normandy invasion fleet. It is also the country's first Legacy Ship, an operational historic vessel re-activated and manned by an all-volunteer crew. Funds will be used to address corrosion that threatens the watertight integrity of the ship.
Award amount: $200,000
Colorado
Naropa Audio Archive, Naropa University, Boulder-This collection holds thousands of hours of readings, lectures and seminars recorded at Naropa University since 1974 by central figures of the post-World War II, avant-garde in America. Work will include preserving original recordings in secure, climate-controlled storage and making digital copies for use.
Award amount: $100,000
Connecticut
Lyme Art Colony Panel Paintings, Florence Griswold House, Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme-During the early 20th century, Florence Griswold operated a boarding house that became the center of American Impressionism and home to notable artists such as Childe Hassam and Henry Ward Ranger. The boarders painted more than 40 paintings on door and wall panels throughout the house. This grant will support the installation of a climate-control system to preserve these paintings.
Award amount: $150,000
Oral History Project, American Music Archive, Yale University School of Music and Library, New Haven-This archive is dedicated to the collection and preservation of oral and video memoirs of major figures in American music. The detailed interviews with significant musicians, such as Eubie Blake, John Cage, Aaron Copeland, and Duke Ellington, are primary-source materials for students and scholars. Funds will support the creation of preservation and use copies of the materials in the collection.
Award amount: $148,000
John Rogers Sculpture Groups and Studio, New Canaan Historical Society, New Canaan. John Rogers was the first sculptor to place work in the average American home, and his sculptural groups illustrate the customs, dress and activities of Victorian life. His 1878 National Historic Landmark studio houses one of the finest collections of Rogers Groups in the nation. This grant will support conservation of the collection and installation of a climate control and air filtration system to ensure long-term preservation of both the building and the collection.
Award amount: $95,000
District of Columbia
Washington Star Photograph Collection, District of Columbia Public Library, Washington, D.C.-The Star was Washington's afternoon newspaper from 1852 until 1981. Its photograph collection documents the significant political, social and cultural events of the mid-20th century. This grant will be used to produce preservation copy negatives of 20,000 black and white prints in the collection and archival storage for the negatives and photographs.
Award amount: $75,000
Florida
Eagle Film City/Richard Norman Silent Film Studios, Jacksonville/Duval County Consolidated Government, Jacksonville-Silent filmmaker Richard Norman produced full-length feature films with African American casts for distribution to then-segregated theaters at this intact, early 20th century complex. Funds will be used to secure the building envelope in preparation for a complete restoration.
Award amount: $ 225,000
Georgia
North End Plantation Tabby Buildings, Ossabaw Island Foundation, Ossabaw Island. Predating the Civil War, these former slave cabins are rare, surviving vernacular buildings constructed of the indigenous concrete known as "tabby," which is composed of seashells and lime. Funds will be used to reverse past misguided repairs to the tabby material and to restore the buildings using appropriate preservation treatments.
Award amount: $400,000
Civil War Naval Flag Collection, Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum, Columbus-Of the hundreds of extant Civil War flags, very few are naval flags. This grant will be used to conserve seven naval flags and make them available for public viewing for the first time since the Civil War.
Award amount: $68,000
Illinois
Riverside Water Tower, Village of Riverside-Frederick Law Olmsted's and Calvert Vaux's 1868-1869 design for Riverside, now a National Historic Landmark district, made it the first community in the country to integrate open spaces and parkland into the urban environment. Public buildings such as William LeBaron Jenney's Gothic Revival Water Tower, served both aesthetic and practical functions. This grant will restore masonry and repair water damage to this distinctive tower.
Award amount: $275,000
Fountain of Time, Chicago Park District, Chicago-Completed in 1922, this fountain was the result of a collaboration between Chicago sculptor Lorado Taft and Washington, DC engineer and sculptor John J. Earley. The grant will support the conservation and restoration of the fountain's reflecting pool, which has not held water for at least three decades.
Award amount: $250,000
Kentucky
United States Marine Hospital, Louisville/Jefferson Metropolitan Government, Louisville. Designed by Robert Mills and constructed between 1845 and 1852, this National Historic Landmark primarily served mariners involved in shipping on the inland waterways. Funds will be used to replace the roof and perform other exterior work to weatherproof the building.
Award amount: $375,000
Maine
Skolfield-Whittier House Collections, Pejepscot Historical Society, Brunswick - The Skolfield-Whittier House, a time capsule of life in Victorian America, is the estate of a sea captain and his family. Partially occupied until 1990, the estate's furniture is still arranged as it was in 1888, and the original possessions remain where their owners left them, in closets, the attic and basement. This grant will be used to implement a climate control system to preserve these artifacts.
Award amount: $50,000
Maryland
Lockhouses, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Hagerston - The C&O Canal operated from 1828 to 1924 as a transportation route between Cumberland, Md., and the port of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of original structures remain along the canal, and this grant will be used to provide preservation treatments for the building envelopes of 18 lockhouses constructed between 1830 and 1910.
Award amount: $150,000
Locomotive Collection, B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore - Housed in the National Historic Landmark B&O Railroad Passenger Car Roundhouse, the museum contains one of the premier railroading collections in the world. Rare surviving examples of locomotives that changed the railroad industry and the North American landscape highlight the collection. This grant will assist with restoring eight locomotives damaged by the February 2003 collapse of half of the Roundhouse roof under the weight of more than two feet of snow.
Award amount: $500,000
Sound Collection, National Council for the Traditional Arts, Silver Spring-Founded in 1933, the council is dedicated to the documentation and preservation of the folk and traditional arts in the United States. Its sound collection includes examples of the broad geographic and cultural diversity of American music, including Piedmont and Delta blues, Appalachian and Ozark ballad singing, polka, mariachi and many more. Much of the collection is in danger of loss due to unstable original media. This grant will support conservation of the original recordings and copying to stable formats.
Award amount: $ 150,000
Massachusetts
John Quincy Adams' Diary, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston-Adams' 50-volume manuscript diary spans 68 years, from 1779 to 1847, and includes a remarkable wealth of information on early 19th century America. This grant will support conservation treatments for the diary pages, spines and covers.
Award amount: $100,000
Gardens and Grounds, Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge - This National Historic Landmark served as George Washington's headquarters during the 1775-1776 Siege of Boston and later was the home of writer and educator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This grant will be used to arrest deterioration and disease of plant materials, rejuvenate historic plantings and restore disappearing features of the gardens and grounds.
Award amount: $200,000
Hemingway Collection, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston-Ernest Hemingway's widow, Mary, placed this collection of the famed author's papers, books, photographs and artifacts at the Kennedy Library out of gratitude for President Kennedy's help in facilitating her travel to Cuba to retrieve items her husband left behind after Castro's takeover. This grant will enable the library to conserve the collection and provide special storage for fragile and oversized items.
Award amount: $150,000
Mississippi
Eudora Welty House, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson-Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eudora Welty lived in this Tudor Revival style house from its construction in 1925 until her death in 2001. The house contains all her belongings and her large, comprehensive library. This grant will be used to upgrade inadequate electrical, plumbing and fire suppression systems and to address water penetration that has damaged some interior features.
Award amount: $251,000
L.Q.C. Lamar House, Oxford-Lafayette County Heritage Foundation, Oxford - During his career, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar drafted the Mississippi Secession Ordinance, led the "New South" movement, and served as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Secretary of the Interior. This grant will help rescue his National Historic Landmark home from structural collapse.
Award amount: $390,000
Missouri
Daniel Boone Home, Lindenwold University, Defiance - Constructed circa 1803 by the Boone family, this stone farmhouse is an early western example of a design inspired by the eastern federal style. This grant will be used to repair the damaged roof, foundation and masonry.
Award amount: $200,000
Nebraska
Arbor Lodge, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska City - This National Historic Landmark was the home of J. Sterling Morton, head of the Morton Salt Company. His interest in tree planting led Nebraska to declare the first official Arbor Day in 1874, a day that is now recognized in all 50 states and 12 foreign countries. This grant will support replacement of the roof and restoration of deteriorated exterior wood elements.
Award amount: $254,000
New Mexico
Seton Castle, Academy for the Love of Learning, Seton Village - This National Historic Landmark is the last home of 20th century American artist, author, scientist and naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton, who helped to bring the Boy Scout movement to the United States. Funds will be used to restore damage done by water penetration and vandalism. Award amount: $330,000 County Courthouse, Luna County, Deming-In 1916, forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa attacked the village of Columbus, N. M., and some of his accomplices were later captured in Mexico and returned to the Luna County Courthouse for trial by General "Blackjack" Pershing. This grant will support restoration of the exterior masonry and improvements to interior systems.
Award amount: $340,000
New York
Diorama Hall, Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, Centerport - Avid naturalist William K. Vanderbilt II created Diorama Hall, designed by Warren and Wetmore, to house his natural history collection on his Long Island summer estate. American landscape artist Henry Hobart Nichols painted the hall's nine natural history dioramas. This grant will be used to restore the diorama exhibits, which were closed due to deterioration in 1996.
Award amount: $135,000
Fort Ticonderoga, Fort Ticonderoga Association, Ticonderoga - This National Historic Landmark fort was the scene of an important French victory in the Seven Years' War and the first American victory in the Revolutionary War. An early 20th century restoration of the fort used inadequate materials that have been damaged and destroyed by normal weather cycles, leading to structural instability in portions of the wall. Funds will be used to restore the south curtain wall, where these problems are most severe.
Award amount: $275,000
Motion Picture Collection, George Eastman House, Rochester - Introduced in 1912, 28mm film revolutionized motion picture viewing with a format that was easier to handle than the customary 35mm film used for theaters. The 28mm format made it possible to show movies at home and in schools, clubs and churches. However, the film enjoyed only brief popularity and was supplanted in the 1920s by the even smaller 16mm film. This grant will support the transfer of 28mm films onto contemporary archival film formats, making films that have been unviewed for 80 years available to scholars and the public. Award amount: $380,000 Jean Hasbrouck House, Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz. This National Historic Landmark is one of the few surviving late 17th and early 18th century dwellings built by the French Huguenots who founded New Paltz. The grant will support the restoration of the building's north wall, which is close to structural collapse due to foundation failure.
Award amount: $250,000
George Balanchine Foundation Video Archives, George Balanchine Foundation, New York. Regarded as the world's greatest contemporary choreographer of ballet, Russian-born George Balanchine immigrated in 1933 to the United States, where he revolutionized the dance world and founded the esteemed School of American Ballet. This grant will support the archival video recording of Balanchine's original dancers and role-creators teaching younger dancers the choreography of many of Balanchine's major works. Award amount: $50,000 Olana, Olana State Historic Site/Olana Partnership, Hudson-This National Historic Landmark is the Persian-inspired home that Hudson River School painter Frederic Edwin Church designed for himself, with the assistance of architect Calvert Vaux. The grant will support the restoration of its severely deteriorated Studio Tower and its six prominent chimneys.
Award amount: $ 250,000
General Electric Photograph Collection, Schenectady Museum, Schenectady - This collection of more than 850,000 photographic prints and negatives documents the history of the General Electric Company, its factories, products and product installations, and employees. The grant will provide appropriate archival storage for the images in this important collection. Award amount: $100,000 Round Lake Auditorium, Village of Round Lake-The auditorium is the centerpiece of Round Lake, an intact 19th century camp meeting complex. It houses the oldest, largest three keyboard tracker pipe organ remaining in the United States. Funds will be used to repair the auditorium's deteriorated wood framing and masonry foundation so that the building can continue in active community use.
Award amount: $225,000
Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, Ukranian Institute of America, New York - This National Historic Landmark, an outstanding example of the picturesque Neo-French Gothic style, was the home of Harry F. Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Oil and Refining Company and a major figure in the Teapot Dome Scandal. The grant will support the replacement of deteriorated electrical wiring and interior drainage systems.
Award amount: $270,000
Perimeter Fence, New York Botanical Garden, New York - This formal perimeter fence designed by Brinley and Holbrook gives visitors their first impression of the New York Botanical Garden. National Historic Landmark Funds will support restoration of the deteriorated stone and iron components of the fence.
Award amount: $200,000
North Carolina
North Carolina Archeological Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill-This collection contains over 5 million artifacts and associated records covering 12,000 years of history. The mostly pre-Columbian collection has great significance for American Indians. This grant will support re-housing the collection in a climate-controlled facility.
Award amount: $450,000
Ohio
Showboat Majestic, Cincinnati Recreation Commission, Cincinnati - This National Historic Landmark is the last historic American floating theater and the only existing intact showboat. In 1969, the original wood hull was encapsulated in a steel hull to meet safety regulations. Condensation within the steel hull led to the deterioration of structural wood beams and braces, which will be reinforced with this grant.
Award amount: $150,000
Cincinnati Union Terminal, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati - Constructed in 1933, this is one of the last grand-scale, Art Deco terminals in the country. The massive roof of this National Historic Landmark is one of the largest freestanding half-domes in the world. The grant will be used to address deterioration of the roof and consequent water penetration problems.
Award amount: $250,000
Oklahoma
Televised Political Commercial Archive, University of Oklahoma, Norman - Established in 1985, the archive contains more than 80,000 examples of political advertising dating to the earliest years of television. The ads are for candidates running for local, state and national offices as well as for issues and ballot initiatives. Many are in obsolete formats. This grant will support the creation of preservation and use copies in appropriate archival formats. Award amount: $135,000
Oregon
Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, Mission Mill Museum Association, Salem - The mill is a Pacific Northwest example of an Atlantic coast and English type of textile mill, complete with textile manufacturing machinery. It demonstrates an entire manufacturing process by direct-drive waterpower. This grant will be used to restore deteriorated exterior masonry and windows to prevent water penetration of the structure.
Award amount: $250,000
Pennsylvania
Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation, Doylestown - This National Historic Landmark still produces tiles in the handcrafted tradition of its founder Henry Chapman Mercer. The 1911-1912 building is constructed of Mercer's own hand-mixed reinforced concrete and ornamented with his tiles and tile mosaics. The concrete construction contains no expansion joints, and this grant will be used to repair spalling and cracking inherent to this idiosyncratic construction method.
Award amount: $240,000
City Hall Tower Sculpture, City of Philadelphia Department of Arts and Culture. Completed in 1901, City Hall is a masterpiece of the Second Empire style and a National Historic Landmark, enhanced by 24-foot-high sculpture figure groups and massive eagles at the tower's base by the esteemed modern sculptor Alexander Milne Calder. This grant will provide conservation treatments for the Calder works.
Award amount: $300,000
Cliveden, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Philadelphia-This National Historic Landmark was constructed from 1763 to 1767 as the country house of colonial jurist Benjamin Chew, the last English Crown-appointed Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Germantown, which occurred in the house and on the grounds, was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Grant funds will support the installation of a climate control system to protect the house against moisture penetration and rising damp.
Award amount: $300,000
Blacksmith Shop, Cambria Iron Works, Johnstown Area Heritage Association, Johnstown. This 1864 blacksmith shop produced forged metal equipment and tools used throughout the National Historic Landmark iron works. The grant will be used to stabilize the building envelope in preparation for a complete restoration.
Award amount: $261,925
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Collections, The Library Company of Philadelphia, Philadelphia - In preparation for the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth in 2006, this grant will support the conservation of significant items associated with Franklin that are housed in the collections of more than a dozen institutions, including the first issue of the first edition of Poor Richard's Almanack, a Charles Willson Peale portrait of Franklin and Franklin's electrical machine.
Award amount: $300,000
Early American Sheet Music Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia - This 200,000 item-collection, which includes several rare, early editions of "The Star Spangled Banner," spans three centuries and is one of the most comprehensive collections in the United States. The library will use this grant to conserve and provide appropriate archival storage for the collection.
Award amount: $135,000
Wright Brothers Aeronautical Engineering Collection, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Orville Wright bequeathed this collection of archival records and artifacts to the Franklin Institute upon his death in 1948. This grant will provide conservation treatments for the 300 items in the collection.
Award amount: $60,000
South Carolina
Old City Jail, School of the Building Arts, Charleston - The 1802 Gothic-style jail includes an addition in the 1820s by noted architect Robert Mills. Located in Charleston's National Historic Landmark District, it has been vacant for over 60 years. This grant will support stabilization of the building envelope in preparation for a complete restoration and subsequent return to active use as a school of the building arts.
Award amount: $500,000
Tennessee
Acetate and Vinyl Recording Transcriptions, Country Music Foundation, Nashville-This collection of more than 14,000 transcriptions from the 1930s to the 1960s was originally created as temporary recordings intended to be played only a few times. Many of the recordings, such as live Grand Ole Opry NBC Network Radio Broadcasts of noted country music performers, are duplicated nowhere else. The grant will support preservation and conservation treatments to address the physical deterioration of the collection due to age and previous improper storage.
Award amount: $214,000
Texas
Elisabet Ney Studio Formosa, City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department-A classically trained German sculptor who immigrated to America in 1871, Elisabet Ney built Formosa to her own design in 1892. The studio now houses a collection of her work. Funds will be used to address water penetration into the building.
Award amount: $250,000
Vermont
Calvin Coolidge Homestead, Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, Plymouth-The homestead National Historic Landmark District includes 11 buildings at the center of the village of Plymouth. The grant will be used to install a fire suppression system in these frame buildings.
Award amount: $200,000
Robbins & Lawrence Armory and Machine Shop, American Precision Museum, Windsor Machine tools that improved the production of interchangeable parts, which stimulated mass production and America's Industrial Revolution, were manufactured in this National Historic Landmark that now houses the American Precision Museum. Funds will be used to repair the deteriorated roof and restore exterior masonry.
Award amount: $200,000
Virginia
Stratford Hall, Robert E. Lee Memorial Association, Stratford-This National Historic Landmark was the family home of the Lees, whose notable members included Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, signers of the Declaration of Independence and Civil War General Robert E. Lee. This grant will support the installation of a climate control system to protect the 18th century house and its collections.
Award amount: $300,000
Washington
City Hall, Jefferson County Historical Society, Port Townsend-City Hall is a pivotal structure in the Port Townsend National Historic Landmark District. Funds will be used to repair the exterior sandstone elements of the 1892 building, which have deteriorated due to age and to the past application of an incompatible cement coating.
Award amount: $280,000
Wisconsin Milton House, Milton Historical Society,Milton-This National Historic Landmark served as a transfer point on the Underground Railroad. Funds will be used to reinforce structural members weakened by an insect infestation and to correct past, inappropriate maintenance treatments.
Award amount: $275,000
SAT grants must be matched dollar-for-dollar with non-federal funds. Save America's Treasures at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the private sector partner, each year assists many of the federal SAT grantees in raising required matching funds.
Additional information on the Save America's Treasures program can be found on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities Web site at http://www.pcah.gov/, the National Park Service Web site at www2.cr.nps.gov/treasures/index.htm, or by contacting the NPS at 202-343-9570, ext.6.
