BLACK HISTORY, DYNAMIC PRESERVATION, AND KEAN LEGACY GRANTS AWARDED
Funding Provided for Seven Nonprofits
At their January board meeting, the trustees of The 1772 Foundation awarded grants totaling $345,000 to seven organizations. Awards were made in three granting categories: Black History, Dynamic Preservation, and Kean Legacy.
Black history grants are dedicated to projects that preserve and tell the stories of the African American experience, particularly those stories that are lesser-known or outside the purview of traditional historic preservation. There are two grantees in this category: Clemson University in Anderson, SC ($25,000) and Magnolia House in Winston-Salem, NC ($20,000).
Clemson will produce a graphic history of Penn School/Penn Center, located on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The former school was the first in the South for formerly enslaved people. Graphic novels and non-fiction have proven to be an effective means of introducing complicated and underrepresented stories to a wide reading audience, appealing to both young and adult readers. They are often used with students in adult literacy and ESOL classes.
Magnolia House, a first-time grantee, will officially launch its Shoebox Meal Education Program in schools and community settings. The curriculum honors the experiences of Black travelers during the Jim Crow era. Since it could be difficult to find safe places to eat, they often brought meals along with them, sometimes packed in shoeboxes. The program incorporates augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, intended to accommodate diverse learning styles and demographics and ensure audience engagement.
Dynamic preservation grants help fund innovative and progressive preservation efforts, focusing on climate action and community-driven projects. This category has four grantees: Historic New England in Saunderstown, RI ($100,000), History Colorado in Denver, CO ($10,000), Main Street America in Chicago, IL ($75,000), and National Preservation Partners Network in Lansing, MI ($15,000).
At its Casey Farm property, Historic New England (HNE) will undertake capital improvements required to implement the farm’s newly developed climate action plan. HNE will also have a staff position charged with working across the entire organization to execute its climate action strategy.
History Colorado, another new grantee, will engage a professional photographer to take images of Colorado Heritage for All Sites. Project deliverables are a physical exhibition, digital gallery, and printed book. The initiative will bring more representation to the state register of historic places and be a model for other state historic preservation offices to diversify the state and national registry.
The 1772 Foundation has worked with Main Street America for many years. Grant funds in 2025 will be used for three purposes – 1. support for the Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) tracker, 2. creation of a new educational hub for Main Street leaders, including design and preservation-related resources and training opportunities, and 3. annual conference programming.
The National Preservation Partners Network (NPPN) grant allows for the recruitment and support of an intern from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to help develop a green building program targeting New England. The intern will assist with region-specific work and emerging technologies. The goal of the New England Green initiative is a clear framework for retrofitting historic and older buildings.
Finally, one grant was awarded in the category of Kean Legacy. These grants support partners doing direct work in geographic and topical areas to address systemic racial injustices linked to the Livingston and Kean families’ historical connections to slavery. The Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation (CHPP) in Charleston, SC was awarded $100,000. CHPP helps heirs not only acquire clear title to their land but also monetize their property. One CHPP program, for example, matches clients with forestry resources.
Ethiel Garlington, The 1772 Foundation Executive Director, said, “We continue to be impressed and heartened by the innovative work of these organizations working in a variety of ways to advance preservation.”
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The 1772 Foundation was named in honor of its first restoration project, Liberty Hall in Union, NJ, which was built in 1772 and is the ancestral home of the Livingston and Kean families. The late Stewart B. Kean was the original benefactor of The 1772 Foundation. The 1772 Foundation works to ensure the safe passage of our historic buildings and farmland to future generations. More information about The 1772 Foundation may be found at 1772foundation.org.
MEDIA CONTACT Ethiel Garlington, The 1772 Foundation, ethiel@1772foundation.org