SENATOR BENJAMIN B. DOWNING
BOSTON – Today State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D- Pittsfield) announced that applications are being accepted for the Civil War Preservation Grant program, offered by the Massachusetts Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War. Funded by the Massachusetts Legislature in the Fiscal Year 2013 state budget, the program is designed to preserve objects and sites in the Commonwealth that are significant to the history of the Civil War.
Downing serves as the Senate vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development.
The program, a partnership of the state’s Department of Veterans’ Services, the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities and the Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, is open to municipalities and non-profit organizations. The program will provide matching grants of up to 50% of a project’s total cost, not exceeding $5,000.
Eligible projects include the renovation, rehabilitation, preservation or enhancement of existing monuments or memorials relevant to the Civil War and Civil War veterans. Proposals to construct new markers for historically significant sites will also be considered.
Western Massachusetts hosts a number of Civil War related sites and attractions, including the Samuel Harrison House in Pittsfield, the Ashley House in Sheffield, the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum in Adams, the Sojourner Truth statute in Florence and the Springfield Armory. Additionally, Northampton features two stops on the Underground Railroad: the Hill Ross Farm and the Dorsey-Jones House.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through May 17, 2013. Further information and application materials are available on the Sesquicentennial Commission’s website: www.MA150.org.
