Historic New England’s Awards Program celebrates the exceptional work being done across the region to preserve New England’s cultural heritage. At the Summit, we honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions.
Applications and nominations will open this spring for 2023 awards. At the 2022 Historic New England Summit, we honored the following recipients.
Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Grant
Historic New England’s Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Grant was awarded to Mary Allison Waggener of Bridgeport, Connecticut, in its inaugural year. Ms. Waggener is undertaking an extensive restoration of her home, Greynook, which was built in 1895 and was referred to in Scientific American as “…a design most exquisitely executed.”
The grant is helping to fund repair of elaborate cast iron porch railings and wood porch doors, both of which are integral components of the house’s prominent street-facing elevation. With this work, Greynook will remain a vital and visible part of the Marina Park Historic District, where local community groups such as the Mary & Eliza Freeman Center for History and Community are working to illuminate the historic value of Bridgeport’s South End.
Historic New England Prize for Collecting Works on Paper
Historic New England’s 13th annual Prize for Collecting Works on Paper was awarded to:
Kalimah Redd Knight, president, and the League of Women for Community Service, Inc. Nominated by Dr. Jacqueline Dejean.
Margaret L. Winslow, curator of Historical Collections & Archives at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Nominated by James Holman.
Historic New England Book Prize
Historic New England’s 28th annual Book Prize was awarded to Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them, by Joseph M. Bagley (Brandeis University Press)
Book Prize Honor Books are:
Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories, by Pamela A. Parmal, Jennifer M. Swope, Lauren D. Whitley (MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Urban Archipelago: An Environmental History of the Boston Harbor Islands by Pavla Šimková (University of Massachusetts Press)
Herbert & Louise Whitney Community Preservation Grants
Historic New England annually awards grants to one small to medium-sized heritage organization in each New England state to support projects that save and share their communities’ diverse histories and culture as part of telling the whole story of New England. In 2022, Community Preservation Grants were awarded to:
Connecticut
Mattatuck Museum
This grant will be used to digitize interviews from the African American Oral History Project, which documented the experiences of African Americans in Waterbury, Connecticut, in the early to mid-20th century.
Maine
Presque Isle Air Museum
The grant will fund the creation and installation of a new World War II theme board documenting the involvement of Presque Isle in the defense of the nation, to be displayed in the new Presque Isle International Airport passenger terminal.
Massachusetts
National Society of Colonial Dames in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
This funding will contribute to the reinterpretation of the Martin House Farm in Swansea, Massachusetts, which will incorporate an indigenous perspective. Research will encompass the Wampanoag Tribe and the role of Swansea in King Phillip’s War, contributing to a narrative that will be integrated into an existing education program that all Swansea fifth graders experience at the site.
New Hampshire
Sandwich Historical Society
This grant will be used to fund an indigenous cultural anthropologist’s research into the collections of the historical society, which will illuminate the indigenous context of these creations in order to share them with the public.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Latino Arts
The funding will be used to purchase recorders, headsets, and microphones that, along with discussion, debate, and practice, will help teach fellows how to record oral histories as part of the Latin Oral Historians Program.
Vermont
Vermont Granite Museum of Barre
The museum will use the grant to create a podcast detailing the life, death, and legacy of renowned immigrant sculptor Elia Corti. The podcast will contextualize his contributions and experiences in the social struggles of the early 20th century, including the American labor movement, immigration, cultural identity, prejudice and discrimination, and politics.
The Preservation Leadership Award: Robert Adam
The Historic New England Preservation Leadership Award honors an individual or institution whose indelible contribution to the preservation movement has had a transformational impact on the New England region. The awardee’s civic, educational, or professional leadership will exemplify the ways in which thoughtful preservation practice contributes to more livable, sustainable, and inclusive neighborhoods.
The 2022 Preservation Leadership Award was presented to Robert Adam. Mentorship is a vital aspect of leadership, particularly in the field of historic building trades – where training new generations is a keystone of the long-term preservation of New England’s built environment. Robert has embodied the true meaning of “mentorship” throughout his lifelong career. His enthusiastic efforts to elevate and support traditional building skills and share his knowledge with others are foundational to the ethos of Historic New England’s Preservation Leadership Award.
