This year, 2008, is the 30th Anniversary of the Lawrence History Center - Immigrant City Archives and Museum. It is with pride and pleasure we announce several grants awarded to the Lawrence History Center.

The Stevens Foundation

The Lawrence History Center has received another two year grant from The Stevens Foundation for 2008-09. Their support is vital to the organization and growth of our institution. We are very grateful for this award and the valuable support the Center has received over the years from the Stevens Foundation. The Nathaniel and Elizabeth P. Stevens Foundation, P.O. Box 111, North Andover, MA 01845-0111, contact: Josh Miner, Executive Director, tel: (978) 688-7211.

Massachusetts Preservation Project Fund
The Lawrence History Center is delighted to announce that on June 11, 2008 it has been awarded a significant Massachusetts Preservation Project Fund (MPPF) award to help the Center stabilize and repair our warehouse, stable, forge and carpenter shop. Awarded through Secretary Galvin's Office, this funding allows us to repair the historic Essex Compound buildings. The facility can be stabilized for future restoration of the compound, enhancing its use by the greater Lawrence community.
The Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund (MPPF) is a state-funded 50% reimbursable matching grant program established in 1984 to support the preservation of properties, landscapes, and sites (cultural resources) listed in the State Register of Historic Places. Applicants must be a municipality or nonprofit organization. Historic cultural resources in public and nonprofit ownership and use frequently suffer from deferred maintenance, incompatible use, or are threatened by demolition. These important resources represent a significant portion of the Commonwealth’s heritage. By providing assistance to historic cultural resources owned by nonprofit or municipal entities, the Massachusetts Historical Commission hopes to ensure their continued use and integrity. The program is administered in accordance with 950 CMR 73.00.

We are very grateful to Secretary of Commonwealth William Galvin, Brona Simon, Director of the Massachusetts Historic Commission and all the legislators and community leaders who wrote letters of support for this very necessary funding. To all of you, Thank You! from a very grateful Lawrence History Center~Immigrant City Archives.

Lawrence Community Development Department

The Lawrence History Center is continuing its stabilization, repair and restoration work on the historic Essex Lawrence Community Development Department. The LHC was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG grant) in June, 2008 for $20,000.00 to continue its implementation of the Master Plan. The project will include removal and repair of rotted beams, roofing boards, floor boards, and roofing material of the compound buildings including the warehouse, carpenter shop, stable and the beloved forge. These monies will be used a Preservation Projects Fund (MPPF) Award. The project is funded with Community Development Block Grant money (CDBG) from the federal government department of HUD. The Lawrence History Center is very grateful for the Community Development support and appreciation of the historical significance of the Essex Company Complex. to For additional information on the CDBG program see the City of Lawrence Community Development Department.

Enel Corporation North America

Enel Corporation North America has agreed to be the lead sponsor for the Lawrence History Center's 30/30 Celebration. Enel Corporation is the successor to the Essex Company, the company that planned and built the City of Lawrence and the Great Stone Dam . Today Enel Corporation is the manager of the hydro-power plant at the falls in Lawrence. They are also refurbishing the Great Stone Dam - the first major change to the dam since the dam was built by the Essex Company. The Lawrence History Center is located in the former headquarters of the Essex Company and we are the repository of the majority of the Essex Company records including financial, engineering, photographic and of course the site itself. We are very pleased with their support for the 30th Anniversary of the Lawrence History Center ~ Immigrant City Archives.

The Sidells

As we plan our 30th Anniversary celebration, the Lawrence History Center has received a significant boost of support. The Chet and Faye Sidell Family has made a major contribution to this 30/30 Celebration event and, more importantly, to this organization. Chet Sidell was most instrumental in aiding Eartha Dengler, our Founder and first Director, in acquiring the Essex Company Complex. The Family continues to support our presence in the Lawrence community. For this financial support and for all the support over the years, the Lawrence History Center says Thank You!

Essex National Heritage Commission

The Lawrence History Center is pleased to announce that it has received a matching grant of $2500.00 on May 13, 2008 from the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC). The grant was awarded through the ENHC's Partnership Grant Program and will support (summarize your project).

ENHC Partnership Grants provide financial support to projects that encourage education, interpretation and preservation of the unique historic, cultural and natural resources within the Essex National Heritage Area. Grants are offered through a competitive process and awarded in five categories: Thomas M. Leonard Partnership Grant for Education, Heritage Interpretation and Programming, Heritage Preservation and Resource Stewardship, and Archives and Historical Records.

The ENHC Partnership Grant Program helps organizations and municipal governments generate additional investments in the region by providing seed money for projects. Since the program began in 1998, 266 grants have been awarded to organizations and communities throughout the region, generating more than $4.5 million in educational and historic preservation projects. For more information about the ENHC Partnership Grant Program, visit the ENHC website at www.essexheritage.org.

Lawrence History Center will apply this Partnership Grant to the completion of processing the Urban Renewal Records. This comprehensive collection cover a twenty year history of the Urban Renewal project in Lawrence. The collection includes over 1000 photographs of affected projects, overviews of the four major projects, administration records, appraisals, relocation records and payments.
This extraordinary collection allows an insightful study of housing policies from the national level through the local level.

About the Essex National Heritage Area ~ Established in 1997, the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC) is the non-profit management entity of the federally designated Essex National Heritage Area. The ENHC's goal is to bring together resources to focus on regional initiatives that relate to the thousands of nationally significant historic, cultural and natural resources located throughout the 34 cities and towns that fall within the Area. Working in collaboration with the National Park Service, the ENHC develops and implements programs and promotes public/private partnerships that enhance, preserve and encourage regional awareness of the Area's unique resources. For more information, visit the ENHC web site at www.essexheritage.org or call (978) 740-0444.

Catherine McCarthy Memorial Trust Fund

The Catherine McCarthy Memorial Trust Fund has just notified the Lawrence History Center on May 13, 2008 of an award to be used for our "capacity building efforts." As we expand our collection, our site revitalization ,our education and community outreach and most importantly - our staffing - to respond to our increased visibility and importance in the community, we are so very grateful for this important support of our growth in the community. The LHC community thanks you!

Lawrence Cultural Council

The Lawrence Cultural Council (LCC) recently announced an award for the development of the web site and on line exhibits. We are very appreciative for the support of one of our 21st century missions. With this being our 30th Anniversary, it is a perfect time to take the dreams and vision of Eartha Dengler and share this wonderful institution with the global community. For more information: http://www.massculturalcouncil.org

Essex County Community Foundation

Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF) has announced the awarding of two grants to the Lawrence History Center. One grant has come from the Webster Foundation for the restoration of the Essex Company Complex. The other grant was awarded from the Lawrence Development Fund. These grants help the LHC to repair, restore and preserve these very significant, if not the most significant, buildings in the City of Lawrence.

The Rosman Family Fund,

a Donor Advised Fund at the Essex County Community Foundation, has awarded the Lawrence History Center a grant to partially fund the 30th Anniversary of the Lawrence History Center. Founded by German immigrant, Eartha Dengler in 1978, the LHC was originally called the Immigrant City Archives. This year we will celebrate our collection, our historic site and the City of Lawrence's history and its people. This grant from the Rosman Family Fund is enabling the History Center to interpret the historic Essex Company courtyard for residents of the greater Lawrence community to appreciate this historic gem on Essex Street.

Essex County Community Foundation was established in 1999 to build a new, substantial philanthropic resource for the benefit of the county. We build and facilitate collaboration among donors and non-profit organizations. We attract people to establish named donor advised and scholarship funds at ECCF. Those Funds enable donors to work with ECCF to make grants that satisfy their particular charitable interests. ECCF provides centralized, cost-effective seBirthdayrvices that improve the flow of philanthropic support and dollars into the community.

Since inception, ECCF has granted over $5 million to non-profit agencies which serve the County’s many different communities. This year alone we disbursed close to $1 million in grant dollars. For additional information: http://www.eccf.org/home1.html

The National Trust for Historic Preservation

We are so pleased to announce that The National Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded the History Center with funding for a structural engineer to assist us with designing the repairs of the Essex Company compound buildings. Edward H. Moll of Structures North, Salem, MA was hired to do structural analysis. This report will guide the History Center in pursuing the necessary funding sources to perform the structural repairs. The buildings in which the Lawrence History Center is located is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is fitting that the National Trust awarded this grant for a structural engineer - so that we can appropriately preserve this National Treasure in our City o f Lawrence.

This project has been funded in part by a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Mildred Jones Keefe Preservation Fund for Massachusetts. The National Trust provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize our communities. For more information: http://www.nationaltrust.org/
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