Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Awards $60,250 in Grants

Thirteen Hudson Valley cultural and historic organizations received a total of $60,250 in matching grants that will support a variety of educational and interpretive programs, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area announced today. The 2018 Heritage Development Grant Program funds projects that showcase the area’s history and contribute to the regional heritage tourism economy of the Hudson River Valley. Funded projects feature a range of engaging programming and initiatives aimed at connecting people with the region’s history and historic resources.

Scott Keller, Acting Director of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area said, “By awarding National Heritage Area funds to locally developed projects, the Heritage Development Grant Program illustrates the unique cooperative framework of the National Heritage Area program at its very best: harnessing federal resources to encourage engaging, homegrown initiatives that promote the many historic and cultural assets of the entire Hudson Valley.”

The projects described below offer a diverse range of creative programs to engage people with history:

$5,000 to Bard College, Tivoli, Dutchess County, for “The Stage at Montgomery Place”, a public performing arts initiative.

$4,000 to Boscobel House and Gardens, Garrison, Putnam County, for landscape and landmarks tours on the grounds of Boscobel.

$4,850 to the D&H Canal Historical Society, High Falls, Ulster County, to improve access to their Five Locks Walk.

$5,000 to the FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson, Colombia County, to develop a marketing plan in 2018 to increase visitation.

$5,400 to the Hudson River Maritime Museum, Kingston, Ulster County, to create a website and marketing initiative for the Hudson River Lighthouse Coalition, which connects the remaining lighthouses of the Hudson River.

$5,000 to the John Burroughs Association, West Park, Ulster County, to replace and improve their entrance signage.

$3,500 to the Palisades Parks Conservancy, Stony Point, Rockland County, to improve public access to the Stony Point scenic viewpoints.

$2,500 to the Putnam History Museum, Cold Spring, Putnam County, for an exhibition about the West Point Foundry’s bicentennial.

$5,000 to St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands, Albany County, to use new technology and provide new ways for visitors to learn about the history of the cemetery and those buried there.

$5,000 to the Thomas Cole Historic House, Catskill, Greene County, to provide guided interpretative hikes with a trained trail guide and guest scholars on the Hudson River School Art Trail

$5,000 to Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Albany, Albany County, for its “Seeking Sanctuary” exhibit, a comprehensive program on slavery and civil rights in New York State.

$5,000 to the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, Yonkers, Westchester County, to design and install interpretive signage at the historic gardens in Yonkers.

$5,000 to the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary War Route Association, various locations throughout Orange, Rockland, Putman, and Westchester counties, for research, mapping, and to hold a symposium on the 1781 and 1782 Hudson River crossings of the armies commanded by General Washington and Lt. General Rochambeau.

Funding for this grant program was allocated through the National Park Service. Priority was given to projects that featured a designated Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Heritage Site, connected multiple heritage sites thematically or geographically, were part of a larger local or regional heritage initiative, incorporated mechanisms for sustainability beyond the period of the grant, and projects that involved partnerships with other heritage sites, municipalities, and for profit and not-for-profit organizations.

The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area program was established by Congress in 1996 and is funded through the National Park Service and Department of the Interior. The mission of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is to recognize, preserve, protect and interpret the nationally significant historic, cultural and natural resources of the Hudson River Valley for the benefit of the Nation. The Hudson River Valley Greenway is the management entity for the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.