In this Issue

	Preserve America/Save America's Treasures Legislation Introduced
	Grants Deadline is December 12
	NOAA Wins Preserve America Accomplishment Award
	Festi Named History Teacher of the Year
	Picturing America and NEH Grants
	Community Spotlight: Cuero, Texas
	Preserve America Web Site Improvements
	Got an Idea Worth Sharing?

Links

Preserve America News |November  2007

Preserve America/Save America's Treasures Legislation Introduced

At a Capitol Hill press conference Oct. 31, 2007, Mrs. Laura Bush, Honorary Chair of Preserve America and Save America’s Treasures, announced introduction of bipartisan legislation authorizing two complementary historic preservation grant programs—Preserve America and Save America’s Treasures. Mrs. Bush was joined by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Senators Hillary Clinton and Pete Domenici, who introduced the legislation (S. 2262) in the Senate; Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus Co-Chairs Representatives Brad Miller and Mike Turner, who introduced the legislation (H.R. 3981) in the House; John L. Nau, III, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation chairman; and Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Read more .about the bill's progress.

From left, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Senator Hillary Clinton, Mrs. Laura Bush.  Photo by Tami Heilmann

Grants Deadline is December 12

The deadline for Preserve America Grants through the National Park Service is Dec. 12, 2007, for awards to be made in the spring of 2008. Click here for more information.

The Preserve America matching-grant program provides funding to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education, and historic preservation planning.

NOAA Wins Preserve America Accomplishment Award

At the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's (ACHP) fall business meeting Nov. 7, 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce, received the ACHP’s Award for Federal Preserve America Accomplishment. The agency was honored for its exemplary efforts in implementing the Administration’s Preserve America initiative. Read more.

From left, Dan Basta, director of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program; ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III; Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary Sandy Baruah; and Cheryl Oliver, NOAA program specialist. 

Festi Named History Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States and Honorary Chair of Preserve America, presented the 2007 national Preserve America History Teacher of the Year award to Maureen Festi, a fifth grade teacher at Stafford Elementary School in Stafford Springs, Conn., during a ceremony at The Museum of the City of New York on Nov. 16, 2007.

Festi has taught at the elementary school level throughout her 30-year career. Her students have used primary information to learn about a colonial ironworks in Stafford and state and community involvement in the Revolutionary War. Read more.

From left, Mrs. Laura Bush; Maureen Festi; James Basker, president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute. White House photo by Shealah Craighead

Picturing America and NEH Grants

The deadline for the National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) "Interpreting America's Historic Places" Planning and Implementation grants is Jan. 23, 2008, for projects beginning October 2008. Go to www.neh.gov for that and other information on related programs, or to subscribe to NEH's e-newsletter.

The NEH and the American Library Association awarded We the People Picturing America grants for the 2007-2008 school year to 1,556 schools; many of the schools are located in Preserve America Communities. Picturing America grants consist of a collection of large-scale laminated reproductions depicting works of American art, as well as other educational resources on American art and history. A state-by-state list of the schools selected to receive We the People Picturing America grants is available here, along with more information on the program for 2008.

Poster: Susan McCord's Crazy Fans

Community Spotlight: Cuero, Texas

A linchpin of heritage development efforts in Cuero, Texas, has been successful in attracting significant support from two federal programs that complement Preserve America. This summer, the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum project learned it would receive a $1 million grant from the Economic Development Administration in the Department of Commerce. The grant will support renovation of the historic building that will house the museum, gift shop, research library, and community facilities, as well as construction of a new two-story building adjacent to the original building (the historic Knights of Pythias Hall, 1903) in historic downtown Cuero. In addition, $350,000 in funding to support restoration of the second floor spaces is contained in the proposed 2008 Department of the Interior appropriations bill as a Save America's Treasures grant (the bill is currently caught in the congressional budget debate). For more information about the project, click here.

Photo: Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum building

Preserve America Web Site Improvements

We continue to work to improve the usefulness of the Preserve America Web site. In August, we expanded the Clearinghouse links available to related federal and other programs, as well as heritage tourism toolkits. Click here to review it and let us know of other information or links that you would find helpful.

Got an Idea Worth Sharing?

Ever think of combining public interest in fitness with heritage education, encouraging the public to stay healthy and value preservation? In Juneau, Alaska, the city has partnered with a local runners organization to host a Downtown Heritage Run.

A jogging club in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, worked with the Irvington Historical Society to create a series of historic fitness trails. Funding from Community Hospital paid for a series of numbered wooden markers along jogging and walking routes. A brochure highlights historic places along the way. An information board at the starting point includes a trail map, historical information, and local fitness news.

Join the idea bank...

Does your community use podcasting, guided tours by cell phone, or other popular technologies to tell the stories of your historic resources to visitors? Please send a brief description of what you do and how well it is working to Judy Rodenstein at jrodenstein@achp.gov. If it is the result of a Preserve America or other grant, let us know that, too.

Each edition of the Preserve America e-newsletter will feature innovative and interesting projects, programs, events, and partnerships. Some of these will be culled from Preserve America Community designation applications. Others will come from ideas you submit on a particular theme. We hope Preserve America Communities all over the country will inspire each other and share their creative thinking.