President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) and the National Park Service (NPS), announced that 42 Save America's Treasures (SAT) grants totaling $7.6 million have been awarded to preservation and conservation groups around the nation.

The NPS and the President's Committee oversee the Save America's Treasures program in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Skipjacks were once the engines of a bustling maritime commerce in the early 20th century. As few as 30 of these ships exist and many are in need of restroation and repair. Photo by Laura Vlahovich

Save America's Treasures competitive awards preserve the nation's most significant endangered intellectual and cultural artifacts, historic structures and historic sites. The range of this year's awards covers the breadth of American history and culture-- from preserving the Nellie L. Byrd, one of the Chesapeake Bay's few remaining skipjacks, to saving Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church, a Civil Rights landmark. Other grants will restore the Gettysburg Cyclorama and the letters and journals of prominent leaders of the American Revolution.

Save America's Treasures grants help address the very real threats to our nation's historic and cultural treasures, a legacy held in trust by all Americans, said Mrs. Laura Bush, Honorary Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Through this program President Bush and I want to encourage public and private efforts to carry forward the work of generations in keeping these vital pieces of the nation alive for our children and their children.

Save America's Treasures grants provide critical funds to organizations and institutions to repair failing roofs and deteriorating walls; to restore faded paintings and corroded sculptures; and to conserve disintegrating documents. Overall, 19 awards were made to institutions with collections, artifacts, artistic works or documents and 23 awards were made to organizations caring for structures and sites. Some 327 groups applied for SAT funds this year.

Grime, dicoloration, threadbare and torn canvas are just some of threats that affect the health of the Gettysburg Cycolrama, one of 4.7 million works of art judged at risk by a recent report.
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

Awards by the National Park Service will help restore both structures and places and those projects overseen by the NEA, NEH and IMLS will help meet the needs of the country's creative genius expressed in dance, paintings, prints, sculpture, and books; as well as in artifacts from ships, trains, automobiles, pipe organs and many other items of Americana.

One of the pleasures of Save America's Treasures is that in rescuing and preserving the critical fragments of our past, we re-discover both well-known icons, like this year's award to the 16th Street Baptist Church, and less-well known treasures, like the Nebraska’ State Historical Society Native American collections. All the awards remind us how rich and varied our culture and history is,; says Adair Wakefield Margo, Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

In addition to the 42 SAT competitive awards, Congress also designates projects as earmarks for SAT funds at the beginning of the federal fiscal year. For fiscal year 2006 $16.9 million was awarded to 89 projects. Together the competitive grants and Congressional earmarks for Save America's Treasures amount to a $24.5 million investment in our nation's most precious cultural and historical treasures.

Save America's Treasures's Preserving the Legacy of Our National Experience, recently published by PCAH, provides the first comprehensive overview of the program’s success. Here the story of America unfolds through various SAT projects from the Wright Brothers to eyewitness accounts of the American Revolution A complete list of awards made by SAT from 1999-2005 is also included. Additional information on the Save America’s Treasures program can be found on the PCAH Web site at www.pcah.gov, the NPS Web site at http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/treasures/index.htm, or by contacting the NPS at 202-354-2020.

Save America's Treasures Awards $7.6 Million in Preservation Grants

Critical preservation and conservation funds given to historic properties, sites, documents, artistic works and artifacts