Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Massachusetts Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is launching a grant program designed to preserve objects and sites in the Commonwealth that are significant to the history of the Civil War.
The grant program, open only to Massachusetts municipalities and nonprofit organizations, will provide matching grants of up to 50 percent of a project’s total cost, but not exceeding $5,000.
Eligible projects might include the renovation, rehabilitation, preservation or enhancement of existing monuments or memorials relevant to the Civil War and Civil War veterans. Proposals to construct new markers for historically significant sites will also be considered.
The program is being done in partnership with the state Department of Veterans’ Services and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.
“This exciting initiative is more than a preservation program,” said David Tebaldi of the Foundation for the Humanities. “We hope and expect that it will bring communities together to explore the role that ordinary citizens all across the Commonwealth played in one of great dramas of our shared past.”
Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Chair Robert von Wolfgang said the project is an example of “how Massachusetts preserves the past for future generations.”
The application period begins March 8 and ends May 17.
Application materials may be found on the Sesquicentennial Commission’s website: www.MA150.org.
The Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission will appoint a panel to review all applications.
Sen. Stan Rosenberg of Amherst, a member of the Sesquicentennial Commission, said, “It seems fitting that we are making this effort to invest in the preservation of what is undoubtedly one of the most poignant times in our history.”
For more information, call Robert Wolfgang at (617) 947-5357.