Eileen Maxwell
SAVE AMERICA'S TREASURES
Washington, D.C. - The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is pleased First Lady Hillary Clinton, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit, and National Park Service Director Robert Stanton today announced the winners of the first annual Federal Save America's Treasures Award. At a White House ceremony Mrs. Clinton thanked IMLS for helping non-federal entities apply for Save America's Treasures.
IMLS Acting Director Beverly Sheppard said, "Save America's Treasures is a wonderful way to celebrate the coming millennium. By preserving our cultural heritage we honor the roots of our American character and spirit."
Save America's Treasures is designed to celebrate American creativity, innovation, and discovery. This millennium program recognizes and supports projects that convey our Nation's rich heritage to future generations of Americans. These grants provide opportunities to learn about our shared history, preserve our tangible heritage, and give permanent gifts to the future.
Grants were awarded to 12 Federal agencies for 62 projects in 24 states, the District of Columbia and the Midway Islands. IMLS received a grant to support the following projects.
* "Paddling into the Millennium," The Alaska
Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, Alaska. Many Native Alaskan intellectual
and cultural traditions pass from one generation to the next only by word
of mouth, making their preservation very difficult in the modern world.
For this reason, the process of making traditional boats, their uses and
the histories and legends associated with boat-making are in jeopardy of
being lost forever. "Paddling into the Millennium" will bring together
Elders from each Alaska Native culture who will share their skills directly
with younger members of the culture and provide hands-on training as well
as oral tradition. Funds will be used to record the Master Boat Builders
and apprentices in the process of actually building a boat, which will
preserve these traditions for future generations. Award amount: $730, 980
* Custis Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia. This collection chronicles the early days of the Republic through the mid-19th century and features the correspondence of George Washington, Robert E. Lee, William Byrd II and a host of other political and social luminaries. The papers are seriously deteriorated, and unless action is taken soon the collection will be lost. Funds will support a comprehensive conservation program for the over 900 items in the collection. Award amount: $63,586
* Lewis and Clark Herbarium, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Herbarium is a priceless collection of plant specimens collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1803-1806 expedition across the western territories of the United States. Insects, handling, and the environment currently threaten the collection, which serves as a primary reference for botanists, historians, scientists and scholars. Funds will be used to conserve the collection and to provide proper temperature and humidity controls in its storage facility. Award Amount: $148,779
* The 1905 Wright Flyer III, Dayton, Ohio.
The Wright Flyer III is the world's first practical airplane: the plane
in which the Wright brothers solved the remaining problems of control,
the first plane to fly for extended periods and the first to carry a passenger.
The metal structural elements of the plane are rusting, the unbleached
muslin covering the frame is torn and spotted by condensation and mold
and several wooden struts are broken. Funds will provide conservation treatments
to restore this damage in preparation for the centennial of the plane in
2003. Award Amount: $328,500
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About the Institute of Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) - IMLS was created by the Museum and Library Services Act
of 1996, P.L. 104-208. IMLS is an independent Federal grantmaking agency
serving the public by strengthening museums and libraries. For more information,
including grant guidelines, contact: Institute of Museum and Library Services,
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20506, (202)606-8536, or
http://www.imls.gov.