[MassHistPres] Updates from the Massachusetts Historical Commission

[Doherty, Jennifer (SEC)]

Updates from the Massachusetts Historical Commission



FY 2022 Survey & Planning Grant Pre-Applications Now Available

The MHC is pleased to announce that the pre-application for FY 2022 Survey & Planning Grant funds is now available. For the FY 2022 round, eligible applicants are anticipated to include all local historical commissions, local historic district commissions, municipal planning offices, and other public and non-profit historic preservation organizations.  At the time of this writing total available funding for the FY 2022 matching grant round is still contingent on MHC’s FY 2022 federal budget allocation, which has not yet been determined.  For FY 2022 the MHC/Grantee match shares will be 50/50.


As the State Historic Preservation Office, the Massachusetts Historical Commission is responsible for administering the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service and State Historic Preservation Offices, to grant funds to communities and private non-profit organizations for a wide range of preservation‑related activities. These include completion of cultural resource inventories, nomination of significant properties to the National Register of Historic Places, completion of community-wide preservation plans, and other types of studies, reports, publications and projects that relate to the identification and protection of significant historic properties and sites. The goal of the Survey and Planning Grant program is to support efforts to identify and plan for the protection of the significant historic buildings, structures, archaeological sites and landscapes of the Commonwealth.


With this announcement, the MHC is initiating the Fiscal Year 2022 grant round of funding for Certified Local Governments (CLGs), municipal historic preservation commissions, non-profit organizations and other eligible applicants.   (MHC is required under federal law to pass through 10% of its annual federal budget allocation to CLGs.  CLGs in Massachusetts are the municipalities of Boston, Bedford, Brookline, Danvers, Dedham, Eastham, Easton, Falmouth, Framingham, Gloucester, Grafton, Hingham, Holyoke, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Medfield, Medford, Methuen, Nantucket, New Bedford, Newton, Plymouth, Quincy, Salem, Somerville, and Worcester.)  In Fiscal Year 2022 the grant program is anticipated to be available to both CLG and non-CLG municipalities, as well as other qualified applicants.


A Survey and Planning grant can provide critical support for projects that help to preserve the character of your community. Please consider applying for a grant by completing a pre‑application and returning it to the Massachusetts Historical Commission by Monday, November 15, 2021, 5 p.m. (no faxed or emailed applications accepted).  Additional information, guidelines and the pre-application form are available on MHC’s web site at: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhchpp/Surveyandplanning.htm


Additional Funding Opportunities
These are not grant programs provided by the MHC; please contact individual organizations for information on requirements and the application process.


·         Veterans Heritage Grants (Letters of Intent due November 7, 2021): Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin and the Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) are pleased to announce a new round of funding for matching grants to preserve objects, sites, and document collections that are significant to the history and experiences of military veterans in the Commonwealth.

The program is open to Massachusetts municipalities and non-profit organizations, such as libraries, historical societies and commissions, museums, schools, and universities. Grants provide state matching funds of up to 50 percent of a project's total cost. Applicants can apply for up to $15,000 per project for this funding cycle. Eligible projects must be relevant to veterans and their military encounters.

More information on the Veterans Heritage Grants can be found here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcshrab/grants-and-programs/shrab-veterans-heritage-grants.htm

·         National Park Service History of Equal Rights (HER) Grants (applications due December 1, 2021): Funded through the Historic Preservation Fund, the History of Equal Rights grant program preserves sites related to the struggle of all people to achieve equal rights in America. The History of Equal Rights grants are not limited to any specific group and are intended to include the broadest possible interpretation of sites associated with efforts to achieve equal rights. This program funds physical preservation work and pre-preservation planning activities for sites that are listed in or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or as a National Historic Landmark. Should a site not be listed, or not listed for its association with equal rights, then a new nomination or amendment must be created as part of the grant project.
More information on the HER Grants can be found here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335963


·         National Park Service African American Civil Rights (AACR) History Grants & Preservation Grants (applications due December 1, 2021): The African American Civil Rights Grant Program (Civil Rights Grants) documents, interprets, and preserves sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights as citizens. The 2008 NPS report Civil Rights in America, A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites<https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights_Framework.pdf> (PDF) serves as the foundation reference document for the grant program and for grant applicants to use in determining the appropriateness of proposed projects and properties. The grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and administered by the NPS. This competitive grant program provides grants to states, tribes, local governments (including Certified Local Governments), and nonprofits. Non-federal matching share is not required, but preference will be given to applications that show community commitment through non-federal match and partnership collaboration. Grants will fund a broad range of planning, development, and research projects for historic sites including: survey, inventory, documentation, interpretation, education, architectural services, historic structure reports, preservation plans, and "bricks and mortar" repair.
History Grants information can be found here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335985
Preservation Grants information can be found here: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335980

·         National Trust for Historic Preservation Telling the Full History Grants (accepting applications beginning in November, 2021): The Telling the Full History grant program will provide $25,000 and $50,000 grants for humanities-based work to interpret and preserve historic places of importance to underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQA communities.

Applications will be accepted from 501(c)(3) nonprofit humanities-based organizations, accredited public and 501(c)(3) colleges and universities, as well as state, local, and Tribal governmental agencies. Funding will be awarded in the following categories:
·         Research, planning, and implementation of interpretation programs
·         Research and documentation for local, state, and federal landmark designations
·         Architectural design and planning to preserve and activate places of diversity
·         Training workshops to support preservation and interpretation of places of diversity

Telling the Full History grants aim to support the core activities of humanities-based organizations as the organizations recover from the pandemic and use historic places as catalysts for a more just and equitable society. Along with the grant funding, National Trust staff will provide technical assistance to grantees.

Further details on the grant application process have not yet been announced; to receive information about the grant, sign up here: https://forum.savingplaces.org/build/funding


October is Archaeology Month!
Celebrate Massachusetts Archaeology Month in October.  For more information, visit: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcarch/archmonthintro.htm<https://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcarch/archmonthintro.htmhttps:/www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcarch/archmonthintro.htm>


Upcoming MHC Workshops
Several of the previously-announced workshops are now full. Workshops for early 2022 will be announced in December.


·         Establishing Local Historic Districts, Thursday, December 16, 10 am
Local historic districts provide one of the strongest forms of protection for historic properties in Massachusetts. This workshop will cover the process by which communities can establish local historic districts under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40C. Learn all about the outreach process, the legalities of establishing local districts, completing a Study Report, and making it through Town Meeting or City Council. This workshop will focus exclusively on establishing local historic districts; administration of local historic districts and design review will be covered in a separate workshop.

Sign up for the workshop here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/175658618657


Recent Listings on the National Register of Historic Places
Bedford, Colonel Timothy Jones House
Medway, Evergreen Cemetery
Otis, East Otis Schoolhouse
Worcester, Saint Joseph’s Home for Working Girls (Abby’s House)




Jennifer B. Doherty
Local Government Programs Coordinator
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3314
Office: (617) 727-8470
Remote: (617) 807-0685
Jennifer.Doherty at sec.state.ma.us

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