Annual Fund
Our 2011 Annual Fund Campaign launches amid much good news!
A two-year $64,000 federal grant was awarded to Freeport Historical Society this summer for a full assessment of our Collections— artifacts and archives donated by the community over the past fifty years. The Collection is the heart and soul of this institution. Our ability to share Freeport stories will be deepened and informed by this process.
More good news: We rebuilt the old shed/privy at historic Pettengill Farm to use as a much-needed storage and to give visitors a fuller sense of Pettengill’s earlier farmstead. A Community Building award from Maine Post & Beam, and underwriting from The Home Depot Foundation and Hancock Lumber, provided the funds. A team of young volunteers from the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) provided the people power. (We secured them after partnering on an NCCC proposal with Habitat for Humanity.) Finally, much of the lumber used came from Pettengill Farm land, as it did when the buildings were originally built. Come out and see the progress!
We also established the Freeport Heritage Trail, comprised of 17 signs (the community matched a Maine Humanities Council grant to do so), we hosted youngsters at this summer’s Harrington House-based archaeological programs, and we uncovered what might be a previously unknown house site at Pettengill during an archaeological field school.
These funded projects move us forward on many fronts but do not address the financial requirements we face in professionally and sustainably managing the organization and stewarding two historic properties: the 140 acre historic Pettengill Farm and the 19th century Harrington House at 45 Main Street, as well as our year-round research activities and calendar of public events.
As someone who cares about Freeport’s heritage, we ask for your generous contribution to Freeport Historical Society’s Annual Fund.
We’ve found an appetite among Freeporters and area residents for a dynamic, community-based institution that is both a center of scholarly research and a place where ideas are shared in new ways, for audiences young and old. A generous gift to our Annual Fund in your name or as a gift in the name of a loved one ensures that this important work continues. As a small cultural institution, we consider ourselves very fortunate to steward and share such impressive and important collections treasures. We thank you for both your contribution to and affirmation of Freeport’s significant heritage.
