Amherst History Museum

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Spring Newsletter 2010

Dear Supporters,

We have so many exciting happenings here at the Historical Society it is hard to know where to begin. We are happy to announce that we will be receiving $45,000 in CPA funds to repair the second floor windows, upgrade the electrical outlets and wiring, and repair the west ell roof. Also, we received an inventory and research grant from MassHumanities to support work on our military collection. The grant covers a stipend for interns and storage materials. We are near the end of our cataloging project and will be close to completion at the end of this year.

We also need to thank the Local Cultural Council for their support of our Archaeology Program. UMASS student Kimberly Whittaker, Professor Brian Jones, and the UMASS Anthropology Caucus worked with the Museum to create a wonderful and lively program. We visited 6 classrooms and over 75 students attended the training sessions.

Our Garden Tour is fast approaching and we have included a preview of the gardens as well as the fabulous prizes being offered in our raffle. We have new co-chairs working on the tour, Patty Hare and Gail Fuller; however, we can’t appreciate enough the hard work of the previous chairs, Elaine Mange and Honoré David.

In the planning stages, our popular House Tour returns on Saturday October 30^th and we are collaborating with Bob Romer on developing an African American Site map. We thank the Woman’s Club for their grant to partically support this project.

This is just a sampling of the projects and organizations we work with everyday. We are a source used by local school teachers and other community organizations to teach children their own history and give them a sense of place. Our internship program offers college students the opportunity to gain work experience in the Museum field. In addition, the Strong House is the oldest intact home that anyone in Amherst can visit and explore for free.

For our work to continue, your support of the Amherst Historical Society and Museum is imperative. Unlike other educational institutions, the Society receives no monetary support from the local government. We thrive solely on the benevolence of our community. To have an organization such at the Historical Society and Museum thrive is a testament to the solidarity and enthusiasm of the Amherst community.

Thank you,

Patricia Lutz

Director