We Are Thankful

For the first time we tried our luck at grant applications and we did it!  Thanks to Ridgefield Thrift Shop and the Greater Hudson Heritage Network (via the New York State Council for the Arts) we were the recipient of several treasured grants.  

The Ridgefield Thrift Shop gave us the funding to purchase flat filing cabinets to better store our oversized documents and maps, mannequins to display our beautiful collection of period dresses and textiles and stanchions to protect our displays when they are open to the public.   Another grant in 2025 allowed us to purchase a new desktop computer with all the fixings as well as some rolling carts to more efficiently store our growing collection of necessities.  The latest award gave us all the equipment necessary to create audio/visual films of people and places that recall our historic past.  We will soon be scheduling the first set of interviews and 'tours' of North Salem.

The NYSCA/Greater Hudson Heritage Network gave us funding to purchase archival storage boxes for our growing collection of glass negatives.   Through a second round of grants, we received the funds to have two of our period dresses restored by the Textile Conservation Workshop, an invaluable local resource in South Salem.  We also were awarded the funding for more preservation supplies including a specialized vacuum to keep our growing collection of textiles clean and properly preserved.  Our latest concentration is on our small collection of paintings and we were awarded the funding for a site assessment, the first step in analyzing the steps needed to preserve, restore, store and properly maintain that collection.  

We have learned so much about being proper stewards of our collections and through these grants we have the needed funds to restore and preserve some of our prized collections as well as improve our preservation supplies, practices and storage areas to maintain our collection for generations to come.