Battlefield Preservation Grants Bestowed By National Park Service In 17 States Or Territories
A long list of states and sites will receive more than $1.3 million in grants to help preserve, protect, document, and interpret America’s significant battlefield lands. The funding from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) will support 27 projects at more than 75 battlefields nationwide.
Projects in 17 states or territories received grants entailing archeology, mapping,cultural resource survey work, documentation, planning, education and interpretation, said a National Park Service release.
Priority was given to those groups submitting applications for nationally significant battlefields. The majority of awards were given to battlefields listed as Priority I or II sites in the National Park Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields, published in 1993, and the Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States, published in 2009.
Both studies hotlinked above are key documents in the surging effort to preserve battlefields. As an example, the Civil War Trust’s private preservation efforts are also guided by the report’s assessment of a site’s significance.
The annually awarded grants are can go to federal, state, local and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions. Since 1996, the NPS American Battlefield Protection Program has awarded more than $13 million to help preserve significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil.
This year’s grants provide funding for projects at endangered battlefields from the Pequot War, King William’s War, the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, World War II and various Indian Wars.
National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “We are pleased to provide these grants to help safeguard and preserve these significant American battlefields. Preserving these sites for future generations and providing a means for research and interpretation is a fitting way to honor our nation’s military heritage and the courage and service of our armed forces.”
Recipients of the $1,354,341 in grants include:
Sealaska Heritage Institute (Alaska)
Friends of Jenkins Ferry Battlefield (Arkansas)
Connecticut River Museum (Connecticut)
Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center (Connecticut)
Gulf Archaeology Research Institute (Florida)
The LAMAR Institute Inc. (Georgia)
Mableton Improvement Coalition, Inc. (Georgia)
Ewa Plains Stables Center - Ewa Plains Programs (Hawaii)
Ball State University (Indiana)
University of Southern Indiana (Indiana)
City of Davenport (Iowa)
Civil War Trust (Maryland)
Missouri's Civil War Heritage Foundation, Inc. (Missouri)
Ships of Exploration and Discovery Research (Saipan)
Natural Heritage Trust (New York)
The Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York, Inc. (New York)
The Research Foundation of State University of New York (New York)
Saratoga Preserving Land and Nature (New York)
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (North Carolina)
North Dakota State University (North Dakota)
Chester County (Pennsylvania)
National Park Service, Northeast Regional Office (Pennsylvania)
Mosby Heritage Area Association (Virginia)
Prince William County (Virginia)
Prince William County (Virginia)
Shenandoah Valley Network (Virginia)
Virginia Department of Historic Resources (Virginia)
For additional information on each funded project, download this pdf document.