First Lady Announces $30 Million in Save America's Treasures Grants

In a White House ceremony on May 19, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced grants totaling $30 million to preserve 62 "nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts, and historic structures and sites." Grantees are located in 24 states, the District of Columbia, and the Midway Islands. Heritage Preservation members that received grants include the Maryland Historical Society, the Sloss Furnace, the National Gallery of Art, the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
These grants came from funds appropriated by Congress to the National Park Service for fiscal year 1999, and President Clinton has requested an additional $30 million in his budget proposal for fiscal year 2000. To stimulate private, state, and local involvement in these projects, all grants must be matched dollar-for-dollar with non-federal funds.
"The sixty-two grants reflect the diverse cultures and the many stories that comprise America, and which must not be lost as we end this century and enter a new millennium," said the official White House announcement of the grants. The list of the grant recipients follows.

1999 Save America's Treasures Grants
Projects Identified in the Appropriations Language
Total award: $ 3,500,000

The Star Spangled Banner, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $3,000,000
The flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to compose America’s national anthem has long been prominently displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Age and inadequate exhibition space have taken their toll on this national icon. This funding will enable the completion of the restoration of the flag, which will return to public display in a state-of-the-art exhibition space that will ensure it long-term preservation.

Sewall-Belmont House, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 500,000
Since 1929, the Sewall-Belmont House has served as headquarters for the National Woman's Party, founded by Alice Paul. Paul was the most significant figure in the final phase of the struggle for women’s right to vote. She employed dramatic techniques–White House demonstrations, hunger strikes and relentless political pressure–to achieve victory just before the 1920 election. The house suffers the effects of deferred maintenance; in particular, water penetrating the deteriorated roof has damaged structural members and interior surfaces. Funds will be used to replace the roof and to correct the structural and interior damage.

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Total award: $ 363,000

Haskell Indian Nations University Museum and Archives Collections, Lawrence, Kansas
Award amount: $ 50,000
Haskell University Museum has a large collection of historical documents, photographs, films and videos, artwork, wall murals and ethnographic cultural artifacts that are threatened due to inadequate storage and improper handling. Funds will be used to conserve the most seriously threatened items of the collection.

Bureau of Land Management
Total award: $ 386,241

Vail Ranch House, Empire Ranch Headquarters, Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area,
Sonoita, Arizona
Award amount: $ 95,300
The 22-room Vail Ranch house illustrates the 130-year history of how families adapted to the West through ranching. The unoccupied house suffers from animal, rodent and bird damage along with aging materials, water leakage, poor drainage and foundation problems. Funds will be used to preserve and treat windows and doors; to repair roofing, foundation, and walls; to improve drainage; and to support and repair interior ceilings.

Heritage of the San Juan Mining District, Hinsdale and San Juan, Colorado
Award amount: $ 64,806
The mines of the San Juan District contributed a large portion of the mineral wealth that fueled the late 19th- and early 20th-century growth of our nation. Five historic mining structures are threatened by weathering, heavy snowloads, neglect, recreational impacts, vandalism and abandoned mine reclamation, and are in danger of being lost forever. Funds will be used to stabilize and repair these structures to ensure their preservation.

Retrieval and Preservation of Southwest Colorado Collections, Anasazi Heritage Center, Dolores, Colorado
Award amount: $ 176,135
The collections are the remnants of the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) culture, which was known for fine ceramics, agricultural traditions and masonry pueblos. The artifacts are not adequately protected from environmental threats nor are they currently accessible for education, interpretation or research. Funds will be used to transfer the collections to a federal repository, and provide conservation treatments.

Department of Energy
Total award: $ 1,020,000

Experimental Breeder Reactor 1, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Scoville, Idaho
Award amount: $ 320,000
In 1951, the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR 1) became the world’s first nuclear reactor to produce usable amounts of electricity. Now a National Historic Landmark, EBR 1 is open to the public, offering the unique experience of passing through the guard house before visiting the control room full of scientific apparatus that operated experiments, all set in a vast, sparsely populated landscape. Funds will restore the guardhouse and conserve documents discovered onsite.

Buildings of the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Award amount: $ 700,000
These are the most significant remaining buildings related to the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. The site has great integrity of original design, and the temporary wooden structures convey a sense of urgency of the Manhattan Project through the expedient construction methods used for these buildings. Abandoned in the mid-1950s, the modest wooden buildings are in extremely poor condition and at risk of collaspe. Funds will be used to restore the complex, which will enable never-before public access and interpretation of the Manhattan project.

Institute of Museum and Library Services
Total award: $ 1,271,845

"Paddling into the Millennium," The Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage, Alaska
Award amount: $ 730,980
Many Native Alaskan intellectual and cultural traditions pass from one generation to the next only by word of mouth, making their preservation very difficult in the modern world. For this reason, the process of making traditional boats, their uses, and the histories and legends associated with boat-making are in jeopardy of being lost forever. "Paddling into the Millennium" will bring together Elders from each Alaska Native culture who will share their skills directly with younger members of the culture and provide hands-on training as well as oral tradition. Funds will be used to record the Master Boat Builders and apprentices in the process of actually building a boat, which will preserve these traditions for many future generations.

Custis Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia
Award amount: $ 63,586
This collection chronicles the early days of the Republic through the mid-19th century and features the correspondence of George Washington, Robert E. Lee, William Byrd II and a host of other political and social luminaries. The papers are seriously deteriorated, and unless action is taken soon the collection will be lost. Funds will support a comprehensive conservation program for the over 900 items in the collection.

Lewis and Clark Herbarium, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Award amount: $ 148,779
The Herbarium is a priceless collection of plant specimens collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their 1803-1806 expedition across the western territories of the United States. Insects, handling, and the environment currently threaten the collection, which serves as a primary reference for botanists, historians, scientists and scholars. Funds will be used to conserve the collection and to provide proper temperature and humidity controls in its storage facility.

The 1905 Wright Flyer III, Dayton, Ohio
Award amount: $ 328,500
The Wright Flyer III is the world’s first practical airplane: the plane in which the Wright brothers solved the remaining problems of control, the first plane to fly for extended periods and the first to carry a passenger. The metal structural elements of the plane are rusting, the unbleached muslin covering the frame is torn and spotted by condensation and mold and several wooden struts are broken. Funds will provide conservation treatments to restore this damage in preparation for the centennial of the plane in 2003.

National Endowment for the Arts
Total award: $ 2,278,952

Ca¢ d’ Zan, Sarasota, Florida
Award amount: $ 353,147
Ca¢ d’ Zan (House of John) is the 1924-6 Mediterranean Revival style winter home of circus magnate John Ringling, which houses his world-renowned collection of Baroque art. The house is located on Sarasota Bay, and both house and collections suffer from the cumulative effects of tropical storms, salt water, humidity, extreme heat and intense sunlight. Funds will be used to conserve the fine art and the decorative surface finishes of interior rooms.

Poetry Magazine Archives, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Award amount: $125,805
Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, was founded by Harriet Monroe in 1912 to create an audience for modern poetry and introduce writers and ideas, and it transformed the way poetry and poets are recognized and read worldwide. This collection consists of 120,000 pages of manuscripts, letters and editorial files, including individual literary treasures such as the manuscript of T.S. Eliot’s "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Much of the collection is deteriorating due to brittle paper. Funds will be used to stabilize the deterioration and provide physical protection for the collection.

Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Award amount: $ 500,000
Significant literary texts by Hispanic authors of the United States from 1780 to 1940 are in danger of being lost forever. The texts, which are a foundation of Hispanic culture in the United States, are dispersed throughout libraries and private collections and have not been identified by these repositories as rare parts of the national patrimony. Even if they are the only extant copy, the books are subject to interlibrary loan, casual handling and theft. Some 1000 texts have been identified to be at risk, and funds will provide for their conservation and their circulation on microfilm or electronic format to scholars, libraries and textbook editors.

Saving the Silents: The American Silent Fiction Film Project, National Film Preservation Foundation, San Francisco, California
Award amount: $ 1,000,000
Fewer than 20% of the films from the first four decades of American cinema–the Silent Era – survive today. The films were produced on cellulose nitrate film stock, an unstable, highly flammable material prone to decay. This project will preserve and restore to the public 67 films, including works by Thomas Edison; master directors D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, and Ernst Lubitsch; and screen idols Clara Bow and John Barrymore. Funds will support the creation of preservation masters and public viewing copies in a more stable medium, the only means of preserving this early 20th-century heritage.

Walker Art Center Permanent Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Award amount: $ 50,000
The Walker Art Center was the first public art gallery in the Upper Midwest and has become a major repository for 20th-century sculpture. Its Spoonbridge and Cherry (a vastly ovesized spoon holding a bright red cherry) by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen is a Minneapolis landmark that is known throughout the world. Funding will provide conservation treatments for 10 outdoor sculptures that are deteriorating due to repeated Minnesota winters.

Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts
Award amount: $ 55,624
The Coolidge Collection is the largest collection of Thomas Jefferson’s personal correspondences and writings outside of the Library of Congress. Donated by four generations of Jefferson’s Coolidge descendents over a period of 60 years, the collection contains more than 9,000 pieces of correspondence, 440 architectural drawings and 13 manuscript volumes. Funds will support the conservation of the correspondence and four of the manuscript volumes, which are in a deteriorated condition.

Dutch Colonial Manuscripts, New York State Archives, Albany, New York
Award amount: $ 79,025
This collection, spanning the period 1638-1670, is the earliest administrative records of what became the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and western Connecticut. The records deal with a wide range of issues, including the law, criminal prosecution, civil disputes, land conveyances, defense, relations with Indians and revenue generation. Translation of the records is underway, and funding will enable conservation of the collection, making it available for research for the first time.

F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers, Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey
Award amount: $ 50,000
Since donation of this collection in 1950, Princeton University has been the world center for primary research on noted American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The collection includes manuscript versions of all his works, among many other items. Decades of heavy research use and acidic paper have put the collection in jeopardy. Funds will be used to deacidify, repair and rehouse the collection to ensure that it will continue to be available for research.

Jane Addams / Hull-House Photograph Collection, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Award amount: $ 92,876
This collection consists of 5,000 historic photographs and 32 yearbooks that document the work of Jane Addams and her associates in the settlement house and social reform movements. Age and frequent use endanger both the photographs and the yearbooks, to the point that parts of the collection have been withdrawn from use. Funds will support the production and cold storage of 6500 preservation master negatives that will again make the entire collection available for research without endangering the irreplaceable original documents.

Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Queens College, New York, New York
Award amount: $ 300,000
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong influenced American music and culture in his many roles as jazz musician, singer, actor, comedian, entertainer, author and cultural ambassador. After the death of Armstrong’s widow Lucille in 1983, this house lay untouched until 1991, while water penetration, unfiltered sunlight, high humidity, and vandalism contributed to the deterioration of the building and its furnishings. Funds will be used to repair damage and conserve interior features and finishes in preparation for opening to the public on the centennial of his birth.

Paper-Based National Icons, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland
Award amount: $ 181,082
The Maryland Historical Society holds a number of national treasures, including the original manuscript of the "Star-Spangled Banner," 56 of the 57 competition drawings for the U.S. Capitol and original watercolors of the interior of the White House by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. All are in need of conservation, which will be supported by these funds.

National Gallery of Art
Total award: $ 102,810

Index of American Design, Washington, D. C.
Award amount: $ 52,500
The Index of American Design is a collection of approximately 18,000 watercolor renderings created as a Works Progress Administration project from 1935 to 1942. The Index documents American decorative arts and items of material culture from the Colonial period through the 19th century. Poor quality illustration boards with highly acidic cores have discolored the painted surfaces. Masking tape, rubber cement, and other marks disfigure and are leading to deterioration of up to half of the collection. Funding will support cleaning and conservation treatments that will ensure the collection’s preservation and its continued availability to the public.

Permanent Collection of Sculpture, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 50,310
This collection includes major works by America’s most significant 20th-century artists, David Smith, Alexander Calder, Isamu Noguchi, Claes Oldenburg, Lila Katzen and Tony Smith. Even when fabricated from the highest quality materials, outdoor sculpture is subject to deterioration caused by metallic corrosion, paint loss and fading, vandalism and structural deformation. With this funding, the Gallery will treat 10 monumental sculptures in serious need of conservation to preserve their integrity and to restore them to the condition originally intended by the artists.

National Park Service
Total award: $ 7,115,317

Collections of the Northeast Region – Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown, Virginia; Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Award amount: $ 977,100
The national parks and historic sites of the National Park Service’s Northeast Region include outstanding collections of 18th-and 19th-century decorative arts, documents and other artifacts. Funds will be used to conserve objects and collections at three sites: 1) Colonial National Historical Park – Conservation treatments will repair damage to George Washington’s dining and office tents caused by age and antiquated exhibit facilities; 2) Gettysburg National Military Park – Treatments will address the adverse effects of inadequate storage space, humidity, dust and insects on significant portions of the extensive and varied collection; and 3) Longfellow National Historic Site – Conservation will focus on books, furnishings and decorative arts objects threatened with loss due to deterioration.

Farm House and Slave Quarters, Hampton National Historic Site, Towson, Maryland
Award amount: $ 200,000
Hampton Farm includes a magnificient c. 1790 Georgian Mansion, designed gardens and grounds and many other original buildings. The Farm House, constructed of which began in 1725, is the oldest building on the site and contains rare 18th-century arched wood paneling. The c. 1840s stone slave quarters illustrate living conditions for African-American slaves and later tenant farm workers. Funds will reverse the deteriorating effects of age, weather and pests. This stabilization and restoration work will ensure the long-term preservation and public access to these buildings.

Ferry Building, Statue of Liberty National Monument, New Jersey
Award amount: $ 1,145,975
Ellis Island was the country’s principal immigration station from 1892 to 1954. Immigrants took their first steps on American soil as they entered the Ferry Building, where officials separated the apparently healthy from the sick. The Ferry Building and connecting corridors 7A and 7B are the key connection between the immigrant processing facility (island 1) and the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital complexes (islands 2 and 3) and are some of the first buildings seen by current visitors as they approach by ferry. Abandoned for 45 years, the building is in an advanced state of decay. Funds will stabilize the building and restore its exterior in preparation for a new use and as a catlyst for future restoration of the remaining structures on the islands.

M’Clintock House, Women’s Rights National Historical Park, Seneca Falls, New York
Award amount: $ 185,000
The M’Clintock House is one of three important resources associated with the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, in July, 1848. Here Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Mary Ann M'Clintock and her daughters drafted the "Declaration of Sentiments," often called the "Declaration of Independence," which was read at the Convention. The structure is in a dilapidated condition. Some exterior work has been done, and these funds will support the restoration of the interior of this important building.

Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta, Georgia
Award amount: $ 620,398
Ebenezer Baptist Church, a National Historic Landmark, is closely associated with the life and work of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The congregation recently signed a long-term lease with the National Park Service, which will restore the building and interpret it to the public. Repairs to deteriorating historic fabric on both the interior and exterior and conservation of historic furnishing and artifacts are needed to prepare the structure for increased public visitation and ensure its longterm preservation and protection. Funds will support this restoration program.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, Monroe County, Florida
Award amount: $ 970,400
Fort Jefferson is the nation’s largest 19th-century seacoast fortification, retaining a high degree of historical and architectural integrity. Begun in 1846 to protect strategic navigational lanes through the Florida straits to the Gulf of Mexico, the fort was later used as an internment camp for approximately 2,500 prisoners during the Civil War. Continued exposure to salt, destructive weather and water threaten the fort’s masonry. Funds will be used to stabilize the fort’s scarp walls, embrasures and parade walls.

Paul Laurence Dunbar House and Barn, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio
Award amount: $ 117,030
Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first critically acclaimed African American poet and a classmate and friend of the Wright brothers. A badly deteriorated roof and poor water conduction systems now threaten his National Historic Landmark home, and a fire damaged the adjacent barn. Funding will support the installation of a new roof, with downspouts and other drainage systems, and the restoration of the barn.

Cliff Dwellings, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Award amount: $ 1,497,672
Mesa Verde National Park contains approximately 600 cliff dwellings built between AD 1200-1300 that represent the architectural apex of the Northern San Juan Pueblo culture. A minimum of repair has been done over the years, resulting in a cultural resource of great integrity and authenticity. From 1994-1996, University of Pennsylvania experts developed a model conservation program to document, identify and appropriately treat surface finishes in the cliff dwellings. With these funds, the park will expand the conservation program to treat and preserve several other "houses" in the cliff dwellings.

Mission San Jose de Tumacacori, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori, Arizona
Award amount: $ 85,500
Mission San Jose de Tumacacori, a National Historic Landmark, is considered the best preserved Franciscan mission ruin in the United States, and it represents one of the oldest outposts of European civilization in the country. Deterioration threatens the murals, paintings, stenciling, and frescos in the nave and sanctuary and has weakened the structural components of the building. Funds will support conservation of the artwork, strengthening of the structural members and abatement of moisture migration throughout the structure.

Perimeter Fence, Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence, California
Award amount: $ 150,000
Manzanar National Historic Site protects and interprets the historical, cultural and natural resources associated with the relocation of Japanese Americans during WWII. Manzanar housed over 10,000 relocated citizens and is the best preserved of the 10 original relocation facilities in the western states. Adverse use–poaching, woodcutting, off-road vehicle use, pothunting, relic collecting, vandalism and buglary–threatens both the natural and cultural resources of the site. Funds will support the restoration of the c. 1942, 6-strand barbed wire fence (3.6 miles) in order to protect the site.

Recreation Hall, Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Cooper Center, Alaska
Award amount: $ 75,000
Designated a National Historic Landmark for its significance in engineering history, Kennecott is the best remaining example of an early 20th-century mining town. The Recreation Hall is a key structure in the site. Constructed in 1916, the building is in a badly deteriorated condition. Funds will be used for rehabilitation, including replacing the roof and repairing the foundation system, the deteriorated flooring, the windows and the chimney. This work will ensure the continued preservation of the building.

Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 1,131,242
The Washington Monument, a 555-foot classic obelisk, is recognized throughout the world as the symbol of American democracy. The monument is undergoing restoration to correct water infiltration problems that have threatened the structure, led to deterioration of the interior commemorative stones and damaged mechanical systems. The extent of damage to the stone at the top of the monument did not become clear until scaffolding was erected to begin the project. Funding will support restoration of this newly-revealed stone deterioration.

Save America’s Treasures Grants Through the National Park Service
Total award: $ 10,272,126

Chesterwood
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Award amount: $ 119,849
Chesterwood is the home and studio of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial. The house is an eclectic building with architectural and siting elements of the Italian Villa and the Colonial Revival styles. French, one of America’s foremost sculptors played a major role in the design and decoration of the house. Two porches are close to collapse and original tapestry wallpaper is threatened by deteriorating plaster. Funds will support restoration of the porches, stabilization of the plaster and restoration of the wallpaper.

Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 52,880
Congressional Cemetery, established in 1807, is considered America’s first "National Cemetery." It serves a final resting place for many notable Americans, including John Philip Sousa, J. Edgar Hoover and William Thornton. Funds will support the conservation of three of the cemetery’s most important marker – the D.C. Arsenal Explosion Victims marker (ca. 1865), the Marion Kahlert marker (ca. 1905) and the Alexander Macomb memorial (ca. 1842)–and restore six table tombs that are in danger of being lost.

Dutch Reformed Church, Newburgh, New York
Award amount: $ 125,802
The church was the work of two outstanding Greek Revival architects: Alexander Jackson Davis, who designed it in 1835, and Russell Warren, who was the general superintendent of its construction, 1835-1837. The church, recognized as one of the finest examples of Greek revival architecture in the United States, is threatened by decades of neglect, weather, vandalism and fire. Funds will be used to stabilze the sanctuary floor and gallery and secure the building from fire.

Fallingwater
Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Award amount: $ 901,000
Fallingwater, designed in 1935 by Frank Lloyd Wright, is an icon of American architecture and exemplifies Wright’s concept of the harmonious union of art and nature. Parts of the building are significantly overstressed and are beginning to fail. Water leakage is damaging the roof and interior furnishings. Funds will be used to structurally strengthen the overstressed sections, to repair wood and steel windows and to install a new roof that properly sheds water and to waterproof the terrace.

Fourth Ward School, Virginia City, Nevada
Award amount: $639,271
The Fourth Ward School, built in 1876, is a major contributing building in the Virginia City National Historic Landmark District. The building has suffered extensive deterioration over time, and rehabilitation of several major components is needed. Funds will be used to rehabilitate the mansard roof with its eave drainage system and the original windows and to provide seismic retrofit for the foundations of the building.

Gropius House, Lincoln, Massachusetts
Award amount: $ 64,349
Walter Gropius, founder of the German school of modern design known as the Bauhaus, was one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. After fleeing Germany, he built this house for his family in 1937, and it remained occupied until his widow’s death in 1983 when it came into the possession of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA). Already deteriorated at that time, damage has increased due to water infiltration. Funds will be used to repair the windows, a primary entry point for moisture, and to restore water-damaged plaster.

Jackson Ward National Historic Landmark District, Richmond, Virginia
Award amount: $ 650,000
Richmond was one of the foremost black communities in the nation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Jackson Ward was the hub of the community’s professional and social life. Many buildings are vacant and suffer from deterioration due to unsound roofs, wall openings and arson. Funds will support the stabilization and weatherproofing of a number of key buildings to preserve them for future rehabilitation and reuse.

The Mount
Lenox, Massachusetts.
Award amount: $ 2,865,000
Home of the celebrated author Edith Wharton, The Mount is a National Historic Landmark. It is also an autobiographical house, designed and built by Wharton based on the precepts outlined in her books The Decoration of Houses and Italian Villas and their Gardens. Funds will be used to complete the stabilization of the building’s exterior, to restore the greenhouse that is in danger of collapse and to restore the gardens that have been badly damaged by heavy visitation.

Peter Wolf Administration Building, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Award amount: $ 3,000,000
The Peter Wolf Administration Building is an outstanding example of Art Deco design and one component of Fair Park, the National Historic Landmark site of the 1936 Texas Centennial. Currently in a controlled state of collapse, the building has been closed for years. Funds will restore the exterior of the building and its steel truss skeleton in preparation for reuse as the Women’s Museum.

Sloss Furnace, Birmingham, Alabama
Award amount: $ 207,275
Sloss Furnace National Historic Landmark, now the museum of the City of Birmingham, is the only complete blast furnace complex open for public interpretation in the world. The region’s high humidity, high water table and heavy rains have caused significant corrosion and erosion over time. Funds will support the stabilization of Number One Furnace, including foundation repair, replacement of severely deteriorated beams and application of a new protective coating.

Taliesin
Spring Green, Wisconsin
Award amount: $ 1,146,700
Taliesin is the most personal representation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work; he constructed, reconstructed and expanded it from 1911 until his death in 1959. It was his home and continues to serve, for the warmer half of each year, as a residence for the Taliesen’s architecture students. Moisture and the freeze/thaw cycle of many years have damaged the stone and wood building and its collections, and a 1998 mudslide destroyed part of the hill around which the structure is built. Funding will fix drainage problems that allow water to penetrate the house and that could lead to another, larger mudslide and will restore damaged interior features and finishes.

Washburn A Mill
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Award amount: $ 500,000
A National Historic Landmark, Washburn A Mill represents Minneapolis’ reign as the flour milling capital of the world from 1880 to 1930. Built in 1879, the mill was the birthplace of General Mills, producer of Gold Medal flour, and the home of Betty Crocker’s kitchen. The vacant mill was heavily damaged by a 1991 fire that left its walls and foundation exposed. Funds will be used to stabilize and preserve the structure, enabling the construction of a museum of the milling industry inside the walls.

Smithsonian Institution
Total award: $ 1,578,664

Artwork Collection of the National Anthropological Archives, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 228,664
This collection contains nearly 20,000 drawings that constitute a visual record of the cultures of Native America and of the United States’ interactions with these cultures. The collection contains 19th-century artwork produced by Native Americans to record their ways of life, documents pertaining to U.S. expansion into the West and early scientific investigations of Native American origins. The collection is deteriorated to the point of disintegration. Funds will be used to conserve and provide proper storage for the collection.

Threatened Artifacts of the Apollo Space Program, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
Award amount: $ 1,350,000
The National Air and Space Museum has collected more than 2500 artifacts representing nearly every facet of the Apollo Space Program, ranging from the Apollo command modules that ferried the astronauts safely back from the moon to spacesuits to decals, patches and other personal items of the Apollo astronauts. Funding will support the implementation of a comprehensive conservation effort to counteract the effects of inadequate storage, environmental factors and time.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Total award: $ 666,392

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Sebastian, Florida
Award amount: $ 57,711
Established in 1903 by Theodore Roosevelt, Pelican Island was America's first national wildlife refuge, intended to protect the last pelican rookery on the Atlantic coast of Florida. A National Historic Landmark, the island has lost more than 50% of its original size due to increased boat traffic along the Intracoastal Waterway. Funds will be used to stabilize the shoreline through construction of a natural wavebreak and the planting of native trees and grasses.

D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Spearfish, South Dakota
Award amount: $ 300,000
This facility is unique in the nation. Devoted to the preservation of the National Fisheries Program, it includes several historic structures and an extensive collection of artifacts and archives. Weather and age have taken their toll on the site, and unless checked damage will accelerate. Funds will support structural stabilization and exterior restoration of three buildings, repair of the pond and flood channel retaining walls and restoration of the Yellowstone Boat.

Commercial Pacific Cable Buildings and Former Naval Facilities, Midway National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Islands
Award amount: $ 308,681
Due to base closures, Midway’s role shifted in 1996 to that of a National Wildlife Refuge. The ravages of time, saltwater corrosion and disuse have left most of Midway's historically significant properties in jeopardy. Funds will be used to stabilize the Commercial Pacific Cable Buildings, the oldest on the island, and make them weather-tight. Funds will also be used to mount a major eradication effort against the termites that are attacking the former Naval facilities, designed by noted architect Albert Kahn.

U.S. Forest Service
Total award: $ 260,310

Green Mountain Lookout, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Mountlake Terrace, Washington
Award amount: $ 50,000
The Green Mountain Lookout is significant for its role in fire detection and its use as a U.S. Army aircraft-warning site during World War II. Snow and wind have damaged the lookout to the point that it is in danger of collapse, and it has been closed to the public since 1994. Funds will be used to replace structural components and to restore the interior and exterior of the lookout.

The Letter Box, Grey Towers National Historic Landmark, Milford, Pennsylvania
Award amount: $ 116,000
The Letter Box served as the office and archives of Gifford Pinchot, eminent conservationist, chief forester, and two-term governor of Pennsylvania. Designed by architect Chester H. Aldrich in 1925, this classically proportioned stone building has severe water infiltration problems. Funding will provide a new roof, interior restoration and selected collections conservation.

Honanki Cliff Dwellings, Coconino National Forest, Sedona, Arizona
Award amount: $ 94,310
The large cliff dwellings of Honanki, built between AD 1150 - 1300, are a spectacular example of Sinagua architecture and rock art. The site is currently closed to the public because of structural instability. Funds will be used to stabilize the cliff dwellings so that they may be reopened to the public, to construct a walkway to reduce the impact of foot traffic on the site and to remove graffiti.

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Commission
Total award: $ 54,736