Bristol Nonprofits Secure Grants to Protect Local History

BRISTOL, RI—Two Bristol nonprofits are among 15 organizations to receive $28,000 from the Rhode Island Foundation through its Archive, Document, Display and Disseminate (ADDD) Fund.

“By offering the resources to strengthen libraries and other civic, cultural and literacy-focused organizations, we can expand their role as community centers that stimulate dialogue around critical issues,” said philanthropist Herman Rose, who created the ADDD fund in 1986. Over the years, it has awarded more than $372,000 in grants.

The primary goals are to increase access to information through archiving, documenting, displaying or disseminating print, digital or other material and to provide challenge grants for fundraising campaigns for the acquisition of equipment, special collections and publications among other material.

The Bristol Historical and Preservation Society (BHPS) received $1,500 to continue cataloguing its early collections, including original documentation of the Africa-to-America slave trade.

“The grant will be used to continue our work cataloguing our collections, including small ephemera, handbills, broadsides and miscellaneous pamphlets, dedications and a large collection of catalogues including religious and town celebrations and events,” said Pam Meyer, BHPS president.

The Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol received $960 to convert approximately 80 video tapes to DVDs that will be used for research and played for visitors to the museum.

“We have a collection of video tapes that currently cannot be made available to the public. The tapes fall into two categories, reflecting the history of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and the America's Cup Collections. This grant would help us vastly to enhance the visitor experience here,” said Elisabeth Lavers, the museum’s director of development.

Among the other nonprofits receiving grants are the Newport Public Library, which was awarded a challenge grant to raise donations for repurposing its children’s and youth areas; and the Providence Preservation Society, which will create an exhibit documenting how its “College Hill Study” helped save the historically and architecturally significant College Hill neighborhood from demolition in the 1960s.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. In 2015, the Foundation awarded $41.5 million in grants to organizations addressing the state’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities. Through leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information, visit www.rifoundation.org.