Fairfield Museum Awarded Prestigious NEH Grant

Press release from the Fairfield Museum and History Center:

Oct. 22, 2021

The Fairfield Museum has received a highly competitive Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. One of only 115 SHARP grants awarded nationwide, the grant will support the Fairfield Museum’s efforts to resume its on-site programs and install new exhibitions focusing on the fascinating history of indigenous peoples and African Americans in southwestern Connecticut.

“The Fairfield Museum is deeply honored to receive this generous grant from NEH to create a new long-term exhibition that will explore southwestern CT’s diverse and complex history,” said executive director Michael Jehle. “The new exhibit and related educational programs will provide a more inclusive examination of the region’s 17th and 18th century history that includes new archeological discoveries related to pre-colonial Native American history, the role of African Americans in CT’s early history, and how race, gender, and class dynamics influenced the establishment of colonial Connecticut.”

“The American Rescue Plan recognizes that the cultural and educational sectors are essential components of the United States economy and civic life, vital to the health and resilience of American communities,” said NEH Acting Chairman Adam Wolfson. “These new grants will provide a lifeline to the country’s colleges and universities, museums, libraries, archives, historical sites and societies, save thousands of jobs in the humanities placed at risk by the pandemic, and help bring economic recovery to cultural and educational institutions and those they serve.”

The Fairfield Museum’s grant award compliments earlier support from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program that has helped uncover intriguing new archeological evidence related to the 1635 Battle of Munnacommock (Pequot) Swamp in present day Southport, CT that was the final battle of the Pequot War and the catalyst to the European settlement of southwestern Connecticut. New data and artifacts uncovered during that project will be included in the NEH-funded exhibition scheduled to open in 2022. For more information, visit Fairfieldhistory.org.

This press release was produced by the Fairfield Museum and History Center. The views expressed here are the author's own.