A Dozen North Shore Efforts Awarded Essex Heritage Grants

SALEM, MA — The Marblehead Museum, Swampscott Historical Commission and Salem's Pioneer Village are among the dozen recipients of this year's Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program awards.

Over the next year, the 12 grant recipients will be working to implement a diverse range of educational, interpretive, inclusionary, and preservation projects throughout Boston’s North Shore and the Merrimack Valley.

"We recognize the importance of supporting local organizations and we are proud that we are able to award twelve partnership grants again this year," Essex Heritage said of the recipients. "Over the life of the program, we have provided grants to every community in Essex County — and we know that this seed money greatly impacts the region by leveraging more investments in the Essex National Heritage Area."

Other recipients were the Ipswich River Watershed, along with programs in Gloucester, Lawrence, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover and Topsfield.

Marblehead Museum will take part in carrying out "Headers in the Revolutionary War," a two-day event designed to encourage multi-generational audiences to explore Marblehead’s role in the Revolutionary War through a series of programs and activities around the town’s Historic District. The free event will include a printed "passport" containing a schedule of activities and a walking tour of important War-related sites throughout town. Visitors will be able to “meet” Sarah Mugford, visit the Masonic Hall to learn about Patriot Freemasons, attend a recreated Town

The city of Salem will create an interactive public art project with the intention of increasing awareness and understanding of the region's Indigenous heritage. A series of five traditional beading workshops will be held in 2024, each focusing on a different type of adornment (necklace, bracelet, headband, and earrings) culminating in a collaborative display. The project emerges from the work of a group in Salem which includes members of the Massachusett Tribe, historical interpreters, educators and others interested in honoring, learning and sharing the story of the Massachusett Tribe in Salem.

Hamilton Hall will restore the 1805 building "Hearth Room" exterior door, which will remedy the frequent water infiltration that is causing damage to adjacent ceilings and floors. The work will include custom repair, restoration, and painting of a four-panel wood door, the door jambs, the transoms and the sidelights.

The Swampscott Historical Commission will undertake their project, "Preserving the General John Glover Farmhouse's History for Posterity through a Historic Architecture Building Survey," part of ongoing effort to save the 1732 John Glover farmhouse. General John Glover was a Revolutionary War hero known for rowing George Washington across the Delaware River to victory in December of 1776.