Historical Society of Woodstock Receives National Endowment for the Humanities Grant

Woodstock, N.Y. - On December 14th, the National Endowment for the Humanities announced

that the Historical Society of Woodstock has been awarded an NEH Preservation Assistance

Grant for Smaller Institutions. The grant, totaling $6,000, will go to the purchase of archival

supplies, materials and equipment to enhance the Society's continued efforts to preserve its

extensive collection of photographs, original documents, textiles, genealogies, paintings and

drawings. Much of its fine art collection is represented by the works of noted artists created

during Woodstock's rise as a premiere art colony.

Founded in 1929, the Historical Society of Woodstock continues to fulfill the mission set forth by

its founders to document, preserve and make accessible to the public Woodstock's unique story.

Its archives serve to support a wide range of exhibitions, public programming and research. The

Society also works collaboratively with other Woodstock cultural institutions in support of their

public programming. In addition, works from the collection have been on view at the

Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New York State Museum and the Dorsky Museum at

SUNY New Paltz.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest

funders of humanities programs in the United States. In making the announcement, NEH

Chairman William D. Adams offered, "NEH provides support for projects across America that

preserve our heritage, promote scholarly discoveries, and make the best of America’s

humanities ideas available to all Americans. We are proud to announce this latest group of

grantees who, through their projects and research, will bring valuable lessons of history and

culture to Americans.”

The Historical Society of Woodstock, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, operates through a

dedicated, all-volunteer staff and Board of Directors. During the course of its recently concluded

2015 season, the Society, while serving a variety of research requests and offering a number of

presentations on local history, also exceeded recent attendance records through such exhibits

as, "Living Large: Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason" and "Woodstock - The Way We Were," a

photographic essay. 2015 also saw HSW launch its first-ever building fund campaign with

construction of an accessible bathroom and other building improvements currently underway.

The Historical Society of Woodstock is located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock and can be

reached by e-mailing woodstockhistory@hvc.rr.com. For more on Woodstock history, you can

also go to the Society's web site at www.historicalsocietyofwoodstock.org or visit their Facebook

page at "Historical Woodstock."