Save America's Treasures is a United States federal government initiative to preserve and protect historic buildings, arts, and published works. It is a public–private partnership between the U.S. National Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services are also partners in the work. In the early years of the program, Heritage Preservation and the National Park Foundation were also involved.
History Save America's Treasures (SAT) was established by Executive Order 13072 in February 1998, under President Bill Clinton and in conjunction with the White House Millennium Council's activities. Instrumental in its founding was then-First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton. Its Honorary Chair is traditionally the First Lady as designated by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities "Selection criteria require that each project be of national significance, demonstrate an urgent preservation need, have an educational or otherwise clear public benefit, and demonstrate the likely availability of non-federal matching funds. Each grant requires non-federal matching funds, which have stimulated contributions from states, localities, corporations, foundations, and individuals who value our shared heritage."
On December 9, 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama said, "Save America's Treasures invests in our nation's irreplaceable legacy of buildings, documents, collections, and artistic works. These awards empower communities all over the country to rescue and restore this priceless heritage, and ensure that future generations continue to learn from the voices, ideas, events, and people represented by these projects." Despite this initial endorsement, both the Save America's Treasures and the Preserve America grant programs were later eliminated by the Obama Administration. On January 30, 2010, President Barack Obama in his "Tough Choices" FY 2011 Budget proposed eliminating the Save America's Treasures and Preserve America grant programs, stating that "both programs lack rigorous performance metrics and evaluation efforts so the benefits are unclear." The National Trust for Historic Preservation eliminated its Save America's Treasures office in 2011 during a reorganization.
From 1999 – 2010, over $318 million was awarded, matched by over $400 million from other sources, resulting in the preservation of over 1,200 significant historic structures and repositories of cultural heritage. As of 2012, the program had been responsible for the creation of about 16,000 jobs. This corresponds to a cost of about $13,000 per job. In 2010, according to the American Architectural Foundation, there were 175 ongoing SAT projects.
Funding ceased after 2010 because of concerns about adequate "performance metrics and evaluation efforts", yet resumed in 2017.
Funding for the program comes from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), a source of revenue from federal oil leases that does not spend taxpayer dollars.
List of official projects and awardees The following list is sorted chronologically and by honorary chairman. Early awards were organized under Honorary Chairs (traditionally the First Lady of the United States) but recent awards do not identify an Honorary Chair.
Hillary Clinton, Honorary Chair 1999 ($13 million awarded, 22 projects)
Source:
Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham, AL Fort Egbert, Eagle, AK Recreation Hall, Kennecott Mine, Wrangell, St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Cooper Center, AK Manzanar National Historic Site, Independence, CA Sewall-Belmont House, Washington, D.C. Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Sebastian, FL Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Atlanta, GA Commercial Pacific Cable Buildings and Former Naval Facilities, Midway National Wildlife Refuge, HI Experimental Breeder Reactor I, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Scoville, ID Chesterwood, Stockbridge, MA The Mount, Lenox, MA ($2,865,000) Washburn "A" Mill, Minneapolis, MN Fourth Ward School, Virginia City, NV Buildings of the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos, NM Louis Armstrong House and Archives, Queens College, New York, NY The 1905 Wright Flyer III, Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, OH Paul Laurence Dunbar House and Barn, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, Dayton, OH Fallingwater, Bear Run, PA The Letter Box, Grey Towers, Milford, PA Peter Wolf Administration Building, Fair Park, Dallas, TX Jackson Ward Historic District, Richmond, VA Taliesin, Spring Green, WI
2000 ($30 million awarded) Source:
Saturn V Rocket, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL ($700,000) Tannehill/Brierfield Ironworks, McCalla, AL ($250,000) Sitka Pioneer Home, Sitka, AK ($150,000) Unalaska Aerology Building, Unalaska, AK ($100,000) "Saving Southwest Traditions: The Pottery Project," Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ ($400,000) Gertrude Kurath, Eleanor King, and Joann Kealiinohomoku Collections, Flagstaff, AZ Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock, AR ($500,000) Angel Island Immigration Station, Tiburon, CA ($500,000) Knight Foundry Water-Powered Iron Works, Sutter Creek, CA ($250,000) Old First National Bank, Telluride, CO ($250,000) The Charter Murals, National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ($500,000) Historic Sound Recording Collections of the American People, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. ($750,000) Anderson Cottage, United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home, Washington, D.C. ($750,000) Halla Huhm Dance Collection, Dance Heritage Coalition, Honolulu, HI ($90,000) , Honolulu, HI ($300,000) Woodbury County Courthouse, Sioux City, IA ($300,000) Cahokia Mounds Archaeological Collection, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL ($55,000) Edward E. Ayer American Indian History Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago, IL ($125,000) John J. Glessner House, Chicago, IL ($250,000) Frederick C. Robie House, Chicago, IL ($250,000) Katherine Dunham Archives, East St. Louis, IL Indiana Cotton Mill, Cannelton, IN ($250,000) Chase County Courthouse, Cottonwood Falls, KS ($250,000) Africa House, Yucca House, and Prudhomme-Roquier House collectively known as Melrose Plantation, Natchitoches, LA ($250,000) Sotterley Plantation, Hollywood, MD ($400,000) Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, MA ($400,000) Orchard House, Concord, MA ($400,000) American Antiquarian Society Library, Worcester, MA ($400,000) Cranbrook House, Bloomfield Hills, MI ($300,000) St. Louis Civil Court Records, St. Louis, MO ($175,000) Grand Opera House of Mississippi, Meridian, MS ($400,000) Silver Bow Public Archives, Butte, MT ($50,000) Stewart Indian Boarding School Historic District, Carson City, NE ($250,000) Canterbury Shaker Village, Canterbury, NH ($250,000) Laundry and Hospital Outbuilding at Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty National Monument, NJ ($500,000) Feather Cave Complex Collections Archaeological Collections, Albuquerque, NM ($75,000) Harriet Tubman National Historical Park, Auburn, NY ($450,000) The Tenement at 97 Orchard Street, New York, NY ($250,000) Records of the United States Sanitary Commission, New York, NY ($250,000) The Metropolitan Opera Radio and Television Archives, New York, NY ($200,000) Babe Ruth Scrapbooks, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY ($50,000) Union Tavern / Thomas Day House, Milton, NC ($250,000) Western Fine Arts Collection, Oklahoma City, OK ($140,000) Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA ($500,000) 1777-78 Continental Army Winter Encampment Structures, Valley Forge National Historical Park, PA ($450,000) Fort San Felipe del Morro, San Juan National Historic Site, San Juan, PR ($750,000) Southeast Lighthouse, Block Island, RI ($300,000) Drayton Hall, Charleston, SC ($250,000) Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD ($400,000) The Hermitage, near Nashville, TN ($340,000) Promontory Cave Collection, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, UT ($50,000) B & O Railroad Roundhouse Complex, Martinsburg, WV ($500,000) Ten Chimneys, Genesee Depot, WI ($250,000)
2001 ($15 million awarded, 63 projects)
Source:
Fort Mitchell Historic Site, AL ($300,000) Harrison Brothers Hardware, AL ($100,000) Pickens County Courthouse, AL ($100,000) , AL ($250,000) Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association, AK ($500,000) Camp Ouachita, AR ($365,000) Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT ($100,000) Hill-Stead Museum, CT ($115,000) Bishop Museum Moving Image Collection, HI ($50,000) Englert Theatre, Iowa City, IA ($365,000) Hegeler-Carus Mansion, IL ($200,000) Bailly Chapel House, IN ($200,000) Quindaro Archaeological Site Preservation, KS ($200,000) River Heritage Museum (later renamed the River Discovery Center), Paducah, McCracken County, KY ($250,000) Shreveport Oakland Cemetery, LA ($365,000) Taunton City Hall, Taunton, MA ($250,000) Mahaiwe Theater, MA ($250,000) Documentation of the Immigrant Experience, MN ($250,000) George Ohr Museum and Cultural Center, MS ($425,000) Audubon's Birds of America, University of Missouri, MO ($155,000) Eagle Block Rehabilitation, NH ($250,000) Belknap Mill, NH ($250,000) Lincoln Historic Building, NM ($1,000,000) 1901 Pan Am Building, New York, NY ($100,000) Hangar Restoration and Tuskegee Airmen Exhibits, American Airpower Museum, NY ($200,000) 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House at the Jay Heritage Center Rye, NY ($100,000) Lion House at the Bronx Zoo, NY ($200,000) Scarsdale National Historic Railroad Station, NY ($100,000) State Theatre, NY ($150,000) Franklin House, NY ($100,000) Biltmore Forest School, NC ($300,000) Akron Civic Theatre, OH ($500,000) Restoration of XC–99 Aircraft, National Museum of the United States Air Force, OH ($200,000) Harborview (Great Lakes Historical Society), OH ($100,000) Wooster City Schools Administrative Building, OH ($500,000) Artifact Preservation, Lewis and Clark College, OR ($400,000) Academy of Music, Philadelphia Orchestra, PA ($200,000) Scranton Cultural Center, PA ($250,000) Paul Robeson House, PA ($200,000) Masonic Temple, PA ($200,000) Pawtucket Armory, RI ($250,000) Robert Mills Courthouse, Camden, SC ($330,000) University of South Dakota Old Women's Gym/ Original Armory, SD ($365,000) University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm, VT ($365,000) Spaulding Grade School, Vermont Historical Society, Barre, VT ($365,000) Fort Nisqually, WA ($250,000) B&O Railroad/Vanadalia Corridor Restoration, WV ($200,000) Charles Washington Hall, WV ($200,000) Frederick Douglass Junior and Senior High School, Huntington, WV ($270,000) Restoration, Arthurdale Historic Community, WV ($300,000) Civil War Regimental Flag Collection, West Virginia State Museum, WV ($95,000) Lincoln Courthouse, WI ($280,000)
2002 ($15.6 million awarded) Source:
Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Recordings, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Tuskegee AL ($162,000) Lakeport Plantation Home, Lake Village, AL ($320,000) Kinishba Ruins, Whiteriver, AZ ($283,000) Memorial Hall, Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix, AZ ($200,000) Gamble House, Pasadena, CA ($350,000) Keystone-Mast Stereographic Collection, Regents of the University of California, Riverside, CA ($500,000) Pier 1, San Francisco Port of Embarkation, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA ($341,000) Colorado Fuel & Iron Company Archives, Pueblo, CO ($102,000) Yellow Jacket and Shields Pueblos Artifact Collections, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, CO ($65,000) Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT ($250,000) New Castle Courthouse, New Castle, DE ($200,000) Scurlock Photographic Studio Records, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. ($125,000) Tudor Place, Washington, D.C. ($100,000)