Waterford Historical Collections Public Access Blueprint

Since its founding in 1943, the Waterford Foundation has been the recipient of donations of artifacts, diaries, ledgers, letters, maps, photographs and more from its founders, its members, area residents and their descendants, both near and far, of Waterford’s earliest founding families. As descendants of Waterford’s earliest families gradually leave the area, the Foundation has sought to identify and reach out to these same families for the purpose of acquiring and preserving records or, at a minimum, making copies of early documents – material which heirs sometimes do not realize are of historical value and which they might otherwise destroy in the process of relocation.

The foundation wants to expand its mission to make these materials available. The goal of this grant is educate the public and to make Waterford Foundation’s historical collections more widely available to researchers, college and high school students and faculties at academic institutions. This will be achieved through an archive website and public events.