Kresge Foundation Challenge Launches $9 Million Capital Campaign
The MHS Library contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of materials related to Maine history in the state.
On February 27th, MHS publicly announced a $400,000 Kresge Foundation challenge for the MHS Library Renovation and Expansion project. The date is significant as it was the 101st anniversary of the Library's original opening and the 201st birthday of 19th–century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose family is responsible for the MHS Library being where it is.
The 13,000 square foot expansion and the renovation of the original building, built in 1907 and on the register of National Historic Places, will effect structural repairs, address collections care issues, expand storage, upgrade technology, and improve access and amenities for patrons on–site and online.
Led by campaign chair, Deborah Reed, MHS has quietly raised $7.6 million to date. Included in that sum is a $1,000,000 gift from the Belvedere Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, and an additional $1,000,000 from an anonymous donor to name the Library after General John Marshall Brown and his wife Alida Carroll, a 19th century Portland family that played an important role in local, state, and national history, not to mention the success of MHS itself.
Reading Room rendition
The hardest part is still to come: raising another $1.4 million by December 31, 2008 to meet the Kresge Challenge. We are asking for local, state, and regional support from the community at large.
Your support is needed now! If you appreciate the need to preserve and learn from history, please join this important Campaign. Help us meet the Kresge Challenge, and help make a difference to the entire state of Maine. Gifts of all sizes are needed to help us reach our goal.
If you would like to make a Campaign gift, you may do so by clicking on the button below or by contacting the Development Office at (207) 774-1822, or email info@mainehistory.org.
The project is the first phase of a two–part master plan to create a campus for MHS including a new Museum of Maine History. More information about the architects and the campus master plan.
Give to the Campaign today using our secure online donation form