Jeffris Family Foundation Awards Matching Grant
to Garfield Farm Museum
Garfield Farm Museum has been awarded a
$12,500 matching grant by the Jeffris Heartland Fund to help fund a historic
structures report for the museum's oldest building, the 1842 hay and grain
barn. A historic structure report brings together all known evidence about a
historic building to prepare for the building's appropriate restoration
based upon the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Archaeology
and Historic Preservation. Garfield Farm Museum's buildings and its acreage
are on the National Register of Historic Places and is deemed to have
statewide significance.
This report will bring together the years of
research, analysis, evidence, and documentation the museum has accumulated
on the barn and provide methods, techniques, and costs for the full
restoration of the building.
The grant requires a matching amount that the museum
will seek from its supporters and any existing funds. "This is significant
in so many ways,” stated Jerome Johnson, executive director of Garfield Farm
Museum. "First it lends credence to the important role Garfield Farm Museum
can play in preserving the history of an agricultural state that has not
been fully addressed. It is also a great honor to have been selected as
there are very few entities that believe so strongly in historic
preservation and are willing to step forward with monetary support. It
encourages individuals who believe in the heritage of this country but can
only collectively make a financial difference.”
The Jeffris Family Foundation has established the
Jeffris Heartland Fund, to support the development of important historic
preservation projects that strive for high preservation standards and show a
strong degree of local support in the states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
"I have witnessed many small organizations and local
governments in Wisconsin that struggle to support and preserve historic
buildings that have given their communities a sense of place. The Jeffris
Family Foundation has a commitment to assist dedicated communities with
funding opportunities designed to preserve their architectural heritage for
future generations," stated Thomas M. Jeffris President of the Jeffris
Family Foundation
Garfield Farm Museum is the only 374 acre
historically intact former 1840s Illinois prairie farmstead and teamster inn
being restored as an 1840s working farm museum. Donors and volunteers from
over 3000 households in 38 states and 4 countries have contributed towards
the museum's restoration and development. The museum is located in Campton
Hills, IL off Illinois Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. Further information is
available at 630 584-8485 or e-mail info@garfieldfarm.org.
For more information about Garfield Farm send an e-mail message to: info@garfieldfarm.org
or call 630/584-8485.
