Without the income stream from a myriad of activities that the historical societies in Chester, Deep River, and Essex typically do each year, these institutions are facing economic hardships because of COVID-19.

In response, Connecticut (CT) Humanities recently awarded all three societies with Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Relief Grants, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

“The important thing is just to thank the government and our congressmen from Connecticut in realizing that the economy is not just hurting for businesses, restaurants…[organizations] that we normally think of and hear of in the news,” said Scott Wands, manager of grants and programs at CT Humanities.

The CARES Act was approved by Congress in March, providing $2 trillion in relief funding for individuals and other societal sectors, including arts and cultural institutions, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEH received $75 million through the CARES Act, with 40 percent, or $30 million for distribution to state humanities councils, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The $10,000 combined in non-matching grants awarded to Chester, Deep River, and Essex historical societies is out of a grand total of $470,000 that CT Humanities is re-granting to various institutions throughout the state with CARES Act funding.

Chester

This year would have marked the ninth year of the Chester Historical Society (CHS) Creative Challenge, a reception fundraiser held each spring that invites artists to create items with artifacts emblematic of the town’s history in manufacturing for a silent auction.

Due to COVID-19, this event was canceled.

“The Creative Challenge we had planned to have in early April would’ve netted us a few thousand dollars to help us cover the basic utilities and insurance and security system for the building,” said CHS President Cary Hull by email.

Although CHS doesn’t have payroll to cover nor a mortgage for its museum building, the loss of income from its gift shop and other locales in town where books on Chester’s history are sold has had an impact.

“And, of course, our museum, did not open this summer, and it will not, and we rely on donations from our museum visitors to help us cover our usual expenses,” said Hull.

CHS will receive a $2,500 CARES Act Relief grant to help maintain, insure, and protect its museum and collection, with monies specifically going toward heat and air conditioning for climate control.

“That is always our job, to be certain we’ll keep everything in our museum and our museum building itself safe and secure,” said Hull.

Deep River

The financial ramifications of the loss of rental income from the Carriage House and cancellation of the Deep River Historical Society’s major fundraisers including Strawberry Social and Ladies Tea had a “huge impact on our operations,” said Rhonda Forristall, curator for the Deep River Historical Society.

“Our income went to zero and we still had utility bills to pay. We have the property outright, but there is still insurance and lights and heat…Internet,” she adds.

The ability to provide Internet services to groups renting on its property to enhance rental gatherings is an important part of the society’s offerings.

“We still had all of those bills coming in and no income and thankfully, when the president started talking about stimulus packages, he thought about [cultural institutions],” said Forristall. “It’s not a great deal of money, but it’s income and we are grateful for every penny.”

The Deep River Historical Society will put its $2,500 CARES Act Relief grant funding toward the cost of utilities.

“The wonderful part about this particular grant is that it’s not a matching grant,” said Forristall.

A matching grant would require the grantee to match a certain percentage, typically 50 percent, of the funds awarded from the grantor.

“This was just outright grant money,” said Forristall.

Essex

The Essex Historical Society (EHS) will receive $5,000 in CARES Act Relief grant funding, “putting it toward operations, which include utilities as well as staff support,” said EHS Director Melissa Josefiak.

“The CARES Act through CT Humanities allows historical societies and smaller nonprofits to keep their doors open in a physical and in a virtual way. At no time is the understanding of history more important…It allows us to keep doing our good work,” she added.

The closure of the Pratt House Museum, along with the cancellation of on-site lectures and other programming, had an impact on the finances of EHS. But the Society adapted quickly.

“With COVID-19 and the shut-down, we had to close our doors, so it had a dramatic impact on our interaction with the public. Since our mission is to engage and inspire the community, we had to find a way to do that in a virtual way,” said Josefiak.

EHS, which already had a presence on Facebook, added Instagram and YouTube channels. Instead of meeting with school groups on-site, Josefiak held online video conferencing sessions to discuss historical objects from the society’s collection.

“They [students] would think like a curator,” said Josefiak. “They would be able to interact with me, to better understand what the object was.”

EHS has also been making progress on two major projects, a pollinator garden on the Pratt House property and a virtual video flyer over of Centerbrook as it existed in 1910.