The Deep River Historical Society (DRHS) is determined to do more outreach in the community and preserve its history with the support of a grant from the CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities.

The grant, which totals $5,900, will help the historical society recover from the coronavirus pandemic and provide financial support for its exhibits.

The silver lining in the pause the pandemic placed on the society’s community engagement is that it has given them the time to evaluate the successes of its past programming and possible improvements in the future. This, according to Leslie Kane, a DRHS Board of Trustees member. The support of the state-funneled grant will assume the financial backbone of those considerations going forward, according to Kane.

“We’re still trying to rebuild from [the pandemic], like many other organizations, are taking a few steps back and taking a look at what we used to, what succeeded, what could be done better, and how we might want to frame things moving forward,” Kane said.

The grant comes on the heels of $53,000 in ARPA appropriations by town electors at a Board of Selectmen meeting on March 13 to “replace deteriorating and leaking roofs of the Stone House and Carriage House” and upgrade both buildings’ security systems. Kane framed the benefits of those future repairs and the state-awarded grant in a historical context that is important beyond the town of Deep River.

“We house the history of Deep River…it was the industrial center, historically, for Saybrook. So we have a history that’s larger than just little Deep River; it’s a regional history.”

However, in Deep River, town history is bigger than just “little Deep River.” The town was formerly home to manufacturer Pratt-Read’s headquarters. The company developed Waco CG-4 gliders used by Allied Forces in the European and Pacific theaters during World War II. The entirety of the Deep River High School’s Class of 1943, 40 men and women, were sent to fight in the conflict.

But those facts and others as part of the historical society’s exhibit on the war are for everyone in the tri-town area.

“It’s not just Deep River… it’s beyond that. [We need to ask], ‘how do we share this information so that it doesn’t get lost,” said Kane. “‘How do we share that this part of Connecticut was important?”

Kane said the grant will also support working with a local “marketing expert” to identify places in town for outreach, stir interest in their offering, and further the importance of preserving the history of Deep River and all that formerly made up Saybrook.

“We want to bring all the great things that we have about Deep River at the Stone House and make them available to people that are interested in the history because, of course, if you lose the history, you lose who you were - what you’ve done wrong, what you’ve done right,” said Kane. “We want to make sure everyone understands the valuable history that we have.”