National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy
Project Title
For support of educational programming on the founding principles of American democracy
Date
Jun. 04, 2020
Duration
19 months
Description
Federal Hall National Memorial marks the site of the United States’ first capitol building and the birthplace of the Bill of Rights. Founded in 2005 as the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service and its twenty-four sites along New York Harbor, the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy is engaged in a major initiative dedicated to transforming Federal Hall into a public destination rich with civic and educational programming. With Corporation support, the conservancy will launch a slate of public engagement projects dedicated to exploring the founding principles of American democracy. This includes a series of intellectual forums featuring prominent journalists, civic leaders and acclaimed activists, a robust art installation inspired by Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” series, and a theatric production that explores the historical context in which the Bill of Rights was written.
Website
Project Title
For the Federal Hall National Memorial Project
Date
Sep. 08, 2016
Duration
12 months
Description
Federal Hall National Memorial is a metaphor for how little most Americans know about the nation’s history. The Greek revival temple on Wall Street—built in 1842—was erected by Congress as the first Custom House for the Port of New York to symbolize the democratic, commercial, and financial aspirations of the fledgling nation forged at the site by the founding fathers in 1789 when New York was the nation’s first federal capital. Today, however, Federal Hall, operated by the National Park Service, is overlooked, unheralded and underfunded; its maintenance backlog alone exceeds $10 million. With Corporation support, National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy will develop and implement strategies for Federal Hall’s future economic stability and develop plans for new programming at Federal Hall.