Newsom awarded $50,000 grant from Telling the Full History Preservation Fund

Bonnie Newsom, assistant professor of anthropology, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Telling the Full History Preservation Fund through the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Endowment for the Humanities for a project researching the history of marginalized peoples in Acadia National Park.

Telling the Full History grant program funds projects that interpret and preserve historic places of importance to underrepresented communities across states and territories of the United States using funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan of 2021. The program awarded $2.5 million in grants awarded across 39 states to 80 organizations. The full list of grantees can be found on the National Trust for Historic Preservation website.

Newsom was awarded $50,000 for a project entitled “A Million Sunrises at Schoodic: Training and Research on the Muted Histories at Frazer Point, ME.” The project includes an analysis of Native American archaeological materials from Frazer Point using Indigenous archaeologists and fluent speakers, and will integrate research on Thomas Frazer, an African American freed slave who lived at Frazer Point with his family. 

The research will help reframe the science narrative surrounding the archaeology and history of Acadia National Park, and will be shared through multiple community engagement and outreach activities, which include a four-day workshop giving Tribal Historic Preservation Officers and Indigenous speakers an overview of Frazer Point. 

“I am thrilled to have this support to explore and reveal the histories of Indigenous and African American peoples living at Acadia National Park. These funds help peoples of diverse backgrounds see themselves as part of the park’s history and allow us to showcase multiculturalism at Acadia National Park,” Newsom says.

Contact: Sam Schipani, samantha.schipani@maine.edu