The Marblehead Museum has lost a federal grant for archaeology work at the historic Lee Mansion and now fears additional funding may be at risk under recent Trump administration policies. The $2,000 Essex National Heritage Area grant, intended for summer archaeological work at the 250-year-old property, was rescinded as federal agencies hold back funding following new executive orders.
“This may seem like a small amount, but for organizations our size, it’s huge and goes a long way,” said Lauren McCormack, executive director of the Marblehead Museum.
The small museum with only two full-time staff members is particularly concerned about a pending $300,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant application submitted in August 2024. That funding would support the final design and construction of a long-term exhibit in the Jeremiah Lee Brick Kitchen & Slave Quarters, focusing on enslaved people in colonial Marblehead.
“We’re worried that our grant would be on the chopping block because we’re trying to tell a more integrated, inclusive history,” McCormack said.
While many institutions nationwide have removed diversity, equity and inclusion language from websites and grant applications amid funding uncertainties, the Marblehead Museum remains committed to its historical mission.
“The museum is dedicated to telling this history. It’s essential to understanding our present to understand all of our history as a community, and that’s not going to change,” McCormack said.
The museum’s $1.4 million renovation of the 1768 structure has already received funding from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program. The ambitious project aims to transform the building into an exhibition space with climate-controlled archives while documenting a fuller history of slavery in coastal New England.
Previous archaeological work by UMass Boston’s Department of Archaeology excavated pits around the property. Records confirm the Lee family owned three enslaved individuals when the mansion was built in 1768.
“Without this grant, I honestly do not know how we are going to produce that exhibit,” McCormack said. “It’s probably weeks of my time spent preparing these complex federal applications, and that’s incredibly frustrating when they might not even be considered.”
The museum now faces challenging decisions about how to proceed. While building construction will likely be completed in 2025 as scheduled, the exhibition program may be delayed until early 2026.
“We’re shifting our means of finishing, not our final results,” McCormack explained. The museum plans to intensify local fundraising efforts while maintaining their commitment to presenting historically accurate exhibits despite funding uncertainties.
The museum’s annual fundraising dinner will be held at The Landing Restaurant on Tuesday, March 18, at 6 p.m., with proceeds supporting the final phase of archaeology at the Lee Mansion.
