Sangamon County Historical Society Announces Awards

Four projects recently received grants from the Sangamon County Historical Society to fund special projects that help preserve and promote local history. The awards were presented for the following projects:

• Gravestone for Olive Price at Oak Ridge Cemetery - $500 awarded to Mary Frances to purchase and place the gravestone.  Olive Price is the sister of Eva Carroll Monroe who was the matron at the Lincoln Colored Home. Price helped Eva at the home and later lived there.

• The Mysterious Bard of Sangamo - $750 awarded to the Illinois State Historical Society for a two-act play showcasing the works of the poet John Hancock. The grant will help defray expenses for production and staging costs.

• The Colored Section Exhibit - $1,000 awarded to the Springfield and Central Illinois African American History Museum. The grant will fund a permanent exhibit highlighting the history of early African Americans buried in the “Colored Section” at Oak Ridge Cemetery. It will include an interactive map with information about persons buried there.

• Tree Project - $500 awarded to the Oak Ridge Cemetery Foundation. This grant will allow the Foundation’s Tree Committee to identify and provide permanent markers for select trees with historic significance.

For more information about the Sangamon County Historical Society check sangamonhistory.org or call 217-525-1961.