Utah Heritage Foundation

The next quarterly deadline for submitting applications to the Preserve America Stewards program is December 1, 2009. Preserve America Stewards is a federal program which recognizes organizations and agencies that successfully use volunteers to help care for our historic heritage. Preserve America Stewards receive a designation letter and certificate of recognition signed by First Lady Michelle Obama.

 To date, programs have been recognized for a wide range of volunteer efforts, including preservation and interpretation of historic buildings and districts, archaeological site monitoring, historic lighthouse preservation, and historic cemetery preservation. Designated Preserve America Stewards include the Oberlin Heritage Center in Oberlin, Ohio; the InfoAge Science-History Center in Wall Township, New Jersey; the Glasco Community Foundation in Glasco, Kansas; and the U.S. Lighthouse Society, which was recognized for its preservation of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse in Maryland.

 To be designated, applicants must demonstrate that their programs:

The few remaining buildings in downtown Salt Lake City associated with the rich history of the Jewish community that ran numerous successful businesses and built sizable religious structures are quickly disappearing.  The latest to be slated for demolition is the Groshel Cash Register Building on the 200 block of State Street which will be redeveloped in a new housing project.  More information is needed about how Salt Lake City's Jewish community helped build the city over time.  That's why it's exciting that the Jewish-American Society for Historical Preservation of New York is recognizing the roots of the religion in Salt Lake, with hopes that it will inspire and excite additional research and documentation into this important history and additional preservation for the future.