USI awarded $2M grant for Historic New Harmony

Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a more than $2 million grant to the Historic New Harmony program at the University of Southern Indiana. The university plans to use the funding for several projects, including the restoration and renovation of two historic buildings in the Posey County town of New Harmony.

The five-year grant comes from the endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, which supports efforts to “develop exhibitions and educational programs that fairly and accurately portray the role of religion in the U.S. and around the world.”

Historic New Harmony Director of Community Engagement Leslie Townsend said in a news release the funding will allow the program to restore the John and Roxse Beal House into a permanent exhibition space and the former Doctor’s Office exhibit into a community learning center.

The program will also use the grant to develop a permanent exhibit detailing the religious history of New Harmony and create community engagement programming, including a multi-day interfaith festival.

New Harmony was founded in 1814 by German Pietists seeking religious freedom, according to USI. A second community, also established in the 19th century, was founded by industrialist Robert Owen and his business partner, William Maclure, with the goal of establishing “a model community where education and social equality would flourish.”

Additionally, the grant will support the development of a Collections and Exhibition Curator and student fellowship that will focus on exhibition design and programming, USI said.

The university assumed management of Historic New Harmony in 1985. You can learn more about the program by clicking here.