In Plymouth, “Not in the best interests of the United States”— that‘s the phrase used by a Trump Administration official to justify the cut-off of a $200,000 grant previously committed to Pilgrim Hall Museum—this to be used for a higher level of care and organization for many thousands of important historical documents. Donna Curtin, Executive Director of the Museum was notified of this change by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, or IMLS, an influential government entity.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hNH3iOdhhM
Pilgrim Hall’s Executive Director Donna Curtin says a lot of people
have never heard of the Institute of Museum and Library Services…
“…but it is something that impacts every community across the country that has a library, or perhaps a small museum, and it funds so many projects from small to large.”
Curtin was notified in two emails, the first dated April 8th….
“Our notification came from the Interim Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which is currently being dismantled. And it says that they have determined that my grant is no longer consistent with the priorities and no longer serves the interests of the United States and the IMLS program and it is re-purposing these funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda.”
And Curtin says, she has since received a second email, dated April 16th
” …now requiring us to do some reporting by May 8th –which is a pretty tight window of time. We are considering how we might respond to this. This is an iconic institution, with an incredible collection that we cannot believe that anyone in their right mind could say that preserving the materials here is not in the interests of the United States—this is all very overwhelming and also so deeply distressing.”
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.
