The Trustees of the Trust approved a grant to Strawbery Banke Museum to create the Cousins Family exhibit in Penhallow House, an immersive and multi-sensory experience and the first time the Museum has presented the story of a 20th-century Black family in Portsmouth.

“We are deeply grateful to the Roger R. and Theresa S. Thompson Endowment Fund for supporting Strawbery Banke Museum’s mission to share inclusive and authentic stories of Portsmouth’s past,” said Linnea Grim, president and CEO, Thomas W. Haas Endowed Chair. “This grant allows us to create the Cousins Family exhibit, honoring the legacy of a 20th-century Black family whose story enriches our understanding of the city’s history. Through this, we hope to inspire meaningful conversations about community, resilience, and belonging.”

Theresa Thompson established the endowment fund in memory of her husband Roger, to make a difference in the local community by rewarding six specific educational and charitable organizations whose work was having a positive local impact on the Seacoast communities of NH and Maine. It was important to her to retain local administration of the grants so that there was a direct connection between the Trustees and the organizations she believed were the best able to create a lasting legacy in the names of Roger R. and Theresa S. Thompson. Although the six organizations named in the Fund are set, the Trustees determine each one’s eligibility for grants on an annual basis, reviewing not only their proposals but their achievements working with previous grant funds.

In making the announcement, Thompson Fund Managing Trustee Charles B. Doleac commented, “The Roger R. and Theresa S. Thompson Endowment Fund Trustees are pleased to recognize the work of the six Thompson Fund beneficiaries by awarding this year’s grants. Since 2015, the Thompson Fund has awarded close to $1 million to the six beneficiaries. These annual awards ensure that the legacy the Thompsons intended is sustained: 1) to help local organizations advance their core missions with innovative programs; 2) to build local Board leadership; and 3) to provide an example of a successful, independent, directed philanthropy that others might follow.”

The distributions are not guaranteed and the non-profits named in the Trust must apply each year to be considered for the beneficiary awards that are paid from the income of the Roger R. and Theresa S. Thompson estate trust fund.  To learn more about Thompson Fund beneficiaries and prior grant-funded initiatives, please visit ThompsonFund.org and follow the Thompson Fund on Facebook. 

About Strawbery Banke Museum:
Strawbery Banke is a nearly 10-acre living history museum in Portsmouth, NH that interprets over 350 years of local history, from Indigenous history to the present. Through its historical houses on their original foundations, heirloom gardens, traditional crafts, and costumed roleplayers, visitors are invited to explore the stories of the families who lived and worked in the authentic waterfront neighborhood of Puddle Dock. As the first Smithsonian Affiliate in New Hampshire, Strawbery Banke is part of a prestigious network of more than 200 Affiliates across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Panama.

Strawbery Banke welcomes visitors, members, schoolchildren, and volunteers for daily programs, exhibits, skating, and signature special events throughout the year. Strawbery Banke Museum is funded in part by grants from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation; the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts & National Endowment for the Arts; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom; the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. For more information and a complete calendar of events, please visit StrawberyBanke.org.

CAPTION: Recently repainted, Penhallow House now reflects its original 1930s-1940s light facade with dark trim, uncovered through historical photos and paint analysis.