Historic New England

Fearing that "our New England antiquities are fast disappearing because no society has made their preservation its exclusive object," Sumner Appleton and a small group of like-minded individuals founded SPNEA in 1910.

By 1920, Director of Museums Harry Vinton Long wrote in his report that the museum’s purpose is "to preserve and illustrate the life of New Englanders..." The history of New Englanders encompasses the stories of family life, immigration, school girls' routines, servants' duties, the enslaved Africans, and the products of masons, carpenters, and furniture makers.

The first annual meeting was held at the 41 Brimmer Street Boston home of Mary Lee Ware, a noted philanthropist in the area as well at the patroness of Harvard University's famed Glass Flowers collection.

Appleton considered everything from the mundane to the singular worth preserving, and so Historic New England's collection today ranges from everyday cakes of soap to extraordinary specimens of fine furniture.

The organization's mission statement outlines its goals: "We serve the public by preserving and presenting New England heritage."

It also owns a wide-ranging collection of more than 100,000 objects of historical and aesthetic significance, the largest such assemblage of New England art and artifacts in the country.

Approximately one-third of the properties in the program were previously owned by Historic New England and were returned to private ownership with preservation restrictions that continue in perpetuity.

The balance of the properties were enrolled by current or former owners, who donated the deed restrictions to the organization along with endowment fund contributions.