Wolf Gap awarded Tennessee America 250 grants from the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial

Press Release:

PULASKI, TN, MARCH 6 2026 - Wolf Gap is a recipient of three grants totaling $16,089 for Tennessee America 250 initiatives from the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial. The grant awards will be used for three unique projects supporting history in Giles County. The Giles County Jubilee, a public history festival on May 8th & 9th, is planned in conjunction with the Giles County Historical Society and supported with a $7,000 grant from TN250’s first round of granting in late 2025. The second grant, of $7,921, will fund the application of UV- protective window film in Wolf Gap’s Education Center galleries, allowing the display of historic textiles such as the Looking Back at Our Heritage Quilting Club’s Church Quilts, several woven coverlets from the Giles County Historical Society’s collection, and other textiles from the Wolf Gap collection. The third grant of $1,168 will support the purchase of specialized supplies for Wolf Gap’s History Makers day camp, planned for Fall Break of 2026 for local 5th-8th grade students. The State of Tennessee made available funding to be administered by the Tennessee State Museum, on behalf of the Commission to support statewide America 250 activities. The Tennessee America 250 grant program was a highly competitive process. In total, the Commission received 585 applications, totaling $10,359,999 in requests. The Commission has made full or partial awards for 274 grants across the state, representing 73 counties, for a total of $3,833,383 awarded. A complete list of Tennessee America 250 grantees, counties and amounts is posted at www.tn250.com.

“I am inspired by the excitement across the state to commemorate our nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Ashley Howell, Executive Director of the Tennessee State Museum and Chair of the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial. “This year will be filled with exhibitions, programs, festivals, and preservation of our local and state history. We hope that these projects inspire Tennesseans across the state to engage with the anniversary in 2026.” “The TN250 Grants are making such exciting work possible in the community,” said Kelly Hamlin, Wolf Gap’s Executive Director. “The Giles County Jubilee Festival, May 8th & 9th, will be an unmatched opportunity for folks to immerse themselves in historic trades, skills, and scholarship – the grant is supporting our bringing in specialized demonstrators and reenactors to educate on the U.S. Colored Troops, the early fur trade era, historic skills such as log hewing, and even an operational 1800s cotton gin. We are so delighted to share this with our community and hope to see everyone for our field trip day May 8th or our public day May 9th!”

Hamlin added, “in addition to the Giles County Jubilee grant, a TN250 Archival Support grant has funded a long-time goal of ours to add UV protective film to our gallery windows. This will allow us to display historic textiles without fear of their being faded from exposure to sunlight. And a third TN250 grant is supporting a special History Makers camp during Fall Break which will give students unrivaled experiences in both trying historic skills and doing the work of a historian. We are so grateful to the TN250 Commission for this support and we can’t wait to celebrate the semiquincentennial with the community.”