The M'Clintock House restoration project is under way, with the interior restoration to be completed this spring! Women's Rights National Historical Park is restoring the interior of the first and second floors of the house to its mid-nineteenth century appearance, when the M'Clintock family was in residence.

The M'Clintocks were members of Waterloo's Quaker community, which was deeply involved in abolition, temperance, and the women's rights movement. The M'Clintock family came to the area in 1836 from Philadelphia and lived in the home for a twenty year period. During that time, the M'Clintocks were active in the abolitionist movement. They participated in boycotts of slave-made goods, and operated a store which prided itself on carrying merchandise that was free of slave labor. Their home was likely a stop on the Underground Railroad, helping escaped slaves reach freedom in Canada.

The M'Clintock family was also instrumental in the women's rights movement. They took an active part in the First Women's Rights Convention, which was held in Seneca Falls on July 19 & 20, 1848. Thomas M'Clintock helped to chair the convention, and daughter Mary acted in the role of Secretary. Their home was the scene of the planning session for the Convention, in which the M'Clintocks were able to lend their years of experience in planning public meetings.

This project will restore the interior of the home, and make it possible for visitors to visit and learn about how the M'Clintock family struggled for human rights. Half of the funding for the restoration effort comes from the Save America's Treasures program, a public-private partnership of the Whitehouse Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The program provides grants for the restoration and preservation of America's cultural treasures. The program's grant for this project was $185,000.00.

The grant required matching funds from private sources. Various small donations raised $45,000.00. The balance needed in order to match the federal funding was met by a donation of $140,000.00 by author, historian, and philanthropist Barbara Goldsmith. Later, the State of New York also provided a grant to four projects in Seneca County, of which $36,554.00 was earmarked for the M'Clintock House restoration project.

Phase one of the restoration process will cost a total of $406,554.00. The project will be done in three phases. Phase one involves the interior restoration of the house, to be completed in the spring of 2001. Phase two will include $230,000.00 to rebuild a missing kitchen wing, which burned in the 1950s. Also, $75,500.00 will be used to design and produce exhibits for the house, illustrating the important contributions made by the M'Clintock family in the struggle for human rights.

The interior restoration will be done by Bouley Associates, Inc., of Auburn, NY. The total cost of the project will be $712,054.00. Phase three will include landscaping of the property, which is still in the planning stages.

Take a look at photographs of the work being done in the house.
Click on the thumb nail images for an enlarged photograph with text.

Begin on the First Floor