Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
AUGUSTA — Kennebec Savings Bank recently announced it will provide a lead capital campaign gift to the First Amendment Museum, a nonpartisan museum under development in Augusta devoted to the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.
Kennebec Savings Bank has long been a major supporter of community projects. Banks President and CEO Andrew Silsby announced the $150,000 gift.
“I genuinely believe that the First Amendment Museum will help people of all ages know and understand their First Amendment rights,” Silsby said. “It will also help our city grow economically and culturally. The museum will draw more tourists to Augusta and will be a community hub that will be a great source of pride for the citizens of central Maine.”
According to a 2019 poll, 29 percent of American adults cannot name any of the five freedoms found in the First Amendment. The First Amendment Museum aims to improve that statistic and seeks to inspire people, in Maine and beyond, to appreciate and exercise their essential freedoms. It also seeks to play a part in the local community. The museum, at 184 State St., is in the former home of media titan Guy Gannett who once owned the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
Gannett’s granddaughters, Genie Gannett and Terry Hopkins, cofounded the museum. “We are very thankful that Augusta is such a wonderful and supportive community, and we love being part of it,” said Gannett. “Having KSB’s support is a huge endorsement of this project. Our local partners and community are crucial to our institution’s future, and we know the First Amendment Museum will be a source of pride for Augusta.”
“The First Amendment protects the core freedoms that enable us to act on our ideas, and to make our society what we want it to be,” said Christian Cotz, museum CEO. “It is, without a doubt, the cornerstone of our democracy, and a how-to guide for creating ‘a more perfect Union.'”
For more information, visit firstamendmentmuseum.org.
