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National-level awarded grants tend to total much larger amounts, and those with specific

focuses (such as the “African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund”) are likely to take an interest

specifically in the Freeman Houses. Currently, the money officially put forward has simply not come

close to what is needed. The estimates for restoration to the houses are close to $1 million, some

believing the numbers will add up closer to $1.6 million, which doesn’t yet factor in finances required

for publicity and marketing to keep the houses under a self-sustaining position with tourism and

attraction. There was both a sense of excitement and dread for the struggling organization when the

houses appeared on the most endangered list. On the one hand, publicity of any kind benefits the

organization. On the other, it highlighted just how dire the situation is for the homes. “This

designation is an honor – made because of their great historic value, their precarious condition and

our lack of resources to save them,” stated Maisa Tisdale, who runs The Mary and Eliza Freeman

Center. The chairwoman of the CT Trust for Historic Preservation added that the list emphasis “site

that are under threat by demolition – and in this case, demolition by neglect.” (Burgeson, 2018).

Other organizations are raised as potential supports for the efforts of the Freeman Houses. As

briefly discussed prior, the museum of P.T. Barnum site close to the Freeman Houses, has raising

tourism due to the release of the film “The Greatest Showman,” and coincidentally, has historic ties

to the Freeman Houses as they shared the same community, and that Mary Freeman’s wealth was

second only to Barnum.

Collaboration with other museums and organizations in the same area are crucial, as tourism may

frequently be linked to more than one site. The P.T. Barnum museum likely draws tourists from

New York City, with other sites sitting just a couple miles south of the museum toward the coast

where there are several different monuments. In between those two sites is the Freeman Houses,

already in the path of tourists traveling from NYC, to the P.T. Barnum museum, and down toward

the Seaside Park. Close to 600 families in the area live in historically significant homes from over

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