The New England Historic Genealogical Society has received its largest donation in its history -- $7.5 million. As the oldest and largest genealogy society in the U.S., the non-profit can't believe its good fortune. In the midst of a recession it gets the largest donation in its 164-year history.
"I was of course blown away," said Brenton Simons, president and CEO of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
A donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has pledged $7.5 million to the society. The donor is a woman from the west coast, who used to be an intern with the archives at NEHGS.
Simons says they will use the gift to purchase more historical documents and for maintenance of their Newbury Street building. He says the most exciting change they will make will be to their Web site.
"We are going to build a completely new website, which will allow us to give access to our millions of collections here and other data that we'll put on line," Simons said.
