Norman Singer Endowment Fund

About Our Fund

The NARGS Endowment Fund was set up in 1983 upon the recommendation of Norman Singer, the society’s secretary, and approved by the board in 1984. The interest accruing from the funds in the endowment was restricted to special projects, rather than operations of the society.  In 1992, the NARGS board adopted guidelines for use of the funds and a committee appointed to recommend grants.

Norman held various positions in NARGS including president (1992-1994), and he received numerous awards from the society, including the Award of Merit and the Marvin Black Award.

Norman served in the U.S. Army in World War II, assigned to Bletchley Park (U.K.) as a code breaker. He became a performing arts administrator in New York City, including Lincoln Center, and the Aspen (Colorado) Music Festival. He and his long-term partner, Geoffrey Charlesworth, whom he had met at Bletchley, retired to Sandisfield, Massachusetts, in 1981.

Norman died in 2001, age 80, and the endowment fund was renamed to honor his contributions to NARGS.

Endowment Fund Application

Read the guidelines and apply for the Norman Singer Endowment Fund using the button below:

Submit Grant Application

Awarded

Year Amount Credits
2013 $2,000 New England Wildflower Society. Funding to cover expenses associated with the recognition of the Trillium collections with the North American Plant Collections Consortium.
$2,000 Susann Nilsson, Amateur botanist with excellent references.  Funding required to cover travel and research in order to write a monograph on the Genus Pulsatilla.
2012 $2,000 Oregon State University Discovery Garden.
$2,500 JC Raulston Arboretum.
2011 $3,000 NARGS Seed Exchange for electronic seed ordering.
$1,500 Allegheny Chapter for installation of rock garden.
$1,500 The Iowa Arboretum for installation of alpine rock garden.
2010 $1,000 Alaska Rock Garden Society, Anchorage, AK- for planting a tufa bed in the Alaska Botanical Garden.
$1,500 Rotary Botanical Gardens, Janesville, WI - for renovation of existing alpine garden.
$3,500 The Fells, Newbury, NH- for continued renovation of the Clarence Hay Rock Garden.
2009 $6,000 Spring Creek Gardens in Ft. Collins, CO for starting the garden.
2008 $2,000 JC Raulston Arboretum -  Support of the scree rock garden and roof-top scree garden at NC State University, Raleigh.
$2,500 Berry Botanic Garden (Portland, OR), Kris Freitag, for rock garden renovation.
$1,500 Oregon Shool for the Blind (Salem, OR) for building rock, bog and crevice gardens. ( Note: School closed summer 2009.)
$2,000 Spencer Crest Nature Center (Corning, NY), Bill Plummer, for buiding a rock garden.
2007 $1,500 Dianne Reeck for a study of Erythronium revolutum.
$2,150 University of Newfoundland in St. John's for creation of a crevice garden.
$2,875 Toronto Botanical Garden for 3 permanent troughs.
$2,250 U. Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens for rebuilding Marie Azary Rock Garden.
2006 $3,500 The Fells, Newbury, NH - continuation of the rehabilitation of Clarence Hay Garden.

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