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
2001 $1,600 Dianne and Robert Fincham for Phase 2 construction of Coenosium Rock Garden at South Seattle Community College.
$3,000 Oregon Flora Project for prototype Photo Gallery using 100 rock garden plants as a pilot data set.
$2,000 Rock garden reconstruction at Meadow Book Hall at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.
2000 $1,500 Adirondack Chapter garden construction of memorial for Al Wurster at local Cooperative Extension's Demonstration Garden.
$3,500 Alaska Chapter seed expedition.
$1,500 James Locklear for Phlox monograph.
$3,000 Domaine Joly-De Lotbiniere in Quebec for public alpine garden.
$3,000 Vail Alpine Garden Foundation (Vail, CO) for seed expedition to Chilean Andes.
1999 $1,050 CRAGS for automated sprinkling system in Banff Rock Garden.
$3,500 Alleghany Chapter of NARGS for plants and labels in the rock garden to be installed at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburg.
$2,800 Taylor Sultan Neal for plant exploration in Sierra Buttes, CA. (Note: Taylor Neal returned the funds as the project did not take place.)
1998 $3,000 New England Wild Flower Society, Framingham, MA., for building a rockfall for Rare and Endangered Plants garden.
$3,000 Darrell Probst for study of Chinese Epimediums.
$1,300 California Native Plant Society for photographs for a book on California native plants.
1997 $1,000 New England Wild Flower Society, Framingham, MA., for renovation of their rock garden in 'Garden in the Woods'.
$2,500 James Locklear for travel to support his research for a book on phlox.
1996 $4,725 City of Eugene, OR for construction of a rock garden.
$1,000 John Hay Estate/Garden Conservancy (in the Fells, Newbury, N.H.) to document the history and condition of the rock garden.
$1,500 Paul Jones for botanical expedition to Yunnan, China.
1995 $2,100 Katherine Sauter for photographic documentation of the flora of the Kurile Islands, Russia.

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