An amount of $1m will be donated by Sid Lapidus, a well-known book collector, to the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS) at Iona University in New Rochelle.
The Lapidus Initiative for Early American Inquiry will be established by these funds, and it will maintain and encourage further exploration of American history in its early years.
News of such significant donations and their benefits for a university is often made known throughout a college campus with banner printing.
With these funds, the ITPS will be able to preserve artifacts and memorabilia related to Paine and expand student and scholarly opportunities to do with the American Revolution. Paine was a Founding Father of the United States as well as a revolutionary, political theorist, and philosopher.
Provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, Tricia Mulligan, said that this gift will enable the ITPS to help students understand the work of Paine and apply it to their future. She added that Lapidus is a supporter and friend of the university, and this donation will place Iona in a new league of studies of the American Revolution.
The ITPS was established in 2011 and is an interdisciplinary establishment that supports the study of early American history by promoting learning and scholarship in both innovative and traditional formats of media. The ITPS has offerings for undergraduate students as well as an archival fellowship program and exhibits, international events, and digital humanities projects.
