Courtesy of 89,476 votes from the public and more than 700 attendees at its recent Block Party, the Chester County Historical Society won a $150,000 grant in a national contest that highlighted the often-unrecognized contributions of women to American history and society.

CCHS – site of the first Pennsylvania Women’s Rights Convention, held in 1852 – finished fourth place in the voting, which raised awareness of the triumphs, struggles, and rich history of women in America.

CCHS will use the grant for critical repairs to its leaking roof and crumbling chimneys.

“We toast to more than a grant, although thank goodness for it,” Allison Snavely, CCHS’s Director of Development, said at a gathering Wednesday night after the contest’s winners were announced.

“We toast to optimism and grit and dogged determination. We toast to the belief that this place matters, that each of us matters, and that standing together against the odds, we would make history. Like the Little Engine That Could.”

CCHS was competing against 19 other sites, including famed author Harper Lee’s hometown courthouse in Monroeville, Ala., and the home of the first female African-American doctor in Denver.