Michael Gonzalez, a former Archaeology Camp director at the Glebe House, will coordinate a core of youth volunteers assisting in the research of Stephen Bartkus, in an archaeological survey of the grounds of the Glebe House Museum.

Students in eighth grade through high school from any local middle or high school are encouraged to apply.

Additional information and applications for volunteers are available by calling the Glebe House Museum at 203-263-2855. The volunteer training will begin March 1.

The Waterbury Foundation grant augments a grant previously awarded the Glebe House by the Connecticut Humanities Council to fund Stephen Bartkus, candidate for master's degree at University of Massachusetts, Boston.

His survey will assist staff at the Glebe House in presenting a more comprehensive picture of life at the Glebe House throughout its history, with a particular emphasis on the first half of the 19th century, when a silversmith and metal worker named Gideon Botsford lived and worked at the house.

Volunteer assistance is a key component of this project. Stephen Bartkus has directed the summer archaeology camp at the Glebe House Museum for two seasons.

He developed an interest in using the Glebe House site as his thesis project after the first season. During the summer of 2003, he and Michael Gonzalez, co-director with Steve of the Archaeology Camp, led a number of middle and high school students through the process of excavating, mapping and documenting a series of small excavation units.

This was a preliminary step in identifying areas that are likely to reveal information about the lives of past residents at the Glebe House.

These excavations build on work done by Yale University in the 1980s. The volunteer program will replace the Archaeology Camp.

The Glebe House, built around 1750, was sold in 1771 to James Masters, then Woodbury's wealthiest resident. He purchased the house and 13 acres for a "glebe," or farm for the newly settled priest of the local Episcopal parish, John Marshall.

The Rev. Marshall lived here for 15 years with his wife, their nine children and two or three slaves.

In 1786, the property was sold, and a metalsmith named Gideon Botsford lived and worked here for the next 66 years.

The Yale excavations uncovered a great deal of material relating to the Botsford metal working; now the hope is to also find evidence of other activities on the property.

An upstairs chamber in the Glebe House Museum, redecorated by Mr. Botsford about 1800, will eventually be refurbished to provide more information about the 19th-century history of the property, based on the information uncovered by both the Yale excavations and Mr. Bartkus' work.

The Waterbury Foundation, the community foundation for the Central Naugatuck Valley and Litchfield Hills, provides grants to non-profit organizations.

The Waterbury Foundation serves 21 towns in Connecticut, including Woodbury.

The Connecticut Humanities Council is a public foundation located in Middletown, that produces and funds public programs in history, literature, civic issues and other areas of the humanities.

The CHC's lead grant line, called the Cultural Heritage Development Fund, awards $820,000 annually to historical societies and other heritage organizations that illuminate the state's heritage.

Its own programs include "Time for Ideas in Libraries," a literature discussion program for adults, families and children, and "The Connecticut Experience," a documentary series co-produced by Connecticut Public Television that explores the state's unique character and identity.

Each year, more than 600,000 people take part in projects sponsored by or supported through the CHC.

The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden is an historic house museum that commemorates the election of the first American Episcopal bishop in 1783, an event that separated the American Church from the state-governed Church of England, thus making the separation of Church and State a reality for the first time.

The house was opened to the public in 1925. In 1926, the Gertrude Jekyll Garden was commissioned for the house, although the plans were not executed until 1990, after being rediscovered by a graduate student.

The house is open to the public from April through November and by appointment. Educational programs for all ages are offered throughout the year.

Those seeking additional information may call the Glebe House Museum, 203-263-2855 or visit www.theglebehouse.org.