A generous gift to the National Trust in 2022 established and endowed the Marder-Vaughn Center for Historic Sites Interpretation and Education at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  This gift was made by Stanley and Joanne Marder, long-time supporters of the National Trust and particularly our historic sites, their daughter Stephanie Vaughn, and her husband James. The mission of the Center is to fund opportunities for young people to critically engage with our nation’s history, arts, and culture through the National Trust’s historic sites in order to become more active and thoughtful citizens and community members.

Through grant making to National Trust Historic Sites, the Marder-Vaughn Center promotes a more concrete understanding of our shared civic values. The Center provides greater context and support across the National Trust 28 Historic Sites, focusing on the development of civics-focused, highly experiential programming that centers the educational, social and emotional needs of children and young adults while engaging with the staff of the National Trust's Historic Sites. It also creates and disseminates digital resources and national models for other historic sites across the country and around the globe to follow, facilitating exchanges of best practices.

The Marder-Vaughn Center funds the Marder-Vaughn Teachers-in-Residence at National Trust Historic Sites program. Dr. Samantha Averett, former Teacher-in-Residence at the Woodrow Wilson House, created several middle and high school-level lesson plans based on civics and social studies. Dr. Averett is a civics teacher in Washington, D.C.