Tauck gave a pair of $25,000 grants respectively to the Mark Twain House and Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center as part of the tour operator’s “World of Giving” corporate philanthropy initiative. Tauck is including a visit to the authors’ houses in a new version of a tour of New England designed with the filmmaker Ken Burns as part of the Ken Burns American Journeys series.

“The Mark Twain House and Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center feature prominently in our new ‘Hidden Gems of New England’ tour, and they’re both true cultural gems that are deserving of our support,” said Tauck President Jennifer Tombaugh. The grants will be used to help fund an upcoming special exhibition about the Gilded Age at the Mark Twain House and Museum, and to help underwrite a redesign of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center’s website.

Tauck has incorporated giveback programs for sites it uses on its tours for many years and has provided support for national parks, cultural sites and historic locations, including Grand Teton National Park, Plimoth Plantation, Ellis Island and Boston’s Old North Church. The company also promotes volunteerism to employees and customers through a National Parks program that has been recognized by both the White House and the U.S. Interior Department.