Creating a Collections Endowment for the Chemical Heritage Foundation

FAIN: CH-50821-11

Science History Institute (Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702)
Ronald Brashear (Project Director: May 2010 to October 2014)

Endowment for acquisition and preservation of collections.

The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) requests an NEH grant in the amount of $600,000 to create a $2.4 million endowment for collections that will generate an annual income of $120,000. This income will fund the acquisition and preservation of historical materials related to the history of chemistry and related sciences, technologies, and industries. CHF already possesses unmatched collections in this area -- including art, artifacts, archives, photographs, rare books, oral histories, journals, and other printed materials. An endowment for collections will enable CHF to systematically purchase or otherwise obtain materials that anticipate future trends in historical research: specifically, pre-1875 printed books and journals, the personal papers of current scientists, and the archives of science-based corporations and organizations. This will benefit the humanities by gathering historical materials that comprehensively reflect the evolution of understanding of the material world.