Preservation Assessment of the JDC Archives Artifacts and Ephemera Collection

FAIN: PG-258537-18

J.D.C. (New York, NY 10017-4014)
Linda G. Levi (Project Director: May 2017 to September 2019)

A preservation assessment of the artifacts and ephemera collection of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Archives, along with purchase of preservation supplies. The collection comprises 600 lithographs, prints, textiles, correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, posters, maps, and other items documenting the work of the JDC from its founding in 1914 to the present. Highlights include crafts made by Jewish children in orphanages in Poland sponsored by the JDC during the 1920s, as well as scrapbooks chronicling the development of an agricultural settlement for Jewish refugees in the Dominican Republic established during World War II. The assessment would be conducted by a preservation professional, joined by a graduate student in library and museum conservation.

The JDC Archives is the institutional repository of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian relief organization, founded in 1914. The JDC Archives requests NEH funds to provide expert consultation to assess the preservation needs of select items in JDC’s Artifacts and Ephemera Collection. This newly catalogued collection offers a remarkable and vital perspective on JDC’s global relief efforts, over the last century, in over 90 countries. This project will focus on a review of selected items of diverse media, especially paper-based items, which are demonstrably fragile and require expert advice to ensure their stability and accessibility for future generations of researchers. After the consultant’s recommendations have been reviewed by Archives staff, appropriate storage and preservation supplies will be purchased for the re-housing of select items.

Associated Products

JDC Archives Awarded Prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant (Blog Post)
Title: JDC Archives Awarded Prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant
Author: Abra Cohen
Abstract: The JDC Archives was recently awarded a 2017 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will fund a preservation assessment of its Artifacts and Ephemera Collection by an expert consultant and the purchase of preservation supplies. When curating the JDC’s centennial exhibit at the New York Historical Society in 2014, it became clear that the presence of artifacts and ephemera in the exhibition helped immensely to illustrate and bring to life JDC’s efforts and impact over the years. This exhibition was the catalyst for the establishment of the Artifacts and Ephemera Collection, which today contains over 750 works ranging from posters and illuminated records to precious artwork and gifts from Jewish communities around the world. However, due to the fragility of rare items received from survivors and other aid recipients over the past century, it is critical to now take steps to preserve this historical record. This grant will enable the JDC Archives to maintain effective stewardship of this newly catalogued collection and render it accessible to researchers and curators around the world.
Date: 02/01/2018
Primary URL: http://archives.jdc.org/jdc-archives-awarded-neh-grant/
Primary URL Description: Link to the blogpost.
Secondary URL: http://archives.jdc.org
Secondary URL Description: Link to the website on which the blog is posted.
Website: JDC Archives

How a Recent Grant Helped Uncover a Rare Artifact's Provenance (Blog Post)
Title: How a Recent Grant Helped Uncover a Rare Artifact's Provenance
Author: Abra Cohen
Abstract: The JDC Archives was honored to receive a 2017 preservation assistance grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant funded a preservation assessment of our Artifacts and Ephemera Collection by an expert consultant, and the purchase of preservation supplies. The grant also unexpectedly led to the discovery of new information pertaining to the past life of materials.Through the detailed examination of a rare album created in the British detention camps on Cyprus, the project helped us in a unique way to understand artifact provenance.
Date: 09/25/2019
Primary URL: http://https://archives.jdc.org/how-a-recent-grant-helped-uncover-a-rare-artifacts-provenance/
Primary URL Description: The link to the blogpost.
Secondary URL: http://archives.jdc.org
Secondary URL Description: The link to the website on which the blog is posted.
Website: JDC Archives

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