Improvement of Preservation Quality for the Preservation Hall Archives

FAIN: PG-271842-20

Preservation Hall Foundation, Inc. (New Orleans, LA 70116-3115)
Ashley Shabankareh (Project Director: January 2020 to August 2020)
Greg Lucas (Project Director: August 2020 to July 2024)

A preservation assessment and the purchase and installation of preservation equipment and shelving for the Preservation Hall Archives, documenting the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and containing print media, audiovisual recordings, instruments, fine art, photography, and memorabilia dating from the 1960s through the 1990s. For nearly six decades, Preservation Hall has been an essential venue in New Orleans for perpetuating traditional New Orleans jazz through nearly daily live performance. The mixed collection contains original audio recordings of performances and interviews of musicians associated with Preservation Hall, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Willie Humphrey, and Sweet Emma Barrett; thousands of rare jazz memorabilia; candid photographs of musicians, including the band’s first international tour to Japan in 1963; and glass slide negatives and prints from photographer Joseph Woodson “Pops” Whitsell, who concentrated on portraiture of local debutantes, Mardi Gras royalty, and wedding parties.

The Preservation Hall Foundation seeks support for its "Improvement of Preservation Quality for the Preservation Hall Archives" project. Currently housed in the New Orleans Warehouse District and on-site at Preservation Hall, the Preservation Hall Archives are the personal collection of Preservation Hall founders Sandra and Allan Jaffe. While the Archives represent some of the most vital collections of jazz music history in the entire country, the current conditions in which they are being stored are deeply inadequate due to PHF budgetary limitations. The project will improve the quality of preservation for PHF's archive materials through the creation of a General Preservation Assessment with a 5-year work plan, and the purchase and installation of proper preservation equipment and shelving.