Improving the Storage of Historic Collections

FAIN: PG-50487-09

Rochester General Hospital (Rochester, NY 14621-3011)
Kathleen Britton (Project Director: May 2008 to October 2010)

The purchase of supplies and equipment to monitor the collections' environment and rehouse the archives, consisting of 881.5 linear feet of documents, 50,000 images, 5,000 items of material culture, and 730 costumes that date from 1847 to the present.

The ViaHealth Archives Consortium, which is associated with Rochester General Hospital, is requesting a grant to support the implementation of collection care suggestions made in a September 2007 Conservation Assessment Program Survey which was sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by Heritage Preservation. Based on short and medium range recommendations made in the Executive Summary of the survey report, VAC will use this grant to purchase the supplies and equipment necessary to improve the monitoring of temperature and relative humidity levels, lessen UV light levels in both display and storage areas, rehouse pieces in our material culture and costume collections and improve housekeeping.