Large Format Works on Paper: Upgrading Care

FAIN: PG-51377-11

Framingham Historical Society (Framingham, MA 01701-3399)
Dana Dauterman Ricciardi (Project Director: May 2010 to January 2012)

The purchase of storage furniture, supplies, and training for staff to rehouse 200 large-format works on paper documenting the history of Framingham. Highlights of the collection include 17th-century land ownership records, documents detailing the involvement of Framingham citizens in the Revolutionary War, and photographs of the changing landscape, peoples, and industries of the town from the late 19th century to the present. Improved access to these materials would increase their use in regular exhibitions and public programs.

The grant will support the purchase of furniture and preservation storage supplies to rehouse 200 large-format works on paper in the collection of the Framingham History Center (FHC). The grant will also cover consultant fees for paper conservator Kathryn Myatt Carey to train the staff and volunteers in best practices for unframing works on paper and improving crowded storage conditions. Two five-drawer flat files will be purchased. The goal of the project is to improve storage conditions for large works on paper, and to enable the staff to give the same care to items added to the collection now and in the future. The activities and goals of the project are based on recommendations made in a Conservation Assessment and MAP II in the 1990s, and during a recent visit by paper conservator Kathryn Myatt Carey.