Preservation Assessment for Genealogy, Local History, and Image Collections.

FAIN: PA-51669-06

Forbes Library (Northampton, MA 01060-3713)
Janet G. Moulding (Project Director: May 2005 to present)

A general preservation assessment of local, genealogical, and photographic collections related to the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts from the 19th through the 20th century.

This conservation assessment will focus on a subset of our Special Collections—namely, the Genealogy Collection, the Hampshire Room which deals with local history, and the Special Collections Room which houses the Image Collection. These collections comprise several thousand individual objects relevant to local history ranging from the handwritten Civil War diary of Seth Pomeroy, records from town offices, stereographic images of the Williamsburg Flood, tens of thousands of photographic images, and extensive genealogy resources of Hampshire County and the region. It is essential that we take this fist step to preserving these invaluable resources.