Preserving and Providing Access to the Maynard L. Parker Photographic and Manuscript Collection

FAIN: PC-50096-07

Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (San Marino, CA 91108-1299)
Jennifer A. Watts (Project Director: July 2006 to August 2011)

Arrangement and description of 90 linear feet of archives, including 80,000 photographs, correspondence, and business records created by Maynard L. Parker (1900-96), noted photographer of American architecture and landscapes. The project would also digitize a selection of 5,000 photographs for mounting on the Internet.

The Huntington Library is requesting two years of NEH funding to arrange, describe, and preserve the Maynard L. Parker Photographic Achive. At project's end, the 90 linear feet of material, including 80,000 film negatives and transparencies, photographs, business records, and correspondence, will be physically and intellectually arranged according to archival best practices and standards; a collection-level MARC record will be available in national and local online catalogs; an EAD finding aid will be searchable through the Huntington's online catalog and the Online Archive of California (OAC); and 5,000 high-demand and research rich images will be digitized and available online in a database accessible through the Huntington's website and the OAC. The following proposal describes the archive's profound research significance and the increased demand for its use compelling the Huntington to seek a solution to its limited physical and intellectual access.