Anthropology Collection Storage Improvement and Sustainability Planning for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

FAIN: PF-50260-12

Carnegie Institute (Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4007)
Sandra Lynn Olsen (Project Director: December 2011 to February 2014)

A planning project for improved storage and environmental controls in the museum's annex building, which houses a large anthropological and ethnological collection representing North, Central, and South American cultures, as well as those of Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

The Section of Anthropology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History possesses one of the world's outstanding collections. With more than 1.6 million archaeological and ethnological objects representing most of the continents, this collection deserves the best preventive conservation and storage possible. The Anthropology collections currently suffer from overcrowding and are intermingled with other areas and decentralized. The overcrowding puts existing collections at risk, makes it more cumbersome to use them, and limits acquisition of new objects. In order to implement more efficient space usage and improve collection care, it is imperative to begin planning improvements. CMNH Anthropology is already strongly committed to sustainable practices, but also understands that every organization and department can introduce additional improvements. This planning grant will enable investigation of methods to further increase sustainability at our facility.