Collection Care: Archives of the H. H. Brimley Memorial Library
FAIN: PG-263537-19
Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC 27611-6928)
Margaret Cotrufo (Project Director: May 2018 to March 2021)
The purchase of preservation supplies for the
archives of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The archives
comprise 4155 items, most of them from the administrations of the first two
museum directors, H.H. Brimley (1895-1936) and Harry Davis (1937-1966). As part
of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, the museum represented the
state at the World’s Fair and the Cotton States and International Exposition in
Atlanta; many of its archival records are connected to these activities. Other items
in the collection reflect the museum’s involvement with community organizations,
such as Boy Scouts, the Carolina Bird Club, and the North Carolina Academy of
Sciences. Grant funds would support the purchase of items recommended in a 2017
conservation assessment, including archival supplies, a fireproof cabinet,
environmental data loggers and software, and a HEPA vacuum.
The NEH Preservation Grant will
support the acquisition of supplies and tools to improve collections care of
the archives of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, housed in the H.
H. Brimley Memorial Library. Founded in 1879, the North Carolina Museum of
Natural Sciences now finds itself at the forefront of natural science museum
research and programing in the United States. The museum field is undergoing
profound social and political change, and using the archives and historical
collections of the institution affords a unique and engaging way to provide
context and continuity as we pursue our mission illuminate the natural world
and inspire its conservation. The archives include artifacts, paintings,
illustrations, correspondence, receipts, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs,
and a few small private collections.