Preserving and Protecting the Collection Records of the University New Mexico Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

FAIN: PG-266651-19

University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM 87106-3837)
Carla Sinopoli (Project Director: January 2019 to March 2022)

The purchase of cabinetry and preservation supplies for the accession, loan, and donor records associated with archaeological, ethnographic, osteological, and archival collections at the museum that document the long history of human occupation in the American Southwest. The collections are used in exhibits, university teaching, K-12 outreach, community engagement, and scholarly research, and the documentation of their accessions is contained in 6,136 separate files, which contain correspondence, deeds of gift, inventories, condition reports, and photographs.

This proposal requests support to acquire fireproof filing cabinets and supplies to rehouse the irreplaceable accession and loan records associated with the object collections of the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. With more than 3 million objects acquired through systematic anthropological research and donation, the Maxwell Museum curates irreplaceable archaeological, ethnographic, osteological and archival collections that constitute a critical resource for humanities scholarship on the indigenous people of the North American Southwest. Other collections support teaching, research and public engagement on the global human story from 2 million years ago until the present. The original accession and donor records provide essential information on and context for the collections; here, we request support to ensure that these records are stored in secure archival conditions that will ensure their preservation for future generations.