Highland Archive Preservation 2020

FAIN: PG-271807-20

Highland Community College (Highland, KS 66035-4165)
Cindy Lee Davis (Project Director: January 2020 to March 2022)

Professional training for staff in artifact handling and storage, integrated pest management, and the use of environmental monitoring equipment.  Funds would also support the purchase of equipment and preservation supplies for cleaning and rehousing the college’s 420 linear feet of archival materials documenting the history of the college, which was founded in 1858 by Samuel Irvin.  Irvin had established a Presbyterian mission in the area some years earlier, and because the college was built on land ceded by the Ioway Nation, its early records are important to the history of the region, as well as to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska and the Sac and Fox Tribe.  The college has prioritized public access to the records dated from 1858 to 1889, and the application responds to NEH’s “More Perfect Union” initiative with plans to preserve foundational documents in United States history, such as the college’s 1859 land grant signed by President James Buchanan.

The goal of this project is to preserve historical documents relating to Highland Community College (HCC), the community of Northeast Kansas, and the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. Artifacts have been “lost” for decades, deteriorating. Finding the 1859 Land Grant, which mentions the Iowa Tribe, led HCC to contact Alan Kelley of the Iowa Tribe. Conversations with Alan, then Executive Committee Vice-Chair of the Tribe, and Lance Foster current Executive Committee Vice-Chair led to the insight of the interconnections of the Iowa Tribe, the Highland Mission, and HCC. Both parties realize the historical documents need preserving for future generations. This project will enable HCC to purchase archival storage systems, equipment, and supplies to properly protect and preserve this archive of historical documents.