The Chickasaw Nation's Preservation Assistance for Smaller Institutions

FAIN: PG-280658-21

Chickasaw Nation (Ada, OK 74821-1548)
Amanda Hudson (Project Director: January 2021 to April 2025)

Purchase of preservation supplies and staff training for an archival collection of 626 cubic feet of governors’ papers, newspapers, photographs and negatives, rare books, audiovisual materials, electronic records, and other materials documenting Chickasaw history and culture. Highlights of the collection include the personal papers, diaries, and other documents of former Chickasaw governors, including Cyrus Harris, appointed in 1850 the first governor of the Chickasaw Nation, and Douglas H. Johnston, who in 1906 became the first governor appointed by a U.S. president; correspondence of and oral stories performed by Chickasaw storyteller Te Ata (Mary Frances Thompson); nineteenth-century Chickasaw rolls, chattel mortgages, and census records; and historic maps. The collection has been used to produce books published by the Chickasaw Press; periodicals such as the Ishtannowa (formerly the Journal of Chickasaw History and Culture), Chickasaw Times, and Chokma magazine; public programming; and curricula and research projects representing the Chickasaw Nation.

The Chickasaw Nation is requesting funds through the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grant. Specifically, these monies will be used to purchase needed supplies to properly house the significant cultural and historical records of the Chickasaw Nation and the Chickasaw people housed in the Archives of the Holisso: Center for Study of Chickasaw History and Culture on the campus of the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Grant funds will be used to purchase archival supplies and updated environmental monitoring equipment such as acid-free, archival boxes, folders, sleeves, HOBO dataloggers, gloves and other materials to properly rehouse and preserve the Chickasaw Nation archival collections. Lastly, funds will be used to provide virtual training in the proper preservation and care of archival materials for the staff working with the Chickasaw Nation Archives.