Preservation Supplies for Enhanced Collections Care at the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection

FAIN: PG-280670-21

University of Wisconsin, Madison (Madison, WI 53715-1218)
Sarah Anne Carter (Project Director: January 2021 to April 2023)

The purchase of preservation supplies and storage hardware recommended by a Collections Assessment for Preservation report developed for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC) in 2017. The collection began with 4,000 textiles collected by Helen Louise Allen, a professor of weaving and textile cultures for more than forty years at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The collection represents 2,600 years of textile history from 108 countries. The oldest objects in HLATC are six ancient Peruvian fragments woven circa the second century BCE, while the newest objects are face masks collected in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant would help HLATC reduce or eliminate unnecessary environmental stressors on its delicate textile artifacts and prepare for emergency situations. This includes purchasing UV filters for the research room and classroom, removing and replacing non-archival plywood shelving with new archival storage cabinets, and purchasing supplies for emergency preparedness kits.

This grant would support the purchase of preservation supplies and storage hardware recommended by a Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) report developed for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC) in 2017. The activities outlined in this application will allow HLATC to reduce or eliminate unnecessary environmental stressors on its delicate textile artifacts and prepare for emergency situations.