Global Textiles Storage Assessment in University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Historic Costume and Textile Collection

FAIN: PG-280714-21

University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Lincoln, NE 68503-2427)
Mary Alice Casto (Project Director: January 2021 to November 2023)

An assessment of the storage and general preservation needs of the University of Nebraska’s Historic Costume and Textile Collection (HCTC), as well as training on the care of historic textiles and dress for forty attendees including faculty, staff, and students, as well as staff and volunteers from local museums. The HCTC holds more than 6,000 artifacts. Approximately 4,000 items are primarily nineteenth- and twentieth-century Western dress, documenting the rise of the American textile and garment industry in this time. Global textiles and international dress comprise the approximately 2,000 remaining artifacts and include items from the United States; Europe; East, South, Southeast, and Central Asia; Central and South America; the Indian Subcontinent; the Middle East; and Africa. The collection also includes ephemera and non-textile historic artifacts related to fashion, dress, and textiles, such as primary source periodicals, images, and costumed dolls. Through this collection, the HCTC provides opportunities for study of global textile traditions and cultures.

The grant will fund an expert assessment of the current storage and conservation needs of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design’s (TMFD) Historic Costume and Textile Collection (HCTC) which serves to preserve, study, and communicate both the ordinary and extraordinary material culture of cloth and clothing through teaching, research and outreach. The assessment will provide recommendations for the layout and remodeling of a separate room for the use and storage of the flat textile portion of the HCTC collection plus advice as to how to best use the space in the current storage area. Funds will also pay for a one-day training workshop proper handling and use of artifacts for teaching, research and exhibitions which will be available for TMFD students and faculty as well as the staff of local museums.