Mashantucket Project -- Preserving Our Collections: A Needs Assessment

FAIN: PG-280820-21

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (Mashantucket, CT 06338-3804)
Kimberly Hatcher-White (Project Director: January 2021 to June 2022)
Roberta Charpentier (Project Director: June 2022 to November 2022)
Kimberly Hatcher-White (Project Director: November 2022 to March 2024)

A preservation needs assessment, the purchase of preservation supplies, and staff training for improving the stewardship of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center’s (MPMRC) archival and special collections, including manuscripts, rare books, maps, broadsides, pamphlets, photographs, engravings, and audiovisual materials. The collection focuses on the Indigenous people of southern New England, and among the notable items are a first-edition (1663) and second-edition (1685) copy of the Eliot Bible, translated from English to the Massachusett language (Wampanoag) by the English missionary Reverend John Eliot, which marks the first phonetic representation of the Algonquian language subfamily. Also included in the collection are 3,273 archaeological and ethnographic objects, such as 500 ash splint baskets from New England and New York dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. These collections serve Native Americans from the Eastern Woodlands, researchers, Mashantucket Pequot tribal members, and curriculum developers for Connecticut schools.

1) Enrollment in and purchase of accompanying workbook for participation in the AASLH Standards & Excellence Program for History Museums (STEPS). 2) Funds for the Collections Manager/Registrar (Project Director) and Museum Volunteer/Participant to take a five-week The Basics of Archives online course offered by the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) that will ensure there is more than one qualified staff member on hand to ensure continued preservation, security and access to the MPMRC archives & special collections. 3) Hire a Conservator for two full days to conduct a needs assessment of the museum's archives & special collections and object collections. 4) Provide a stipend for the museum Volunteer/Participant who is familiar with the archives and special collections to assist the Conservator and Project Director during the two-day assessment. 5) Purchase basic archival quality supplies. 6) Support costs (payroll) for the Project Director working on the project.