Fort Hill National Historic Landmark Historic House Museum Improving Collections Conservation Project

FAIN: PG-280823-21

Clemson University (Clemson, SC 29634-0001)
William Hiott (Project Director: January 2021 to September 2023)

The purchase of preservation equipment and supplies for storage and preventive conservation initiatives, including dataloggers, which are necessary for accreditation with the American Alliance of Museums. The project would be guided by recommendations from a 2019 Conservation Assessment for Preservation collection survey and a 2018 Museum Assessment Program survey. The Fort Hill House Museum is a National Historic Landmark, and its collection, which comprises almost entirely artifacts of the politically influential Calhoun and Clemson families, includes approximately 1,500 items, among them a collection of Old Master and mid-nineteenth-century European artworks, furniture by prominent artisan Duncan Phyfe, political documents, personal items, books, art, decorative arts, and ephemera of nineteenth-century America documenting Calhoun’s almost forty years in political offices, as well as Clemson’s to a lesser degree. 

This grant will support the purchase of museum collections storage materials and preservation supplies that will aid in the conservation of items that are part of the permanent collection, including the purchase of ten dataloggers to be placed throughout the house museum. After a year of recording, these devices will assist DPH in determining what changes to the HVAC system are needed to develop and maintain the optimal conditions for collections storage and for the permanent historic house period room galleries. Dataloggers will determine if any mechanical changes are necessary to the METASYS system, maintained by Clemson University’s Facilities. Materials and training in the conservation complete project are from recommendations based on a Conservation Assessment for Preservation (CAP) Program collection survey performed in 2019 and a recommendation of a Museum Assessment Program (MAP) survey in 2018 are necessary for AAM Accreditation.