Preservation Survey for the Lysander and Susan Flagg Museum of Central Falls History

FAIN: PG-50027-07

City of Central Falls (Central Falls, RI 02863-2838)
Laura Marlane (Project Director: May 2006 to December 2007)

Hiring a consultant to conduct a general preservation assessment of collections housed in a Victorian-style historic house museum. The collections of the museum include letters, newspapers, scrap books, and photographs; military uniforms, medals, buttons, ribbons, and weapons; and 12 oil paintings by a local artist. Significant among the collections are 3 World War I recruitment posters and the Atlas of Union and Confederate Armies, consisting of 19" x 29" plates.

The Central Falls Free Public Library, managers of the Lysander and Susan Flagg Museum, requests $5000 to enlist the expertise of a field service representative from the Northeast Document Conservation Center to conduct a preservation survey of our facility. This 111-year-old Victorian-style home was purchased by the library in 1997. It currently houses a collection of approximately 2500 images; 50 cubic boxes of print materials (including letters, scrapbooks, and personal papers); and 500 objects (such as police badges, ship models, toys, military uniforms, etc.) all relating to the history of the City of Central Falls and its residents. By determining the preservation needs of our facility, we will be better able to stabilize and catalog these items and make them available to a wider audience in digital form through our website.