Preservation Assessment for Margaret Mitchell Collection

FAIN: PG-50228-08

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System (Atlanta, GA 30303-1089)
Richard Cruce (Project Director: May 2007 to September 2008)

Hiring a preservation specialist to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the 1,488 photographs, books, and other items in the Margaret Mitchell Collection and provide advice about the purchase of supplies and display methods. Two library staff would also attend a course on preservation and archival techniques.

Margaret Mitchell loved the library, thereby a fitting place for her personal collections. Her work documented life during the Civil War. This project will engage a well-matched consultant to conduct a general preservation assessment and develop a plan for preserving the collection of books, letters, photos, and personal items belonging to the late Margaret Mitchell. The collection is comprised of many items pertaining to her fame from both the book and the film, Gone With the Wind, including the typewriter used for the manuscript, her pulitizer prize, and 520 of her books, including six signed first editions and many that contain her notes in the margins as she conducted research for her book. The collection includes 477 photographs. It also contains her personal items including those related to her fame, as well as foreign language translations of Gone With the Wind. Fifty-seven items are currently displayed. All others are in nine vaults, filling 72 cubic feet of space.