Preserving Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens' Humanities Collections: Purchasing Environmental Monitoring Equipment

FAIN: PG-50324-08

Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, Inc. (Akron, OH 44303)
Sylvia Schweri (Project Director: May 2007 to November 2009)
Jennifer Ferone (Project Director: November 2009 to March 2010)

The purchase of equipment for monitoring environmental conditions in Stan Hywet Hall, a National Historic Landmark Tudor Revival house, which contains 95 percent of the furniture, decorative arts, household goods, photographs, and works on paper that belonged to the Seiberling family, co-founders of Goodyear Tire. Through tours of the furnished house museum, visitors learn about Akron's history in the early twentieth century.

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and interpretation of the Frank A. Seiberling family legacy. Seiberling co-founded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1898; Goodyear became the world's largest tire company in 1916 and Akron became a boomtown. Built between 1912 and 1915, Stan Hywet was the Seiberlings' home. Seiberling's heirs gifted the estate and its contents to the community in 1957; our collection is a trove of unique antiques, textiles and furnishings that represent the lifestyle of a successful American Gilded Age entrepreneur and his family. However, this priceless collection is at risk due to less-than-ideal storage/environmental conditions. This project addresses the critical need to purchase and install electronic dataloggers and light meters so our conservator can properly record and manage temperature, relative humidity and visible and UV light levels to preserve the collection for future generations to study and enjoy.