Purchasing a Museum Storage Cabinet to House 1920s Beaded Dresses and Costume Accessories

FAIN: PG-50422-08

American Textile History Museum (Lowell, MA 01854)
Karen Herbaugh (Project Director: May 2007 to December 2009)

The purchase of cabinetry to store costumes and accessories from a collectin that focuses on the history of textile production and use in the United States from the 18th century to the present and that also includes textile-making tools and machinery, household textiles, and decorative arts.

This project is a continuation of American Textile History Museum's (ATHM) long-term objective of providing appropriate storage for all clothing and accessories, ensuring preservation of the museum's costume collection. ATHM will use the grant funds to purchase a 27-drawer museum storage cabinet that will provide housing for objects that currently have no permanent storage or that have inadequate storage. The drawer storage will be used to house 17 fragile 1920s beaded dresses, thus eliminating the unnecessary handling that occurs when multiple pieces are stored in boxes. The remaining ten drawers will be used to house 20 collapsible hoops that currently have no appropriate storage. All objects will be cataloged and photographed as they are put into storage and the information will be up-loaded to the museum's online Chace catalog, making the collection available to a wider audience.