Andrew County Museum Archival Preservation Supplies

FAIN: PG-50685-09

Andrew County Museum (Savannah, MO 64485-1278)
John M. Emery (Project Director: May 2008 to September 2010)
Jessica Rezac (Project Director: September 2010 to October 2010)

The purchase of preservation supplies to rehouse 100 glass plate negatives, 2,000 photographs, and 120 photograph albums and scrapbooks, dating from 1841 and documenting the history and culture of this rural Missouri county.

The grant will support a project to purchase archival materials for preserving, organizing, and storing the Andrew County Museum's historical photography collection. A previous NEH grant funded a consultation by a conservator who established priorities for the preservation of the collection with a goal of preventing further damage of the materials and to make them accessible as historical records for research by museum staff and the public. The collection consists of several thousand photographs dating from 1841 to the present. Preservation of the collection is essential to the museum's mission to preserve the history of ordinary rural life in the county. The collection will be the cornerstone of the museum's shift in focus from displaying legacy collections to a new permanent place-based history exhibit which will feature artifacts donated by county residents. The museum's collections are used for permanent and changing exhibits, educational activities, and genealogical research.