Earthquake Mitigation Assistance

FAIN: PG-51033-10

Marin History Museum (San Rafael, CA 94901-2907)
Dawn Laurant (Project Director: May 2009 to June 2012)
Michelle Sarjeant Kaufman (Project Director: June 2012 to July 2012)

The hiring of a consultant and the purchase of supplies to prepare the staff of the museum to protect the collection from the effects of earthquakes. The museum's holdings focus mainly on the history and culture of Marin County in the 19th and 20th centuries. They include a wide range of historic objects, some 45,000 photographs of Northern California, along with books, phone directories, newspapers, family papers, and business and school records.

This grant will help preserve the Marin History Museum's permanent collections, which are stored in the Museum's new Collections and Research Facility. The permanent collection is divided into three parts: Artifacts (15%), Photographs (60%) and Library Archives (15%). These three collections represent the cultural and historical experiences of the people, communities and land use of Marin County, past and present. The collections' scope is representative of the many phases of Marin's social, political and cultural development. They contain utilitarian items such as furniture, tools, household objects and clothing as well as fine art pieces such as maps and paintings. The collections strongly emphasize Marin County in the 19th and 20th centuries; the Museum also holds items related to the Spanish Mission period, the Mexican Land Grants era, as well as contemporary pieces. Objects in the collection are maintained for their historical relevance and educational and research value.