Rathbun Free Memorial Library Preservation Assessment Project

FAIN: PG-51159-11

Rathbun Free Memorial Library (East Haddam, CT 06423-1304)
Kathleen Marszycki (Project Director: May 2010 to July 2012)
Michael J Gilroy (Project Director: July 2012 to August 2013)

A first-ever preservation assessment of the library, which houses the collections of the East Haddam Historical Society. These 19th- and 20th-century sources include account books and ledgers from East Haddam, Connecticut, businesses; diaries, family letters, and scrapbooks created by town residents; meeting minutes of various local clubs, including the Women's Progressive Club and a local temperance society; and architectural drawings, cemetery records, and photographs, documenting the town's physical and social landscape. East Haddam, located on the Connecticut River, was for several years home to Nathan Hale and later served as a station stop for the Underground Railroad.

This project will conduct a general preservation assessment and assist the Library is formulating a long-range plan for the care and preservation of a collection of loose ephemera on permanent deposit with the Library by the local historical society.