Artifact Preservation Assessment and Training

FAIN: PG-51185-11

Holocaust Center for Humanity (Seattle, WA 98121-2205)
Delila Simon (Project Director: May 2010 to February 2013)

Hiring a consultant to conduct a preservation assessment of the center's Holocaust collection contributed by survivors living in the Pacific Northwest. The collection contains 7,000 photographs, 2,000 archival documents, drawings, diaries, and 5,000 objects from the National Socialist era.

The project has two main components, assessment and training. The first activity will be an overall preservation assessment of the collections by a professional preservation consultant. The consultant will also develop a prioritized set of recommendations for improving and managing the collections environment and for a collections management policy. The second activity the grant will support is a 1-day training workshop for Center staff, volunteers, and the Board of Directors on how to properly handle and store the artifacts while they are being registered and accessioned. This will ensure that no damage is done to the collection. The third activity will provide support for two in-house archivists to attend a 2-day workshop offered by the Association of Holocaust Organizations for Holocaust museum professionals in June of 2011. This program will train the two primary staff archivists in the proper preservation techniques and sensitivity related to Holocaust era artifacts.