Environmental Monitoring to Improve the Care of Collections

FAIN: PG-51204-11

Henry Sheldon Museum (Middlebury, VT 05753-1101)
Mary Towle-Hilt (Project Director: May 2010 to June 2012)
Eva Garcelon-Hart (Project Director: June 2012 to January 2013)

The purchase of equipment and training of staff to monitor environmental conditions for the museum's extensive archival and material culture collections, which document the history of Addison County, Vermont, and neighboring communities. Over its 125-year history, the museum has assembled such diverse collections as the papers of past governors, the records of local businesses and families, and the objects that tell the story of agriculture, textile manufacturing, marble quarries, and daily life in Vermont.

This grant would support the purchase of environmental monitoring equipment for the Sheldon Museum's humanities collection. The grant would also support an on site visit from a professional consultant to train the staff on how to use the equipment. The goal of the grant is to be able to efficiently and accurately track the Sheldon Museum's numerous different storage environments over a sufficient length of time, as recommended in our 2009 RECAP. The long-term goal is to use this information to apply for an environmental assessment grant.