Collection Care Training at Stearns County Museums

FAIN: PG-51268-11

Stearns History Museum (St. Cloud, MN 56301-3752)
Jessica Paulsen (Project Director: May 2010 to July 2011)

A four-day training workshop to teach basic collection care practices for the staff of six Stearns County-affiliated museums to be held at the Stearns History Museum and Research Center. Altogether, the six affiliates and the Research Center possess collections containing more than 23,000 household, agricultural, and recreational artifacts; 550,000 images; 1,200 linear feet of archival records; and 17,000 family histories related to the history of this part of Minnesota. Notable collection themes include author Sinclair Lewis, 19th-century European immigration, and the dairy industry.

A four day basic collection care workshop with hands-on activities will be conducted by Conservator Mary Frederickson at the Stearns History Museum and Research Center(SHMRC). Staff members and volunteers and its six affiliated museums will be instructed by Mary Frederickson in the proper techniques to examine, handle, and pack glass and wood items, paper, and photographs. Mrs. Frederickson will focus on a specific object class and have specific activities to accomplish by the end of the day. Workshop participants will take home materials, such as archival boxes, packing materials, tissue paper, acid free folders, and vendor lists. The Affiliate staffers and volunteers live in small towns of 200 to 2,000 people which are 25 to 45 miles from St. Cloud, MN. Previously for an NEH Preservation grant, Mrs. Frederickson visited each Affiliate and knows the collections' issues. The Affiliates have asked that she provide more training.