Collections Storage Planning for the Historical Natural History and Library Society of South Natick

FAIN: PG-51416-11

Historical Natural History and Library Society of South Natick (Natick, MA 01760-5542)
Jennifer H. Hance (Project Director: May 2010 to July 2012)

The purchase of preservation supplies and the hiring of a consultant to plan the move and storage of the museum's collection during exhibit renovations. The collection contains over 25,000 objects, 156 linear feet of archival records, 12,000 photographs, and 125 linear feet of printed materials documenting the history of Natick, Massachusetts, and includes artifacts from the first Praying Indian community settled by John Eliot in the 17th century, as well as other materials from the colonial, industrial, and World War eras.

The Collections Storage Planning project will enable the Natick Historical Society to safely pack, move and store our collections while the exhibits are under renovation and to make objects in storage more accessible to researchers. A consultant will help us acquire off-site storage, develop storage plans and procedures and train historical society staff and volunteers so that they will have the skills necessary to manage ongoing storage activities for themselves. The project will fund the purchase of supplies and fireproof storage. This project is an integral part of a mulit-year plan to reinstall its collections so that they tell the story of Natick and its people from its founding in 1651 as a Praying Indian Village, through its industrialization and transformation into a mall culture. Our project will start in February 2011 and extend through March 2012.