Preserving Our History for Tomorrow: Preservation Supplies for Special Collections

FAIN: PG-51470-11

St. Gregory's University (Shawnee, OK 74804-2403)
Benet Exton (Project Director: May 2010 to August 2013)

The purchase of preservation supplies to extend the life of a collection of books, maps, and records housed in the James J. Kelly Library. The collection parallels the history of the university, which was founded in 1875 as a monastery that taught Native Americans in what was then Indian Territory. The collection includes works on philosophy and religion, music and fine arts, and language and literature, as well as a collection of 18th- and 19th-century books on and translated into Native American languages.

This project will institute the essential recommendations made in a preservation assessment funded by an NEH Grant in 2006. The project will allow St. Gregory's to block the sunlight and provide proper shelving for approximately 4,000 items. This is vital to their preservation and to allow them to remain available for members of the University and general community that wish to utilize them.