Preservation Assessment of Archival Collections

FAIN: PG-51493-12

Osterville Historical Museum (Osterville, MA 02655-2427)
Cynthia Hall (Project Director: May 2011 to February 2013)
Jennifer Morgan Williams (Project Director: February 2013 to October 2013)

A preservation assessment of the museum's archival collections, which number some 7,500 items and include photographs, daguerreotypes, tintypes, glass lantern slides, correspondence, ships' logs, and account books, as well as the papers of local organizations. The collections, which are housed in an 1824 sea captain's home, document the history of a coastal village in Massachusetts.

The archive collection is a chronicle of Osterville’s history.The collection consists of donated photographs, deeds, maps, account books, ship’s logs, letters, books, & postcards donated by families & individuals.The documents date from 1718-1960 showing the growth, change, and timelessness of a Massachusett's coastal village.The expanding collection speaks to the history of the emerging United States and the importance of coastal shipping, fishing, & boat building during the early years of the nation.The collection also shows the impact of railroad transportation, industrialization and urbanization, and the revitalization and economic stimulus that tourism later brought to Cape Cod.The NEH grant would enable the Osterville Historical Museum to hire a consultant from the Northeast Document Conservation Center who would perform an assessment which would provide short-term recommendations for remedial improvements and planning priorities for long-term improvements to climate control, security & fire protection.