Preservation Supplies for the Museum of disABILITY History

FAIN: PG-51988-13

People, Inc. (Williamsville, NY 14221-3230)
Theresa Fraser (Project Director: May 2012 to March 2014)
Douglas Farley (Project Director: March 2014 to September 2014)

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment, light filters, and other preservation supplies for a collection related to the history of the disabled from the early 19th century to the present. The museum contains a wide variety of materials related to the history of disability and the care and treatment of the disabled: books (1,719), photographs (560), videos (154), artifacts (356), and documentary materials (3,278). Among its holding are records of hospitals, training schools, asylums, and poorhouses to which individuals with disabilities were sent, including Camp Cornplanter in Pennsylvania--the first summer residential camp for the disabled in North America.

The Museum of disABILITY History (ModH), will purchase equipment and supplies to implement recommendations made in a general conservation assessment completed in 2011, namely purchasing: additional data loggers to track environmental conditions in potential and newly allocated collection processing and storage spaces; a light meter, UV shades and UV blocking film to protect collection items from light damage; a HEPA vacuum for collection processing and maintenance; and water detectors to guard against water damage to collection materials. As the nation's first and only physical museum documenting: the story of disability, changing societal attitudes toward disability, care and treatment of persons with disabilities, the rise of the disability rights movement, and the achievements and accomplishments of an often neglected segment of society; preservation of the collection of the ModH is a significant concern to the humanities.