Robert Louis Stevenson Museum Disaster Preparedness

FAIN: PG-52067-13

Vailima Foundation (St. Helena, CA 94574-1143)
Marissa Schleicher (Project Director: May 2012 to October 2014)

The purchase of preservation supplies for the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, which possesses nearly 11,000 items related to the author, his family and friends, and his writings. Among the items in the collection are over 400 letters; 16 family scrapbooks; original manuscripts; notes; a library of books personally owned by Stevenson or his family; photographs; and a fine art collection of prints, paintings, sculpture, and drawings. In addition, the museum owns nearly 100 physical items that once belonged to the author and his family, including furniture, childhood toys, jewelry, clothing, and decorative arts. The applicant would purchase temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet light monitors, collection contamination mitigators such as a DataVac Vacuum, and basic disaster supplies.

The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum (RLSM) would use the funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grant to further our goal of implementing preventative preservation practices in accord with recognized standards. The grant would fund our preservation priority to purchase disaster preparedness, environmental monitoring, and contaminant mitigation supplies.