Preservation Assessment and Training for Victoria Regional History Center

FAIN: PG-52226-14

Victoria College (Victoria, TX 77901-4442)
Sheron Barnes (Project Director: May 2013 to February 2016)

A preservation assessment, staff training, and the purchase of archival supplies for the library's collection of books, maps, photographs, manuscripts, and records documenting the history of Victoria and the mid-Gulf Coast region of Texas. The library serves two institutions of higher education, housing administrative records, yearbooks, scrapbooks, and campus newspapers for both Victoria College and the University of Houston at Victoria. In addition, collections documenting the city of Victoria-called the "Golden Crescent" for its position as regional hub for seven counties-include government records, historic photographs of ranching culture and immigrant settlement, reports of archaeological excavations, architectural records, and other materials documenting the business and everyday life of Victoria and the surrounding area.

The Victoria Regional History Center (VRHC) preserves and provides access to historically valuable records of the academic institutions on campus, as well as those records that document the history of Victoria and the mid-Gulf Coast region of Texas. The library's extensive collections of books, maps, and other published materials, as well as photographs, manuscripts, county records, business and association records, and non-print media support the curricula of the Victoria College and University of Houston-Victoria and serve local, state, and national scholars, historians, genealogists and lifelong learners. The grant from NEH would support a professional consultant's preservation assessment of the collections held by the VRHC and provide staff with necessary training and supplies. The assessment would be the foundation of a long-range preservation plan for the care and sustainability of the library's collections.

Media Coverage

Grant assists VC/UHV Library in preserving historic documents (Media Coverage)
Author(s): [no author]
Publication: Victoria Advocate
Date: 4/9/2014
Abstract: A $6,000 grant is being used to launch a long-term preservation plan for books, maps, drawings, photos and other historical material. The Victoria Regional History Center at the VC/UHV Library received the grant in January 2014 from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will fund an on-site survey by a preservation consultant and some preservation supplies. Sheron Barnes decided to seek NEH funding after the center acquired more than 500 architectural drawings by Victoria architect Jules Leffland.
URL: http://mypub.org/barness