Environmental Monitoring Equipment and Storage Materials for Historic Furniture Collection

FAIN: PG-52339-14

Brigham City Coporation (Brigham City, UT 84302-2030)
Kaia Landon (Project Director: May 2013 to October 2015)

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment and data collection tools to help Brigham City Museum-Gallery staff care for their collection of archival materials, photographs, and archaeological and historic artifacts. The collection offers researchers and museum visitors a unique glimpse into the history of Brigham City, Box Elder County, and the state of Utah. The grant would also support the purchase of material to create protective covers for a collection of early pioneer furniture, made by the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association (more commonly known as the Brigham City Co-op). Founded in 1865, the Brigham City Co-op united the city's merchants for the common interest of the community and was a model for future Mormon settlements in the state.

This project will support purchase of environmental monitoring tools, training for museum staff on preservation environments, a one-year subscription to eClimate Notebook to help museum staff interpret the data, and Tyvek to be used to create covers for the museum's collection of historic furniture. These needs were recommended as high priorities in the museum's recent Conservation Assessment, conducted by Nancy Odegaard. The museum's furniture collection preserves the history of the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, while the museum's general collection includes art, photographs, archival documents, and artifacts that tell the history of Box Elder County beginning with archaeological collections documenting pre-historic Native American habitation of the area. Because the majority of this project focuses on environmental monitoring, it will help preserve the entire collection.