Assessment of Museum & Library Collections

FAIN: PG-52386-15

Antiochian Village (Bolivar, PA 15923-2512)
Julia Hilgard Ritter (Project Director: May 2014 to September 2016)

A general preservation assessment of the Antiochian Heritage Museum and Library’s collections of early Arabic books, records, and correspondence, as well as over 750 artifacts, including religious icons dating from the 12th through the 20th centuries, representing Russian, Greek, Syrian, and other Eastern Orthodox traditions.  Primarily used by scholars, the collection offers unique items, including original hand-written letters between renowned poet and artist, Kahlil Gibran, and Metropolitan Anthony Bashir, who was then Archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the United States, and who translated Gibran’s writings, including his most famous work, The Prophet, into Arabic.

A general preservation assessment for the Antiochian Heritage Museum & Library will help ensure the long-term preservation of its unique collections, which celebrate the artistic, literary, spiritual and cultural heritage of Syria, Lebanon and the Holy Land, and the Arab American experience. The project’s goal is to assess policies, practices, and conditions affecting the collection’s long-term preservation, including the storage and display of icons and artifacts dating from the 12th through 20th centuries, as well as textiles, household objects, musical instruments, jewelry, engravings, photographs, letters, recordings, and books and periodicals in Arabic which were published in the U.S. by authors of the early 20th century Arabic literary movement. Our museum attracts the general public, while our library resources are of high research value to scholars of Arab American history, early Christian history, and Christian-Muslim relations.