Purchase of a storage cabinet and rehousing supplies for 139 art objects in the collection of the Peeler Gallery on the campus of DePauw University. The university maintains a 3,500 object teaching collection with particular strengths in Japanese and Tibetan artworks, as well as paintings, decorative objects, and fine art photography associated with the history of DePauw and the state of Indiana. The project would focus on rehousing a diverse collection of contemporary artists’ books, photographs, drawings, ceramics, and three-dimensional works used by students and faculty as teaching tools in a variety of classes.

The Galleries at Peeler on the campus of DePauw University respectfully requests $3,549 to purchase a Model DDLX-G museum storage cabinet from Delta Design Ltd, along with ethafoam and blueboard to support rehousing efforts. This new cabinet will house 139 of the smallest and most vulnerable contemporary art objects, ranging from a Kara Walker pop-up book to a Vik Muniz porcelain plate and artist DVDs. The objects directly support a variety of teaching and research needs at DePauw University, including: undergraduate special projects, classroom use by faculty and staff, and student/gallery curated exhibitions. Per a recent 2014 AAM MAP review, the external reviewer recommended that all non-archival storage furniture, including the current storage cabinet for these objects, be replaced with permanent/durable archival furniture. The new Delta Design unit will also include storage space for objects pending use by student researchers and faculty members.

The purchase of data loggers and light meters to monitor environmental conditions at the Hockaday Museum of Art.  The museum’s collections feature the historic and artistic legacy of Montana and Glacier National Park, including artists of regional and national importance such as John Fery, Leonard Loop, T.J. Hileman, and Gary Schildt. The collection also includes artistic renderings of the changing landscape over time, due to recession of glaciers, and a significant archive of papers and objects related to the Blackfeet Indian tribe. The applicant seeks to replace outdated and unreliable environmental monitoring equipment with newer units, as recommended in a 2012 preservation needs assessment.

The Hockaday Museum of Art houses one of the nation's largest permanent collections of historic and contemporary art of Glacier National Park. The collection holds more than 800 artworks, 50,000 photographs and negatives, and over 3,000 titles in the library. The Museum has been accepting items into the collection for over forty years. The main objective of the collection is to preserve the artwork for future generations to enjoy. The Hockaday conducted a preservation needs assessment in April 2012. The assessment identified two areas of concern to be addressed by the project-1) environmental monitoring, and 2) management of light. The monitoring equipment in place is outdated and the ability to measure light in the exhibition galleries does not exist. The project will allow the Museum to purchase and install proper equipment to monitor environmental conditions in the collections and exhibitions areas.

Staff training in monitoring and control of the museum environment and purchase of supplies to improve lighting conditions for a tribal collection of basketry, ceremonial regalia, archaeological materials, and historic photographs.  The collections, housed at the Karuk Tribe People’s Center, document Karuk life and culture in the pre-contact and historic periods, and include shell, nut, and bead necklaces; clothing made of animal skins; historic photographs; as well as over 100 examples of renowned Karuk basket weaving.  The northern California collection is used by tribal members and Karuk language speakers, and for research, education, and public programming.

This project focuses on ethnographic and archaeological collections of the Karuk Tribe People's Center. The collection contains basketry, ceremonial regalia, lithic materials and historical photos acquired through donations, purchase, repatriation, and family loans. Objects are from pre-contact village sites, late 19th century ceremony, and contemporary Karuk artists. The collection is considered to be sacred and living: strict cultural protocols govern care and use of regalia and other objects of power. Certain sacred objects are danced and brought to the World Renewal Ceremonial practice known as pikyavish. The collection is also used by contemporary weavers and regalia makers, by language speakers, and by researchers interested in Karuk heritage and culture. This project will preserve the collections both in storage and in museum gallery through purchase and use of UV-filtered lights in accordance with recommendations in our 2008 Museum Conservation Assessment.

The purchase of preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment for the center’s extensive collection of contemporary poetry, photographs, broadsides and recordings. Included in the collection are 45,000 volumes of poetry, 25,000 periodicals, 4,000 photographs, 400 broadsides, and 1,500 unique recordings. The collection, which is particularly comprehensive in the field of contemporary English-language poetry, is fully accessible and heavily used for scholarly and pedagogical purposes in the university. The University of Arizona Poetry Center’s collections also serve a broad spectrum of writers, readers, and researchers, including members of the local community and scholars from around the world.

The University of Arizona Poetry Center (UAPC) requests support from NEH to purchase preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment needed to fulfill recommendations made in UAPC's 2014 General Preservation Assessment, which was funded by an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions. Support from NEH will be used to purchase one handheld environmental monitor to measure visible light, ultraviolet light, temperature, and relative humidity; a museum vacuum cleaner with HEPA filter and variable speed rheostat; polyurethane foam book supports for safe handling and display of fragile items; and one two-shelf, four-wheel plastic cart for safe transport of collection items.

A preservation assessment focusing on the storage needs of 900 textiles from the 19th to the 21st century that help to tell the story of Jewish and Jewish American life before, during, and after World War II, with a focus on the Holocaust and its aftermath.  Items in the collection include ceremonial textiles, such as prayer shawls and textiles associated with the circumcision ritual, pieces related to the Holocaust such as concentration camp uniforms and clothing made immediately after liberation, as well as everyday textiles such as household linens, flags, and banners.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust maintains a collection of 900 textiles representing all aspects of Jewish communal and private life, including ritual and ceremonial items, and objects of historical significance to the Holocaust and pre- and post-war periods. Collection textiles date from the late 19th century to the present day and illustrate the global reach and diversity of the Jewish experience. The inherent fragility and compelling nature of the textile collection underscores the need for lasting storage solutions. To that end, the Museum seeks to develop a textile rehousing plan. A textile conservator will survey current storage conditions and provide recommendations for ideal practices for the categories of textiles in the Museum's collection. These suggestions will inform the development of a detailed plan outlining and prioritizing appropriate storage measures the Museum intends to implement.

The purchase of archival housing supplies and storage shelving for some of the most sensitive items in the Appalachian Mountain Club’s collections, approximately 2,100 photographs documenting tourism and outdoor recreation in America from the 1920s through the 1950s. Focused primarily on the New England region, the collections provide a notable visual record of outdoor leisure activities and how they were impacted by two world wars. They are used for publications, research, and public programming across a number of disciplines, including history and environmental science.

The project will focus on AMC's Photographic Print collections and one newly-accessioned special collection of photographs. These images document outdoor recreation, tourism and close-to-home adventure in the Northeastern United States. They date from the 1930s through the end of World War II. They offer a visual record detailing the changes in travel and leisure behavior as the war approached and began to impact life due to travel restrictions, rationing, and conscription. Our specific goal within this project is to stabilize and appropriately house images determined to be in greatest need of immediate preservation and to add improved storage shelving to our Archives space to house this and other collections.

Hiring an environmental engineer, preservation specialist, and HVAC technician to assess safety and security of the Presbyterian Historical Society’s collections by investigating its HVAC systems, building envelope, fire protection, lighting, and electrical systems and provide specific recommendations for sustainable improvements. The Presbyterian Historical Society is the national archive of the Presbyterian Church; its archival, library, and museum collections document 500 years of religious, political, and cultural history. Significant holdings include The American Indian Correspondence Collection consisting of 14,000 letters written by missionaries documenting their work among Native Americans, and over 23,000 cubic feet of official denominational records, including minutes from the first presbytery meeting in Philadelphia in 1706. This project responds to a January 2015 preservation needs assessment, which identified the development of an environmental monitoring program and a conservation environment survey as key short-term goals. The environmental monitoring program is already underway; this project would enable the team of experts to review this data and develop a plan for long-term improvement.

The NEH Preservation Assistance Grant will support a conservation environment assessment of all the Presbyterian Historical Society's collection spaces. This project will allow the Society to work collaboratively with a conservation environment engineer and a preservation specialist to assess the quality and efficiency of the HVAC system, building envelope, fire protection systems, and lighting and electrical systems; analyze environmental data collected over a full year; and provide institution-specific recommendations for sustainable improvement. The information gleaned from the survey will provide the foundation for planning HVAC and building modifications that will improve the Society's collection storage spaces and preserve its historic collections.

Hiring a consultant to conduct a preservation assessment and workshop for staff on proper care and handling, and purchase of storage furniture and supplies, for a photography collection documenting archaeological sites, primarily in the state of Indiana.  The 12,000 photographic prints, 9,000 negatives, and 8,000 slides document archaeological sites and artifacts representing the full range of human occupation in Midwestern North America, including the Mississippian-period Angel Mounds site, located on the Ohio River.

The Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology (GBL) at Indiana University will engage a paper and film conservation specialist to develop and guide implementation of a detailed plan for improved storage and rehousing of the GBL's photographic collection. The GBL photographic collection includes negatives, prints, and slides totaling nearly 30,000 items. This special collection represents nearly 100 years of archaeological practice in the greater Midwestern United States, and covers a variety of topics including archaeological excavations, early scientific leaders in the field, artifact assemblages, educational programs, events for visitors, and historical documentation of the GBL. Most of the historic photos are original, unique, and irreplaceable. Funds will be used to engage the professional conservator to provide conservation assessments and on-site training, and purchase storage furniture and preservation supplies recommended by the conservator.

A preservation assessment of the pre-1865 rare book holdings at the Hong Kierkegaard Library.  The collection, amassed by Howard and Edna Hong, St. Olaf alumni and the philosopher’s first English translators, is the largest set of works by and about Kierkegaard outside of Denmark.  This project would address the 8,000 oldest volumes in the library’s 20,000-item collection.  The collection is used by established and emerging scholars from around the world, figuring prominently in new works on Kierkegaard, and the library offers fellowships and programs for researchers at many educational levels.  This grant would support an item-level preservation assessment, including detailed condition descriptions of the most valuable books, item-level conservation recommendations and prioritization, and staff training.

The St. Olaf College Hong Kierkegaard Library preserves the literary and philosophical legacy of Søren Kierkegaard. Rare primary and secondary materials used by Howard and Edna Hong to produce the first English translation of Kierkegaard form the Library's nucleus, which also contains editions matching those in Kierkegaard's personal library, and treatises forming the historical context in which he wrote. The Library is the world's largest repository of works by and about Kierkegaard outside of Denmark. A program of fellowships enables the Library to serve more than 175 international and U.S. scholars annually. For this project, we will engage Sherelyn Ogden, Conservator and Preservation Consultant, to undertake an item-level survey of the holdings. Her report will include detailed descriptions of the condition of the most valuable books in the collection, recommended actions for conservation of each item, a priority list of items to be conserved, and training for St. Olaf staff.

hiring a consultant to assess the archives’ digital collections and to provide recommendations for their care. Chicago Film Archives’ audiovisual collections total 25,000 items including film and prints, videotapes, audiotapes, and ephemera reflecting life in the Midwest. Spanning almost the entire 20th century, they were produced between 1903 and the late 1990s. The visual materials encompass various genres, including documentaries, travelogues, educational and industrial films, dance, experimental films, student and art films as well as feature, foreign, and silent films, and home movies. At present, the collections are used for scholarly research and exhibitions and for educational and public programing in institutions across the United States.

CFA believes its staff and its ever-growing digital collections will benefit from a Digital Collections Assessment that addresses the production, workflow, and maintenance of CFA's valuable digital files. CFA completed a Facilities and Collections Assessment in 2007 that addressed general care and sustainability of CFA's film collections and its facility. Since then, CFA has generated thousands of digital files from the films, videotapes and audiotapes in its over 100 collections that it must store and track. These digital collections contain both access files (created at CFA for streaming and reference) and preservation files (high resolution files created at laboratories off-site to replace rapidly deteriorating tapes). CFA seeks funding to hire a Digital Collections Management consultant for: an assessment, workflow recommendations, planning for growth, and staff training in "best practices" pertaining to digital collections.

Hiring a consultant and two graduate student interns to conduct a preservation assessment and provide recommendations for storage needs and improved public access for an archive related to murals in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. The applicant seeks to preserve documentation associated with 540 mural projects sponsored by the Precita Eyes Muralist Association since 1977. The collection contains original drawings, narratives, photos, and video of most of the murals, as well as nearly 100 “portable” murals on Tyvek, panels, and doors. In addition, the applicant maintains a reference archive of books, newsletters, and magazines documenting the muralist movement in the Bay Area. With the assistance of two interns, the consultant would conduct the first-ever assessment of the collection and advise on short- and long-term storage preservation needs.

Precita Eyes Muralists is requesting funding to preserve its historic collection of drawings, photographs, videos, and written narratives related to murals it has created primarily in the multi-cultural Mission neighborhood of San Francisco since 1977, as well as portable murals used in exhibits and local events. This collection also includes documentation of murals created by other groups and individuals in the Mission during this period. The Mission murals represent a unique merger of the art of ancient Central America and the Mexican muralist movement of the 1900's with art created in California by Latino immigrants and other artists beginning in the social and cultural upheavals of the 1960's. Many of these artworks have been destroyed by human action or weather over the years and live on only in the Precita archive. This grant will allow us to preserve this material and provide access to it for scholars, students and the general public.

A preservation assessment of special collections related to the cultural and natural history of Appalachia including the Augusta Collection of Folk Culture, containing sound recordings, film, video, photographs, and cultural artifacts documenting folk life and folk artists; the 300,000-item Comstock Collection of materials from the career of newspaperman James Franklin Comstock; the Darby Collection of 10,000 items documenting West Virginia history; and the College Archives.  Highlights include an unparalleled set of recordings of previously undocumented traditional fiddlers, correspondence with Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck, hours of videotaped interviews documenting the Swiss “Helvetia” community in central West Virginia, and 89 historic firearms.  The library supports workshops, publications, presentations, and research based on the collections.  This would be the institution’s first preservation assessment.

Booth Library and The Stirrup Gallery will contract with a preservation specialist to secure a general assessment for the special collections at Davis & Elkins College. Significant to Appalachian history and culture, they include: The Augusta Collection, an assemblage of primarily audiovisual material documenting over 40 years of traditional Appalachian music and dance; the Comstock Collection, including original manuscripts and correspondence from Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck; and the College Archives which house records for the Davis & Elkins National Historic Landmark District, as well as from the prolific Senators Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen Benton Elkins. The consultant will conduct an on-site assessment of the policies, practices, and conditions affecting the care and preservation of the collections and prepare a report that contains prioritized recommendations for future preservation action.

A preservation assessment and the purchase of preservation supplies to rehouse a collection of primary sources pertaining to Windham College, which operated from 1951 to 1978 in Putney, Vermont, on the present-day site of Landmark College.  The project would also entail training in preservation practices for staff of the Landmark College archives and nearby Putney Historical Society.  The collection comprises 30 linear feet of student newspapers, scrapbooks, photographs, school yearbooks, and administrative records documenting Windham College’s instructional focus on modern art and the involvement of its faculty and students in counterculture movements of the 1960s and 70s.  Among the short-lived school’s faculty and trustees were authors John Irving and Pearl S. Buck.

Landmark College and the Putney Historical Society hold collections from Windham College, a liberal arts college which operated in Putney, Vermont from 1951-78. The Windham College Preservation Project supports a collection-level assessment to conserve, organize and store materials at one site, the Landmark College Archives. This will allow for better intellectual and physical control of materials and better access for researchers. Windham College played an important role in creating Vermont's unique artistic character. Talented faculty artists, who would later become well-known names in the art world, used the campus to highlight changes in their artistic vision through exhibits and festivals that embraced not only the arts, but also the cultural movements of the day such as Back to the Land and later, the Anti-War Movement. Primary sources like yearbooks and student newspapers provide researchers a unique window into this creative and important era and deserve preservation.

Hiring a consultant to undertake a preservation assessment and offer training for staff to improve care for a collection of 100,000 archival items (personal journals, scrapbooks, newspapers, maps, tribal government documents, photographs, and slides), 500 library books, and 20,000 cultural objects that document indigenous peoples of southern New England.  Among the original writings are plays and pageants that depict 18th- and 19th-century historical events penned by Princess Red Wing (1895-1987), a historian, curator, storyteller, and founder of the museum.  Highlights of the collection include a prehistoric strand of wampum and a 19th-century canoe crafted entirely using traditional techniques and decorations.  The collections are used by historians, artists, filmmakers, authors, students, and the public at large.

Tomaquag Museum's goal is to evaluate the needs of our collection that focuses on southern New England tribes and highlights the Narragansett Tribe.  Our collection is utilized by Native & non-Native researchers, historians, authors, film-makers, students and artists.  We want to look at the risks to our collection and identify the preservation needs in our current site and to plan for the long range preservation of our collection in preparation for relocation.  The project will build upon the initiatives implemented from our 2006 CAP recommendations and also substantiate collections care needs objectively.  The conservator will provide training to address the special needs for the handling and storage of our collections with the goal to provide both safe accessibility to collections and minimize physical risks during collection relocation to our new facility in the coming years.  The plan will be used to support next steps in collections care, space management and new facility planning.

A general preservation assessment of the collection of approximately 2,200 historical films taken by WCS staff over the course of the 20th century, documenting animals, visitors, and staff at the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium, as well as WCS’s international expeditions in support of wildlife conservation. The collection includes footage of a 1964 expedition to Patagonia to assess its threatened wildlife and studies of Komodo dragons in their native habitats taken during the 1970s. Only recently acquired by the archives, these films until now have been largely inaccessible. With proper preservation and organization, the films would be made available to the public, complementing the WCS’s extensive archival records presently used by scholars, educators, and students.

This grant will support a general preservation assessment of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Archives film collection, which contains approximately 2,200 film prints created by WCS zoo, aquarium, and field conservation staff over the 20th century. Acquired by the Archives in 2014, the film collection is expected to parallel the Archives' other collections in its value to the humanities and especially to those interested in the histories of zoos and aquariums, international wildlife conservation, and New York City. The preservation consultant will conduct a formal assessment of the film collection and its storage environment in order to inform the Archives' goals of creating a sustainable preservation plan for the collection and making it accessible. In turn, the assessment will support the Archives' future ability to prioritize within the collection, budget and plan for the collection's rehousing and stabilization, and determine options for the collection's accessibility.

A general conservation assessment of the collections housed in the Historic Oakleigh House, a circa 1833 Greek Revival house museum, and the archival collection housed in the Minnie Mitchell Archives building, constructed in 1980.  Two conservators, one specializing in furniture and woodwork and the other in paper-based collections, would review the museum’s holdings and provide the organization a first assessment with which to plan for future preservation.  Highlights of the collection include a Thomas Sully portrait of Madame Octavia LeVert, a portrait of actor Edwin Booth, and several personal items of James C. Calhoun, including his ink well and hair bracelet.  The artifacts and archives support interpretive programs on the antebellum South for 4,000 visitors annually, as well as for students of public history, art history, and material culture at the University of Southern Alabama, Springhill College, and the University of Mobile.

The grant will provide funds for the Historic Mobile Preservation Society to hire conservation specialists to conduct a general assessment of the museum and archival collections housed at the Historic Oakleigh House and the Minnie Mitchell Archives. The museum and archival collection are significant in learning and interpreting the history of Mobile, a 300-year-old port city along the Gulf Coast. With over 1,150 artifacts and roughly 12,500 archival items, the collection is representative of various time periods of Mobile's history, with the primary focus on 1840-1860. The collection is a primary resource for scholars, students, authors and historians, who are researching the history of Mobile. Through our university partnerships, the collection at HMPS is integral to the post-secondary humanities education in Mobile. With the recently adopted Collections Management Policy, a collections assessment is the vital next step in long-term planning for preservation and care of the collection.

The purchase of preservation furniture, environmental monitoring equipment, and rehousing supplies as recommended in the Preservation Needs Assessment survey completed in 2014 with NEH support. The St. Norbert College Art Collection comprises approximately 1,000 works of art dating from the 13th century to the present. Approximately 60 percent of the collection consists of works on paper, with an emphasis on modern prints, drawings, and photographs. The remainder consists of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, textiles, and decorative objects. Highlights include a small collection of 20th-century Native American pottery, a painting by Salvador Dali, and the complete portfolio suite of “Rainer Maria Rilke, For the Sake of a Single Verse” by Ben Shahn.

The Art Galleries and Collections serve to inspire, enhance and culturally enrich scholarship at St. Norbert College and within the greater community through the collection, preservation and exhibition of art. The art collection, comprised of approximately one thousand objects, supports humanities research by providing students direct access to original art. Works such as Ben Shahn's, For the sake of a single verse.... from the Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, and a collection of 13th c. Illuminated manuscript pages support the traditions on which the College was founded. The Art Galleries have actively engaged in a series of steps designed to ensure best practices in collections and organization management. This project focuses on preservation furniture and supply needs recommended in a General Preservation Needs Assessment of the SNC Art Galleries and Collections, completed by Midwest Art Conservation Center in 2014 and funded by the NEH.

A preservation assessment of the center’s archives, which encompass approximately 200 distinct collections of materials on the Holocaust.  Included are prints and photographs, letters, family albums, postcards, newspapers, magazines, sheet music, magazines, stamps, textiles, artifacts, and works of art. Many of the collections were donated to the center by members of the local community in Queens and represent family histories of the Holocaust. The collections continue to be used extensively for education and public events within the Queensborough Community College community, and also broadly by organizations interested in the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights.

The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives (KHRCA) at Queensborough Community College (CUNY) is an educational laboratory that serves hundreds of students from high schools and colleges, community members, and researchers. The center hosts dozens of lectures, film screenings, commemoration events, and two original exhibits each year. The archival holdings of the KHRCA contain several hundred collections of letters, identity documents, recorded oral histories, and artifacts relating to the Holocaust. These items document the Holocaust's impact on Queens before, during, and after the war. The letters are mostly between family held under Nazi occupation and their relatives in the United States, primarily in Queens. Our identity card artifacts include ghetto IDs, ration cards from various European ghettos, original money transfer orders from the Jewish Joint to ghetto inhabitants, and similar materials.

The purchase of preservation supplies to rehouse the library’s collection of approximately 50,000 health pamphlets dating from the 19th through the first half of the 20th century. The materials in this collection, which is part of a larger collection of pamphlets, were created for the purpose of educating the public about health and wellness issues, providing advice published in many languages for travelers and immigrants, and promoting new food production technologies and recipes. Collectively, they offer significant historical perspectives regarding health concerns and changing attitudes to disease, diet, and medical training. Currently, the collection is heavily used by the staff of the New York Academy of Medicine for training, tours, and coursework, as well as by outside scholars and educators. The library also collaborates with local museums, such as The Museum of the City of New York, in developing exhibitions.

This grant would support the purchase of preservation supplies needed to rehouse The New York Academy of Medicine Library's Health Pamphlet Collection, creating a long-term solution for the safe handling and efficient access and storage of these materials. This well-used and historically significant collection is comprised of approximately 50,000 pamphlets that date from the 19th through the first half of the 20th century and illuminate a range of health-related issues—including, for example, health and wellness education; travel and tourism; food production and history; medical education; and mental health—through the lens of that time period. Because of its current storage, the collection is at high risk of damage and potential loss. Although the Academy has current supplies and funding to carry out a portion of this important project, financial support from the NEH would ensure that the collection can be rehoused in its entirety and made accessible to both current and future users.

Hiring a consultant to undertake a preservation assessment of a collection of approximately 700 textiles from Africa, Turkey, and the Andes that document diverse textile traditions from around the world.  Highlights from the collection include mid-20th-century cloths from the Yoruba (Nigeria), Kuba (Zaire), and Bamana (Mali) peoples; 19th-and 20th-century flat woven kilims, pillows, and saddle bags from Turkey; and mantles and sashes from the prehistoric Nazca culture of Peru.

The collections that are the focus of the project are African, ancient Andean,and Turkish textiles. All are significant to the humanities because the woven designs reflect the hopes, fears, dreams, and aspirations of the weavers who made them. The symbols of these textiles reveal the essence of social order, religious and philosophical practices, and technological systems. The goal of the grant is to support a preservation assessment of the approximately 700 items in the textile collections of the University of Iowa Museum of Art. The activities that the grant would support are: a) site visit by one conservator to examine the collections, interview relevant staff, review collections management policy, and present preliminary findings, b)written report by the conservator which includes recommendations for short- and long-term actions, and integration of preservation needs with the strategic plan, and c) on site presentation of findings by the conservator to UIMA stakeholder groups.

The purchase of preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment, for History San Jose, a historical site centered on the Pueblo San Jose first established by Spanish missionaries and explorers in northern California in 1777.   History San Jose encompasses 32 historic structures at three different locations.  Among its collections are 500,000 artifacts mostly documenting Native American life and the history of Spanish and Mexican rule.  Holdings also include 50,000 photographs; more than 5,000 linear feet of municipal records, architectural drawings, and oral histories; and 1,400 maps from the 18th century.  In addition to rehousing some of the historic maps and drawings, the project would also support a workshop for museum staff on the handling and preservation of archival materials.

As part of our mission, History San Jose (HSJ) provides public access to historical materials regarding the evolving San Jose and Santa Clara Valley area. This grant will support enhanced environmental monitoring in HSJ's primary collection storage areas by adding data loggers. The grant will allow us to purchase map folders and blotting paper in order to flatten and house approx. 27 cu. ft. of oversized rolled maps, architectural drawings, and large-format ephemera, as part of a larger initiative to rehouse more than 2700 maps and architectural drawings. Materials from this collection will enhance HSJ's exhibit programs, both physical and online. Humanities scholars will benefit from materials that illuminate sociological issues such as redevelopment, housing, and urban sprawl; the impact of economic, demographic, and technological changes on the land; and the relationship between our many immigrant groups and the Valley's culture and historical geography.

The purchase of shelving to store 105 furniture pieces original to the estate of industrialist Henry Flagler dating from the mid-18th to early 20th centuries and representing the varied cultural tastes and artistic styles of the Gilded Age, including Classical Revival, Renaissance Revival, English Arts and Crafts, Egyptian Revival, and Louis XV.

Whitehall, a National Historic Landmark, was the winter home of Henry Flagler, founding partner of Standard Oil, builder of the Florida East Coast Railway, and the inventor of Modern Florida. Its interiors were created by the highly acclaimed firm of Pottier and Stymus. Along with Whitehall's décor, its furniture collection vividly illustrates the most significant styles of the Gilded Age and serves as an important tool for Museum interpretation. Furniture comprises a large subgroup of the Flagler Museum's collections and most of the collection is original to Whitehall or its owners. This grant will fund the purchase of stationary shelving racks for the furniture collection in Whitehall's third floor storage area. The new shelving will meet professional archival standards for long-term conservation and storage stability. The project's goal is to greatly improve the storage environment and increase capacity, fulfilling recommendations from both CAP and Furniture Survey Consultants.

The creation of an emergency preparedness plan for the collections of Historic Deerfield and a two-day training session for 16 staff members that will form a “Collections Response Team.”  The grant would allow the museum to hire two qualified consultants to help staff plan to secure historic properties and collections in the event of an emergency, such as a hurricane or flood, by identifying objects requiring evacuation or special protective measures.  The museum’s historic houses, dating from the 1730s to the 1840s, and the Flynt Center for Early New England Life exhibit a historically important collection of decorative arts in America, with a particular focus on the material culture of the Connecticut River Valley.

The NEH Preservation Assistance Grant would support the development of an emergency preparedness plan specifically addressing Historic Deerfield (HD)'s collections. HD has a fully operational plan in place for emergencies that affect personnel and visitors. Tropical Storm Irene and Hurricane Sandy made HD acutely aware of the urgency of creating an integrated plan to prepare for and respond to an emergency event that impacts the collections. With more than 27,000 objects and 12 historic houses open to the public, this is the next step in implementing the recommendations of the General Conservation Survey Report completed in September 2014. This grant would facilitate the development of a Collections Response Team (CRT), its training, a reporting structure, preventative measures, and a recovery plan for collections post-emergency. The grant would also provide focused training with two consultants to develop these resources and practice disaster recovery scenarios.

Workshops about disaster preparedness and response for New Orleans cultural heritage institutions and the launch of a New Orleans Alliance for Response.  Six New Orleans cultural heritage institutions would collaborate on this project: the Amistad Research Center, the Louisiana Division/City Archives of New Orleans Public Library, the Archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Tulane University Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, the Louisiana State Museum, and the National World War II Museum.  Collections span many subjects including jazz, southeastern architecture, Catholic history, the African Diaspora, civil rights, the history of the Second World War, and the history and art of New Orleans and Louisiana.  Highlights include the Carnival Collection of original floats and costume designs from 1873 to the present, oral histories of New Orleans musicians, the records of the Archdiocese of New Orleans dating back to 1769, Orleans Parish civil and criminal court records, and comprehensive documents of French and Spanish colonial rule from 1718 to 1803.  This award would support three workshops on collaborative preparedness and response and hands-on recovery of book, paper, and audiovisual materials.  A fourth event would launch the New Orleans Alliance for Response. Assessments in 2014 and 2015 funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services identified the need for collaborative disaster response planning and training in New Orleans, which is highly vulnerable to natural disasters and where collections at nearly all the participating institutions were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Tulane University is seeking funding to support a series of disaster preparedness and response workshops in New Orleans to serve multiple cultural heritage institutions, with the ultimate goal of establishing an ongoing network for collaborative disaster preparedness and response in New Orleans. The project will consist of a series of three workshops and an initial meeting of a New Orleans Alliance for Response (NOAR). The three workshops will focus on collaborative disaster planning and preparedness, hands-on recovery of book and paper materials, and hands-on recovery of audiovisual media. The workshops and establishing the NOAR will help cultural heritage institutions in New Orleans be better prepared for a disaster in this vulnerable area of the country and build skills, vocabularies, and agreements amongst participants to make a collaborative response effort proceed more efficiently in case of an actual event.

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment for UCLA’s Ethnomusicology Archive, which is housed in the university’s music building. Collections number nearly 150,000 recordings and include unique field recordings, as well as commercially produced recordings of traditional, folk, popular, and art music from Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Some highlights include the earliest known recordings of some rural Mexican musical traditions from the 1960s and the “race” records and “hillbilly” music of D.K. Wilgus, a renowned scholar of folksongs and ballads. The collection is used broadly by the UCLA community and by scholars from all over the world.

The UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive is part of one of the oldest and most highly regarded academic programs (and the only independent department) in ethnomusicology in the U.S. Its audiovisual collections have been central to the Department as research collections and teaching resources since the Archive's founding in 1961. The Archive is accessible to the public and serves scholars and students from around the world, as well the UCLA and Southern California communities at large, and have exposed innumerable people to music traditions from around the world. The applicant seeks funding to improve environmental monitoring and collection care in collections spaces, as a result of recommendations made in a recent preservation assessment. Environmental monitors will be used as part of an early detection system, long-term monitoring, and to provide data for a Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections planning grant application to address long-term collection safety and stability.