American Experience: Panama Canal

Recipient: Samels, Mark (Boston, MA 02135 USA) in affiliation with WGBH Educational Foundation

Goal: Production of a two-hour documentary on the history of the construction of the Panama Canal for PBS's American Experience.

Description: This is a request to the National Endowment for the Humanities for funds to support the production of ???Panama Canal,??? a two-hour special presentation of American Experience, for national broadcast on PBS. Focusing primarily on the decade-long American construction effort, it places the American Canal against the backdrop of the calamitous French effort that preceded and haunted it. It traces the roots of the American commitment to a trans-Isthmian canal in Theodore Roosevelt???s expansionist vision of American power, and shows how advances in public health, technology and engineering made it possible for the Americans to succeed where the French had failed. It examines how the leadership of the canal dealt with the challenges of recruiting and managing an immense and diverse work force,and explores the risks borne by workers building one of the planet's most remarkable structures in one of the most hostile environments on earth.

Grant: 197094 / TR-50066-10,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: America's Media Makers Production,   Year Awarded: 2010

Business History Collections Preservation Project

Recipient: Schwarting, Paulette F (Richmond, VA 23220 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Historical Society (Richmond, VA 23221 USA)

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of preservation supplies for unique business history publications from the society's general collections, identified as physically at risk in a previous collection survey. Examples include a 19th-century trade association volume, a Civil War-era economic statistical report, and an 1890s polemical pamphlet on a proposed grocery tax in Virginia.

Description: The Virginia Historical Society (VHS) respectfully requests a $6,000 NEH grant to rehouse a portion of the business history holdings of the VHS. This grant will support the preservation of published business history materials which are housed in the general collections of the library of the Virginia Historical Society. An item level survey has been prepared by the project director which notes the exact number and type of preservation housing required. Virginia was founded as an economic venture by the Virginia Company of London in 1607. Our business history collections trace the economic story of Virginia- and the country- from this point through the present day, serving as a lens to understand our national economic history from Jamestown through the World Wars and into the global service economy.

Grant: 199511 / PG-50767-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Sunflower County History Room and Archive Preservation Survey

Recipient: Rose, Jennifer Delaney (Indianola, MS 38751 USA) in affiliation with Sunflower County Library

Goal: A general preservation assessment and development of an emergency preparedness and disaster response plan. The collection of the Sunflower County History Room and Archive comprises, in addition to genealogical reference works, about 70 linear feet of personal collections, organizational records, photographic collections, and library history. These collections support investigation into the role of Sunflower County in the evolution of the agrarian South, the emergence of the blues, and the development of the Civil Rights Movement.

Description: Sunflower County, MS has influenced American society and history though its unique agrarian culture, passionate contribution to Civil Rights development and the creation of the Delta Blues. Due to a declining population and inadequate facilities, Sunflower County's cultural and historical materials are in danger of being lost forever. With the help of a preservation consultant, the Sunflower County Library System will establish a proper physical environment for preservation and create policies and procedures to maintain the repository during and after an emergency. Through site visits and a detailed written report the consultant will advise library staff how to create an environment conducive to preserving historical materials. The consultant will provide the library with assistance in creating an emergency preparedness plan for archival repository. All administrative staff will participate in the consultation ensuring support for implementation of the recommendations.

Grant: 199592 / PG-50848-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Preservation of Laramie Plains Museum Ethnographic and Native American Collections

Recipient: Lindmier, Connie (Laramie, WY 82070 USA) in affiliation with Laramie Plains Museum

Goal: Hiring two consultants to provide training for the museum's staff on the conservation of 175 Native American and Chinese ethnographic artifacts and to guide them on modifying the museum's environmental controls, particularly ultraviolet light. The consultations are based upon recommendations from Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) and IMLS ReCAP assessments in 1997 and 2006 and a 2008 NEH Preservation Assistance Grant.

Description: This project is to preserve 175 Native American and ethnographic artifacts at the Laramie Plains Museum. We will utilize two consultants, Ms Terri Schindel, Conservator, and Ms Lynn Brittner, Native American and ethnographic museum expert. The Museum Training Network's Mobile Lab will be rented for a 2-day onsite visit, one day for the consultants to advise preservation of beadwork, basketry, pottery, textile and other artifacts, and to make recommendations for improving the environment for storage of these artifacts. The second day will be a training to which 15 other area museum staff and volunteers will be invited, as well as our own. We will utilize a multi-purpose building on our city-block "campus" for this training. We will upgrade the storage closet in the 3rd floor Southwest "Tower Room" of the 1892 Ivinson Mansion, which is a historic house musuem as well as a local history museum collection.

Grant: 199596 / PG-50852-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Online and Onsite Workshops with Guided Practicums

Recipient: Hight, Cliff (Canon City, CO 81215-1460 USA) in affiliation with City of Canon City (Canon City, CO 81212 USA)

Goal: The hiring of consultants to help plan for collection storage, pest management, and lighting controls and to train staff involved with these activities. The museum houses approximately 100,000 photographs, 20,000 archaeological artifacts and historic objects, and more than 200,000 manuscripts, maps, and other paper items documenting the history and culture of the Royal Gorge region of Colorado.

Description: This is a first-time request to the National Endowment for the Humanities for the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center, a division of the City of Canon City. The activities the grant would support are online and onsite training, and guided implementation in three topics: 1) Storage Move Plan, 2) Lighting Implementation Plan, 3) Integrated Pest Management Program. The three topics were identified as our institution's highest priorities in the Conservation Assessment Program report of March 2009. The museum and history center requires the assistance of two consultants who will travel to our site and utilize the resources of the Museum Training Network's Mobile Laboratory.

Grant: 199696 / PG-50952-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Archives Storage Expansion and Rehousing

Recipient: Ronnander, Carrie M (Eau Claire, WI 54702-1204 USA) in affiliation with Chippewa Valley Museum (Eau Claire, WI 54702 USA)

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of storage cabinets and preservation supplies for the museum's oversized and fragile photographs, prints, and documents. Included are 1,870 visual resources and archival records pertaining to agriculture and farm life, German immigration, the Native American community, and the area's largest employer, the Gillette/Uniroyal Tire and Rubber Company.

Description: The Chippewa Valley Museum (CVM) is a regional history museum. We interpret a 9,200-square mile area in the northwestern corner of Wisconsin. CVM maintains 21,124 catalogued artifacts and documents, over 20,000 visual images, 755 cubic feet of archival materials, and three historic structures. These collections lie at the heart of a lively humanities-based public program. We request $6,000 for storage furniture and re-housing supplies to reduce overcrowding for oversized (larger than 8.5" x 14") photographs and documents. We will also purchase preservation supplies to house smaller, fragile documents that need more individualized care. Our needs are based on a recent update of our 2000 General Conservation Survey by conservator Neil Cockerline, Midwest Arts Conservation Center. The storage furniture and supplies will help us maintain the safest conditions possible now for CVM collections.

Grant: 199699 / PG-50955-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Environmental Monitoring Equipment and Supplies for Brookside Museum

Recipient: Coleman, Kathleen (Ballston Spa, NY 12020 USA) in affiliation with Saratoga County Historical Society

Goal: Funding will support the purchase of a vacuum cleaner and environmental monitoring equipment (dataloggers and thermohygrometers) to gauge the humidity in a historic building housing books, photographs, textiles, and other objects related to the history of Saratoga County.

Description: The Saratoga County Historical Society collects material and information that contributes to the understanding of Saratoga County history. The collection is an important and valuable resource for education of the public about history and material culture and contains 1,804 books, 5,622 archival documents, 10,195 photographs and 4,350 historic artifacts. According to a recent consultant, immediate dangers to the preservation of collections are moisture, light and pollutants. A recent CAP consultant suggested that SCHS address the environmental dangers by purchasing equipment to monitor humidity in collection and exhibit areas. The consultant also suggested the purchase of a museum quality vacuum to remove pollutants from collection pieces. Data collected from the environmental monitoring equipment will be used to detect problems with a newly installed HVAC system.

Grant: 199723 / PG-50979-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden Collections Storage

Recipient: Ward, Barbara McLean (Portsmouth, NH 03801-3730 USA) in affiliation with Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden (Portsmouth, NH 03801 USA)

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of storage cabinets and consultation with a conservator who will advise the museum on the care of ceramics, archaeological artifacts, early 19th-century floor cloths, and paper-based materials in the collection. The 1763 National Landmark Moffatt-Ladd House opened as a house museum in 1912 and teaches visitors about local, state, and regional history through the lives and possessions of the home's residents during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Description: The Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden, a National Historic Landmark owned and operated by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Hampshire, seeks $6,000 to assist with the purchase and installation of three museum flat files. These storage cabinets will be used to store small ceramics, archaeological fragments, nautical charts, and our comprehensive collection of early floor cloth fragments. The cabinets will be installed in the collections study and storage room that is part of the newly constructed storage lean-to of our restored 18th century Warehouse, which can withstand the weight of cases that cannot be housed in our historic structures. The humidity-controlled collections storage room has been designed in consultation with conservator Marc Williams, who will continue to work with us on the rehousing of collections being stored in this area, as a sealed environment safe for the storage of collections of all types.

Grant: 199781 / PG-51037-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Preservation Storage System Design for the R. I. Bong Veterans Historical Center

Recipient: Sacchetti, Gina L (Superior, WI 54880-6845 USA) in affiliation with Richard I. Bong WWII Heritage Center (Superior, WI 548806845 USA)

Goal: An assessment of the storage space and the purchase of preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment to help meet the preservation needs of the R.I. Bong WWII Heritage Center. The Center's collection consists of more than 8,500 archival materials, audiotapes, and historic artifacts--including uniforms, weapons, and memorabilia--associated with the Second World War.

Description: The Bong Veterans Historical Center (BHC) is requesting an NEH Preservation Assistance Grant to hire Neil Cockerline, Director of Preservation Services at the Midwest Art Conservation Center (MACC) in Mpls., MN to perform a comprehensive collections storage analysis of the BHC's current artifact collections and to work with the BHC's Curator to define a high-density compact storage system design to accommodate current and future collections. This design will improve BHC's ability to monitor artifact conditions, protect artifacts from agents of deterioration and improve access to collections for exhibit, education and research use. The BHC Curator will also purchase collections care supplies to both monitor and prepare the artifacts for future placement within the compact storage system. This project is documented in BHC's completed Long-Range Preservation Plan and an NEH-funded General Assessment Survey as a critical next step in its humanities preservation efforts.

Grant: 199473 / PG-50729-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Creating a Preservation Plan for Oil Paintings in the NLCHS Collection

Recipient: Baker, Edward D (New London, CT 06320 USA) in affiliation with New London County Historical Society, Inc.

Goal: A conservation assessment of 55 oil paintings, including six works by Ralph Earl painted in 1792 for the Shaw family. The paintings are used for thematic educational tours of the Shaw Mansion and complement the historical society's collection of resources on colonial-era Caribbean trade, Revolutionary War privateering, the growth of whaling and sealing from New London, as well as family genealogies and local history.

Description: The New London County Historical Society requests funding to hire consultants to conduct a detailed survey of the approximately 55 oil paintings in the New London County Historical Society collection. The consultants will write a document describing the condition of each painting, including the approximate cost of any treatment needed, and will prioritize the paintings in categories depending on the degree of urgency of treatment needed. Also included will be a written report describing general observations about the storage and care of the paintings collection. The consultants will provide training to staff of the historical society in replacing nails with mending plates and screws, applying backing boards, and installing proper hanging devices to those paintings that do not have them.

Grant: 199672 / PG-50928-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Condition Survey of the Archives and Training in Preservation for Volunteers

Recipient: Bliss, Cheryl Ann (Westport, CT 06880 USA) in affiliation with Westport Historical Society

Goal: A condition assessment of the collection and an in-house workshop on preservation practices for staff and volunteers. The society's collections include local history scrapbooks, diaries, maps, pamphlets, shipping manifests, and ledgers dating to the 18th century as well as memorabilia from several prominent artists and entertainers who have resided in Westport.

Description: The purpose of the Collection Condition Survey is to assess condition, to establish where intervene treatment is needed and to set treatment priorities. This type of survey was highly recommended in a Conservation Assessment Report. Westport was and continues to be called home to well known cartoonists, illustrators, playwrights,actors, authors, and composers to name a few. The archives is fortunate to have among its collection belongings of a group of such talented individuals who transformed Westport into a center of American creative influence. With the completion of this survey, the Westport Historical Society will be able to develop a long term preservation plan so that the public today and in the future will be able to learn about such individuals who have contributed to our country's heritage in their own special way. Also,the consultant will conduct a training session on preservation in regards to the archives so the volunteers will understand their roles in this area.

Grant: 199489 / PG-50745-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Continuing Preservation of the Burton and Palmer Photographic Collections Housed in the University Archives

Recipient: Ellis, Carol Ann (Mobile, AL 36688 USA) in affiliation with University of South Alabama

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of environmental monitoring equipment and preservation supplies to improve care of the Wilson C. Burton and Wilbur F. Palmer photographic collections, which together contain 235,000 negatives. These collections document the history and culture of the Mobile, Alabama, area from the 1930s to the 1980s, including the African American experience, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam era.

Description: This grant will support the purchase of environmental monitoring equipment and preservation supplies needed to fulfill recommendations made in a March 2009 assessment of two large photographic collections. The assessment was funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Assistance Grant.

Grant: 199583 / PG-50839-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Archival Housing of Oversized Photographs

Recipient: Martin, Glynn (Los Angeles, CA 90042 USA) in affiliation with Los Angeles Police Historical Society

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of preservation storage equipment to rehouse oversize, panoramic photographs that document police training classes, officers killed in the line of duty, equipment and vehicles, and buildings from the late 1800s to mid-1970s. The request is based upon conservation assessments conducted in 2004 and 2008.

Description: The Los Angeles Police Historical Society, a non-profit enterprise separate from the LAPD operates a full-time Museum that exhibits, collects and preserves the history of the LAPD. The photo collection includes more than 30,000 photos and negatives that date to the late 1800s. Most of the photographic collection was identified, conserved and rehoused in 2005. Approximately 300 oversized images were not rehoused due to a lack of proper housing furniture. Large flat files are requested to house these photos.

Grant: 199665 / PG-50921-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Monitoring the Collections Storage Spaces and Improving the Collections Workspace

Recipient: Staber, Deborah (Hinckley, ME 04944 USA) in affiliation with L.C. Bates Museum

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of shelving and environmental monitoring equipment and the hiring of a consultant to oversee the equipment's implementation and use by the staff of this historic house museum that contains more than 5,000 objects documenting the history of the Good Will-Hinkley Orphanage.

Description: The L.C.Bates Museum's project goal is to improve the handling and storage of its significant historic object and archival collections. To achieve this goal, we propose to work with conservator, Ron Harvey to implement the recommendations of our conservation assessments for improving the collections storage environment and for improving collections handling in our work space. The project preservation activities include: 1.] Implementing and evaluating a climate and light monitoring program in all 2nd floor storage areas and the collections work space. 2. At the end of 1 year of monitoring, having the conservator review the monitoring data and based on the data, make written recommendations for planning and implementing climate controls for these storage spaces. 3.] With Maine Archives and Museum, have the conservator present a workshop for regional museums on monitoring museums environments. And 4.] Purchase 4 shelving units for the storage work area.

Grant: 199459 / PG-50715-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

Improved Storage for Unbound Oversize Maps and Posters in the Del-Mar-Va Collection

Recipient: McNeeley, Mary (Odessa, DE 19730 USA) in affiliation with Corbit Calloway Memorial Library

Goal: Funding supports the purchase of flat filing cases to store large format maps and posters, as recommended by a consultant who has done a preservation assessment of the collection. The library houses a special collection that documents the culture and heritage of Delaware and the surrounding region. Approximately 150 items are unbound oversize maps and posters. The maps depict the Del-Mar-Va peninsula and its counties and towns as they existed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Description: The unbound oversize maps and posters in our Del-Mar-Va Collection have been matted and shrinkwrapped and are standing in bins. We are seeking a long-term storage solution. We plan to remove the shrinkwrapping and store them flat in file drawers, placing acid-free tissue between them to protect the surface.

Grant: 199509 / PG-50765-10,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Preservation Assistance Grants,   Year Awarded: 2010

We the People Bookshelf: A More Perfect Union

Recipient: Castle, Lainie (Chicago, IL 60611 USA) in affiliation with American Library Association

Grant: 196853 / BB-50014-09,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: Bookshelf Cooperative Agreement, We the People,   Year Awarded: 2009

An American Turning Point

Recipient: Jackson, Cheryl L (Richmond, VA 23219 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission

Goal: Implementation of a traveling exhibition, a mobile gallery, a panel exhibition, a permanent online web exhibition, and related educational and public programs in observance of the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.

Description: Serving a national resources to the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, An American Turning Point is a four component exhibition (gallery, mobile, panel and online)that will narrate the personal stories of those living though one of our nation's most challenging times. The exhibition will highlight the experiences and accomplishments of both Union and Confederate men, women and children as well as African Americans both free and enslaves on the home and battlefronts. The first three components will travel throughout the region and country taking these often under told stories directly to the people in rural and metropolitan areas. The online component, which will host, several of the media components from the gallery and mobile exhibitions, will remain indefinitely on the website of the Virginia Historical Society serving as a lasting legacy long after the end of the sesquicentennial.

Grant: 197005 / GI-50133-09,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: America's Historical & Cultural Organizations Implementation,   Year Awarded: 2009

America, Whaling, and the World

Recipient: Burns, Ric (New York, NY 10023 USA) in affiliation with City Lore: NY Center for Urban Folk Culture (New York, NY 10003 USA)

Goal: Production of a two-hour documentary exploring the history, culture, and significance of the American whaling industry from 1620 to 1924.

Description: INTO THE DEEP: America, Whaling & the World: a two-hour documentary film for national broadcast on PBS in 2010, directed by Ric Burns and co-produced by Steeplechase Films, American Experience, and WGBH/Boston, explores the history, culture and significance of the American whaling industry from its 17th century origins in drift and shore-whaling, through the golden age of deep ocean whaling in the 18th and 19th centuries, and on to the industry's demise in the decades following the American Civil War. Combining stunning archival material with powerful on-camera interviews, evocative live cinematography, dramatic reenactments, and underwater footage of whales at sea, the film will bring alive the complex reality and extraordinary experience of American whaling as the nation rose to the threshold of global power, all the while registering the larger forces, economic, social, cultural, technological and environmental, that shaped and propelled American Whaling from start to finish.

Grant: 197113 / TR-50085-09,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: America's Media Makers Production,   Year Awarded: 2009

Renovation Project and American History Education Program

Recipient: Mirrer, Louise (New York, NY 10024 USA) in affiliation with New-York Historical Society

Goal: Renovation for expanded education facilities and endowment for partial support of salaries for education staff positions.

Description: The New-York Historical Society has embarked on a $100 million campaign to secure the institution's place of privilege as a key contributor to the lifeblood of the humanities, through innovative educational programming, exhibitions, and the production of new scholarship based on the N-YHS's extraordinary library and museum collections. The campaign focuses on two priorities: renovations to the N-YHS's building and increased endowed support for key positions and programs. Renovations will allow for the expansion of education facilities, including an Educational Resources Center, which will function as a center for important exploration of and discussion around American history. Endowed support for the American History Education Program will further the N-YHS's partnership with New York City schools to assist students in achieving required levels of literacy and historical knowledge through standards-based programs for students and professional development opportunities for teachers.

Grant: 193767 / CH-50667-09,   Division: Challenge Grants,   Program: Challenge Grants,   Year Awarded: 2009

Establishment of a 3D Visualization Lab at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Recipient: Fischer, Lisa Ellen (Willliamsburg, VA 23187 USA) in affiliation with Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA 23187 USA)

Goal: Acquisition of software and equipment, and an endowment for staff positions, training, software acquisition and maintenance, a research fellowship, speaker programs, and staff travel in a digital history center.

Description: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation seeks an $813,750 Challenge Grant under the Digital Humanities Initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities to promote the development of digital technologies for humanities education by establishing a $3.255 million endowment to support the Foundation's Digital History Center (DHC). The endowment will enable the Foundation to expand the work of the DHC in creating digital resources designed to encourage research and public awareness of the American Revolution and founding principles at the heart of the American democratic experience. Specifically, an NEH Challenge Grant will be used to establish a 3D Visualization Lab that will advance the development of interactive, 3D computer graphics (3D CG) to model Williamsburg at the time of the Revolution and to create other virtual environments relevant to the Foundation's educational programming.

Grant: 191500 / CH-50560-09,   Division: Challenge Grants,   Program: Challenge Grants,   Year Awarded: 2009