About the Mellon Collections Preservation and
Backlog Processing Planning Project
Project Summary
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has undertaken, for the first time in its history, a comprehensive collections preservation and backlog processing needs analysis of its manuscript, graphics, and art and artifact collections. Thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the project is now operating at full steam.
Over a two year period, Mellon project staff will evaluate everything from the condition of the material and the housing to the quality of the physical arrangement and intellectual access. For each collection, surveyors assign a Research Value Rating, which takes into account both the interest level of the collection and the quality of the documentation. The Society will use the Research Value Rating and other quantitative rankings to identify future cataloging and preservation priorities and to develop grants to funders for these purposes.
Collections to be surveyed include:
- an estimated 3000 processed and unprocessed manuscript collections
- an estimated 300,000 maps, prints, drawings, broadsides, and photographs
- an estimated 11,000 objects in the art and artifact collection
The survey teams have already discovered numerous hidden treasures in HSP's collections. These treasures are being brought to light in the monthly "Mellon Picks" for the enjoyment of HSP's members and visitors.
Project Staff
Kristen Froehlich, Project Director
Rachel Onuf, Assistant Project Director/Archivist
Bertha Adams,Team Leader
Nancy Miller, Team Leader
Matthew Lyons, Team Leader
John Armstrong, Surveyor
Leslie Hunt, Surveyor
Meena Rajan, Surveyor
Mindy Steinberg, Surveyor
