Staten Island Historical Society Awarded Prestigious Grant
Future generations will be able to glimpse into the lives of early New Yorkers thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The grant will enable the Staten Island Historical Society to preserve the extensive collection of vintage negatives and prints by E. Alice Austen (1866-1952), that document life in New York during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Purchased by the Society in 1950, the Austen collection was designated a “We the People” project by the National Endowment for Humanities in 2005. The Collection, the largest of Ms. Austen’s work, includes more than 7,000 items that reflect Ms. Austen’s class, gender and era. Her images include scenes of the affluent social circle in which she lived, and documents the prominent social concerns of the day of immigration, urbanization and family life.
“This grant provides funding to help preserve and care for this valuable collection and follows an earlier grant from the National Endowment for Humanities,” said John W. Guild, Executive Director of the Staten Island Historical Society. “The grant will allow the Society to improve storage and continue to catalog the collection, assuring that current and future generations will have access to these photos. The IMLS grant is a part of the National Conservation Project Support program.” The Society is one of only five New York State grantees.
Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D., Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services noted, “The Conservation Project Support awards help museums develop comprehensive strategies for the care of their collections, safeguarding pieces of our nation’s story, now and for future generations.”
Conservation Project Support awards to help museums identify conservation needs and priorities and perform activities to ensure the safekeeping of their collections. The grants are awarded through competitive peer review and require, at least, a 100 percent match by the applicant. These grants help museums develop a logical, institution-wide approach to caring for their collections. The program is an essential component of the Institute’s goal of sustaining cultural heritage as a means of creating and sustaining a nation of learners. Applicants apply for the project that meets the institution’s highest conservation needs.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 15,000 museums. Its mission is to grow and sustain a “Nation of Learners” because life-long learning is essential to a democratic society and individual success. Through its grant making, convenings, research and publications, the Institute empowers museums and libraries nationwide to provide leadership and services to enhance learning in families and communities, sustain cultural heritage, build twenty-first-century skills, and increase civic participation. To learn more about the Institute, please visit: http://www.imls.gov.
