York County History Center

VIRTUAL OUTREACH PROJECT

IN PREPARATION FOR A MOVE TO A NEW FACILITY, THE YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER WILL INVENTORY, CATALOG, RECONCILE, AND REHOUSE ITS COLLECTIONS. THE MUSEUM WILL HIRE TWO COLLECTIONS ASSISTANTS TO WORK WITH THE DIRECTOR OF COLLECTIONS AND VOLUNTEERS. THIS PROJECT TEAM WILL COMPLETE THE INVENTORY AND REHOUSING OF APPROXIMATELY 12,000 ARTIFACTS INCLUDING COSTUMES, ART, AND 3D OBJECTS. THE TEAM WILL PHOTOGRAPH THE OBJECTS AND UPDATE COLLECTIONS RECORDS WITH LOCATION AND CONDITION INFORMATION. THE MUSEUM WILL ALSO PURCHASE PACKING MATERIALS NECESSARY TO REHOUSE SENSITIVE OBJECTS IN PREPARATION FOR THE MOVE. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL IDENTIFY OBJECTS THAT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE COLLECTION AND IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE OBJECTS IN NEED OF CONSERVATION. THE PROJECT WILL INCREASE THE LONG-TERM PRESERVATION OF THE COLLECTIONS AS WELL AS IMPROVING COMMUNITY ACCESS BY ALLOWING STAFF AND RESEARCHERS TO SEARCH FOR AND LOCATE OBJECTS MORE EFFICIENTLY.

THE YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER WILL IMPLEMENT A COMPREHENSIVE STORAGE PLAN TO MOVE ITS ARCHIVES FROM AN EXISTING SPACE TO A STATE-OF-THE-ART STORAGE AREA. THE MUSEUM WILL PURCHASE HIGH DENSITY STORAGE UNITS THAT WILL PRESERVE THE GREATEST NUMBER OF DOCUMENTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER ARCHIVAL MATERIALS IN THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF SPACE POSSIBLE, WHILE ALSO LEAVING ROOM FOR 10 TO 20 YEARS OF COLLECTIONS GROWTH. THE PROJECT WILL DOUBLE THE SPACE FOR RARE BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS AND CREATE A NEW COOL STORAGE ROOM THAT WILL EXTEND THE LIFE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS. THE PROJECT POSITIONS THE MUSEUM TO BETTER SERVE VISITORS AND RESEARCHERS.

INCREASE ACCESSIBILITY AND RELEVANCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AT THE YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER'S COLONIAL COURT HOUSE.

YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER A-WING COLLECTIONS STORAGE PROJECT [THE GOAL OF THE YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER?S A-WING COLLECTIONS STORAGE PROJECT IS TO ADAPT AN EXISTING HISTORY CENTER EXHIBITION SPACE TO CREATE CLIMATE-CONTROLLED STORAGE SPACE FOR THE HISTORY CENTER?S 90,000+ OBJECT COLLECTION WHICH PRESERVE AND TELL THE RICH HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY AND ITS INHABITANTS THROUGH TIME. THIS GRANT IS FOR THE PLANNING PHASE OF THIS PROJECT THAT WOULD EXPLORE PASSIVE AND MECHANICAL MEANS TO ADAPT THE SPACE. IT WOULD FUND THE ASSISTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECTS TO CREATE A BUILDING PROPOSAL FOR THE SPACE IN PREPARATION FOR SEEKING AN IMPLEMENTATION GRANT TO CARRY OUT THE RENOVATION OF THE SPACE.]

THE YORK COUNTY HISTORY CENTER IN PENNSYLVANIA WILL HIRE A COMMUNITY HISTORIAN TO RESEARCH, COLLECT, PRESERVE, AND INTERPRET THE STORIES OF YORK COUNTY'S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES. THE HISTORIAN WILL WORK WITHIN THE COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS AND SEEK OUT THE STORIES THAT THE COUNTY'S AFRICAN AMERICAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES WANT TO SHARE ABOUT THEIR HISTORY ALONG WITH ARTIFACTS AND IMAGES THAT BEST ILLUSTRATE THESE ACCOUNTS. THE HISTORIAN ALSO WILL MANAGE THE HISTORY CENTER'S SHARE YOUR STORY: COVID-19 INITIATIVE TO COLLECT PANDEMIC-RELATED STORIES FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS. THE CENTER HOPES THAT THIS WORK WILL IMPROVE ITS COLLECTIONS, WHICH CURRENTLY LACK ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION OF YORK'S RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND SHOW YOUTH AND FUTURE GENERATIONS THAT PEOPLE FROM ITS DIVERSE COMMUNITIES HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HERITAGE, CULTURE, AND ECONOMY OF YORK COUNTY.