Hanford Mills Museum At East Meredith

BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT FOR PRESERVATION (CAP) PROGRAM THE HANFORD MILLS MUSEUM WILL EVALUATE AND PROCESS UNDOCUMENTED AND FOUND-IN-COLLECTIONS (FIC) OBJECTS IDENTIFIED DURING A RECENT FULL-SITE COLLECTIONS INVENTORY. MUSEUM STAFF WILL COORDINATE THE PROJECT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF TWO PAID INTERNS. PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE RECONCILING FIC OBJECTS WITH EXISTING RECORDS; ACCESSIONING AND CATALOGING FIC OBJECTS INTO THE PERMANENT COLLECTION; PROCESSING OBJECTS DETERMINED TO BE EDUCATION OR NON-COLLECTIONS OBJECTS; AND DETERMINING WHICH OBJECTS SHOULD BE RECOMMENDED FOR DEACCESSION. WITH A GOAL OF PROCESSING 12,000 OBJECTS, THE MUSEUM WILL IMPROVE BOTH THE INTELLECTUAL CONTROL AND THE ONGOING MANAGEMENT OF ITS COLLECTIONS.

"THE HANFORD MILLS MUSEUM WILL IMPLEMENT ACTIVITIES TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF ITS HISTORY COLLECTIONS. A COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN AND UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE INTERNS WILL WORK WITH MUSEUM STAFF TO LAUNCH THE FOUND-IN-COLLECTIONS PROCESSING PROJECT. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF A FULL-SITE INVENTORY, THE MUSEUM HAS IDENTIFIED OVER 18,000 OBJECTS IN ITS COLLECTIONS THAT ARE NOT NUMBERED. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS 9,000 OF THESE OBJECTS, AND THOSE RECONCILED WITH THEIR RECORDS WILL BE RECONNECTED TO THEIR PAPERWORK; THOSE NOT RECONCILED BUT DETERMINED TO BE PART OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION WILL BE FORMALLY PROCESSED; AND THOSE DETERMINED TO BE PART OF THE EDUCATION OR OTHERWISE NON-COLLECTION OBJECTS WILL BE REMOVED FROM PERMANENT STORAGE AND MARKED ACCORDINGLY. BY IMPROVING THE MANAGEMENT OF ITS COLLECTIONS, THE MUSEUM WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE GREATER PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE COLLECTIONS AND ENHANCE ITS INTERPRETIVE GOALS AND PUBLIC PROGRAMMING."

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

HANFORD MILLS MUSEUM AT EAST MEREDITH WILL DRAFT AND IMPLEMENT AN UPDATED INTERPRETIVE MASTER PLAN TO HEIGHTEN CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE SITE’S HISTORY AND LARGER GLOBAL SYSTEMS AND CONDITIONS. MUSEUM STAFF WILL CONTRACT WITH A CONSULTANT TO ASSIST IN WRITING THE PLAN, BUILDING UPON ITS RECENT INTERPRETIVE AUDIT AND DRAFT FRAMEWORK. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL DRAFT INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION PROCESSES AND PROTOCOLS AND PROVIDE INTERPRETIVE WORKSHOPS FOR STAFF, OTHER SMALL MUSEUMS, AND STUDENTS. THE PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A MASTER PLAN TO GUIDE AND EXPAND INTERPRETATION, INCLUDING AN UPDATED ORIENTATION SCRIPT AND MILL TOUR. THE PLANNING PROCESS, RESULTING DOCUMENTS, AND WORKSHOPS WILL INCREASE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CAPACITY AND STAFF KNOWLEDGE. PROJECT BENEFICIARIES INCLUDE MUSEUM STAFF AND BOARD MEMBERS, STAFF FROM SURROUNDING SMALL MUSEUMS, NEARBY MUSEUM STUDIES PROGRAMS, AND ULTIMATELY VISITORS TO THE SITE.