The Al Harris Library at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) in Weatherford has been awarded a Preservation Assistance Grant for Smaller Institutions by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
SWOSU is fortunate to have received a signifi cant donation of papers and memorabilia of retired U.S. Air Force general and Weatherford- native Thomas P. Stafford. This grant allowed library staff to pursue a preservation assessment of the Thomas P. Stafford Collection to identify necessary conservation methods and supplies to protect these archival materials for the future. Such assessments are required before initiating additional funding requests to seek such supplies and conservation care (e.g., repair work, treatments to slow deterioration of materials).
The award allowed library staff to hire a consultant, The Conservation Center, an organization with a long history of preserving collections at various institutions and offers a 24-hour Disaster Response team to help institutions address accidental damage from natural disasters. The Conservation Center was selected as a qualified institution within our geographical region. Their staff have a cumulative 300 years of conservation experience with specialization in photography, rare books, works on paper, 3-D objects, and multimedia.
The consultant identified various courses of treatment for the Stafford Collection materials, provided a roadmap of the needed supplies to be used in safely storing this collection, and recommended facility updates to accommodate the proper preservation of these materials in storage and on display. The preservation assessment report is located on the university’s institutional repository, SWOSU Digital Commons: https://dc.swosu.edu/lgrants/1/.
This report evaluating the Thomas P. Stafford Collection has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this report, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information on the General Thomas P. Stafford Archives, visit the website at https://stafford.swosu.edu.
