Press

ALBANY, N.Y. - The New York State Museum was awarded a $25,632 matching grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help conserve the Lewis Henry Morgan Collection of Seneca Iroquois artifacts, museum officials announced today.

"The Morgan Collection is one of the treasures of New York State. It's one of the most important holdings of Iroquois ethnological materials," Museum Director Cliff Siegfried said.

"I am proud of the role IMLS plays in helping museums across the country care for their collections," IMLS Director Beverly Sheppard said. "These awards help museums preserve their collections so that future generations may share the treasures that are our artistic, historic and scientific heritage. These awards promote long-range planning and commitment to sound practices in collections care."

The Morgan Collection was one of the first ethnographic collections to be acquired in the state. Morgan, known as the "Father of American Ethnology," assembled an unprecedented collection of Iroquois objects to help the newly formed New York State Cabinet of Natural History (later the State Museum).

Assisted by the William Parker family, a Seneca family on the Tonawanda Seneca Reservation in western New York, Morgan amassed a collection of nearly 500 objects between 1849 and 1850, which were acquired by the State. Tragically, a fire in the State Capitol in 1911 destroyed most of the collection. Now, the remaining 107 items are even more rare and important.

"I can't overemphasize how immensely significant this collection is," said Penelope Drooker, the Museum's curator of anthropology. "Together with its documentation, it provides irreplaceable evidence of the complete range of objects used in everyday life by Seneca Iroquois during the early 19th century. I'm delighted that it now will be conserved and housed as befits its importance."

The current collection includes beaded costumes, silverwork, quill decorated leather pouches, wooden ladles and stirring paddles, cornhusk salt bottles, basketry, cradleboards, lacrosse sticks, snow shoes, war clubs, bows and arrows.

A conservator who specializes in textiles will treat 11 of the most fragile items. They consist of a bird trap, a basket and nine garments and accessories.

All objects in the collection will be cleaned, provided with custom-made supports, and removed from antiquated cabinets and placed in state-of-the-art cabinets to protect them from further damage.

The collection will also be professionally photographed to reduce future handling of the objects.

Currently, a Morgan Collection skirt is on display in the Native Peoples of New York exhibition. Other objects from the collection will be incorporated into exhibitions from time-to-time as the Museum undergoes its makeover.

As part of the IMLS-funded project, a website will be constructed with images and descriptions of the collection and the conservation process. This will allow access to the Collection by a wide audience, while minimizing handling.

IMLS awarded $2,323,315 to 69 of the 203 applicants. Conservation Project Support awards support a wide range of projects to help museums safeguard their collections, including conservation training, surveys and treatment. Museums of every type, from art to zoo, are eligible for funding. These grants, which are awarded by a competitive peer review process, help museums undertake their most critical conservation activities.

This year, in honor of the Millennium, IMLS added an educational funding component to heighten public awareness of conservation issues. Few museum visitors are aware of the critical and ongoing conservation that occurs behind the scenes at museums. IMLS designed the education component funding to help build public understanding of the importance of conservation and to demystify conservation activities.

IMLS is a federal grantmaking agency in Washington, D.C., that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.

NYSM