Historic Northampton Receives Beveridge Foundation Family Grant
The Frank Stanley Beveridge Foundation of Westfield awarded a $6,000 grant to Historic Northampton to monitor the climate conditions of ten collections storage rooms and make adjustments based upon real data.
With four historic buildings and changing New England seasons, maintaining appropriate climate conditions in collections storage spaces is a constant challenge.
With this grant, Historic Northampton purchased 10 PEM2 dataloggers from the Rochester Institute of Technology Image Permanence Institute and an upgraded subscription to eClimateNotebook to track the data. The dataloggers have been placed in collections storage rooms to record the temperature and relative humidity of each room. Museum staff insert a flash drive into each datalogger on a weekly basis and transfer the data to www.eClimateNotebook.com. Staff and museum conservator Richard L. Kershner review the data and make adjustments to climate conditions depending upon the data reports. Thanks to this grant, climate conditions are being monitored in all rooms housing costume and textiles, the Shepherd Barn and collections storage rooms in Parsons House. The grant also provided funds for the purchase of five humidifiers to add humidity during the dry winter months.
In the long term, the compilation of the data will inform planning and recommendations for more permanent solutions to climate conditions.
With four historic buildings and changing New England seasons, maintaining appropriate climate conditions in collections storage spaces is a constant challenge.
With this grant, Historic Northampton purchased 10 PEM2 dataloggers from the Rochester Institute of Technology Image Permanence Institute and an upgraded subscription to eClimateNotebook to track the data. The dataloggers have been placed in collections storage rooms to record the temperature and relative humidity of each room. Museum staff insert a flash drive into each datalogger on a weekly basis and transfer the data to www.eClimateNotebook.com. Staff and museum conservator Richard L. Kershner review the data and make adjustments to climate conditions depending upon the data reports. Thanks to this grant, climate conditions are being monitored in all rooms housing costume and textiles, the Shepherd Barn and collections storage rooms in Parsons House. The grant also provided funds for the purchase of five humidifiers to add humidity during the dry winter months.
In the long term, the compilation of the data will inform planning and recommendations for more permanent solutions to climate conditions.