Stowe Center Collections Preservation Project

Andrea Holliger-Soles — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:13:27 +0000

A year ago the Stowe Center embarked on a renovation project of the library and archives vault, an underground storage facility built in 1973 that houses the Center’s extensive manuscript, print, photograph, broadside, poster and media collections. Funded by the National Endowment for Humanities and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the goal of this Collections Preservation project is to safeguard the historic collections. Improvements to the vault include installing fire suppression, upgrading climate control and expanding collections storage capacity with compact storage equipment. This will improve conditions for the items already stored in the vault and concentrate the most environmentally vulnerable pieces in the best storage space. The project is scheduled to be completed by October 2010, when the library and archives materials will once again be available for research. Please visit the Stowe Center’s website for project updates. The finding aides and catalog, as well as the artifact collection and the Kirkham Collection of Stowe letters are accessible during this period. Contact Collections Manager Beth Giard (860-522-9258 ext. 313) for more information.

E. Bruce Kirkham Collection, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Andrea Holliger-Soles — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:10:43 +0000

In 2007, the Stowe Center opened an extensive new resource to researchers: the Kirkham Collection of annotated Harriet Beecher Stowe letters. Generously donated by E. Bruce Kirkham, the Collection consists of copies of Stowe letters (1822-1886) gathered over many years from various collections, notebooks of Dr. Kirkham’s research, correspondence, clippings, microfilm, an electronic database of the annotated letters (1822-1895) and Dr. Kirkham’s text for a planned book of Stowe letters. Because many of the letters are the property of other collections, and due to the terms of the donation, various legal restrictions shape how the collection can be made accessible. As one of the outcomes of the 2011 Stowe Bicentennial, the Stowe Center would like to build a plan to publish at least some portion of Stowe’s letters. This collection would be the basis of that work. Contact Katherine Kane, Executive Director (860.522.5258×310), for further information.

The Collection is now available at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Library (even though the rest of the Stowe Center Library is in off-site storage during the Collections Preservation Project). The Collection cannot be digitally transferred or emailed, and can only be referenced or published in part. Material from the Collection may be reproduced with written permission from the appropriate libraries and the Stowe Center. Schedule an appointment Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call or email Collections Manager Beth Giard (860-522-9258 ext. 313) for more information.

The Stowe Society » Stowe Resources

Stowe Center Collections Preservation Project

E. Bruce Kirkham Collection, Harriet Beecher Stowe Center