The Fort Ticonderoga Museum has been selected to receive a Preservation Survey through the Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY) Planning and Assessment Services. The purpose of this Preservation Survey is to review the museum’s preservation needs concerning the environment (temperature, relative humidity, pollution, and light), housekeeping, pest control, fire protection, security, disaster preparedness, storage, handling, exhibition, treatment, and preservation planning, especially as they relate to the Museum’s renowned archival collection.
“The generous support from the Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY) will ensure that the museum continues to meet our mission of preservation,” said Fort Ticonderoga Collections Manager, Miranda Peters. “As stewards of these remarkable collections, we want to formally assess our current practices and collections spaces so that we may better plan for the future. DHPSNY’s support through the Preservation Survey will help us meet that objective.”
From the library and archives to the object collections, Fort Ticonderoga’s collection touches on nearly all major categories of material related to the American Revolution and early colonial conflicts. The library contains over 13,000 volumes focusing on the military history of northeastern North America and New France during the 18th century. Another focal point of the rare book collection is the collection of original 17th, 18th, and early 19th-century military manuals. The museum’s collection of 18th-century English and American newspapers and literary magazines includes comprehensive runs of The London Magazine and Annual Register covering the Seven Years’ War and American War for Independence in their entirety.
The archival collections consist of thousands of manuscripts, diaries, orderly books, maps, and photographs. The manuscript collection includes correspondence of both officers and common soldiers who served at Fort Ticonderoga in the 18th century. Thirty journals and orderly books contain first-hand accounts and day-to-day orders of an army at Fort Ticonderoga and the Lake George/Champlain valleys during the Seven Years’ War and War for American Independence. Dozens of original maps, hundreds of engraved portraits and hundreds of historic photographs provide a visual link to the past. The museum’s collection of maps documents change in the landscape from the 1690s to the mid-19th century. Engraved portraits bring researchers face-to-face with the key figures involved in the conflicts for North America. The photographic collections document the preservation and reconstruction of Fort Ticonderoga from the mid-19th to the 21st century.
The DHPSNY staff will meet with Fort Ticonderoga Museum staff to complete the Preservation Survey in fall 2017.
About Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY)
A statewide program of the New York State Archives and New York State Library, Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services for New York (DHPSNY) provides free planning and education services to support the vast network of repositories such as archives, libraries, historical societies, museums, and other institutions that safeguard and ensure access to New York’s historical records and unique library research materials.
DHPSNY is a collaboration between two long-running New York programs dedicated to service and support for archival and library research collections throughout the State: the New York State Archives Documentary Heritage Program and the New York State Library Conservation/Preservation Program. DHPSNY is a program of the New York State Education Department, with services provided by the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts.
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.