GLENS FALLS, NY.- The Hyde Collection has recently received notification that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded the Museum a nearly $4,000 grant for an onsite survey and assessment of its archives by a professional archivist.

According to The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, the grant will be critical to the Museum’s creation of an organized and retrievable system for its more than 6,900 archival items including letters, receipts, diaries, photographs, travel journals and scrapbooks, and blueprints.

“With the NEH funding through this Preservation Assistance Grant, The Hyde will contract with a professional archive consultant to produce an assessment report. This report will then serve as the basis for a comprehensive plan to ensure that the Museum has an accessible and stable archive,” said Setford.

The archival materials to be included in the funded survey serve as vital tools for the development of research, programs, and exhibitions by the Museum’s curatorial staff, such as this past summer’s exhibition A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family. In addition, many of these materials reveal the history of the Museum’s historic buildings and grounds, as well as the acquisition of works of art in the permanent collection.

The grant was supported by U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer. “In these tough economic times, this is good news for the Hyde Collection,” said Schumer. “These archives provide critical research tools and offer a window into American fine art right here in upstate New York. I’m so glad this funding will help to strengthen the archives and open up access to these much-valued letters, diaries, photographs, and much more.”

Work on the archive survey and assessment project is expected to begin in early 2009.