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Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts

Pennsylvania's past is important. Events that took place here have reverberated throughout the entire world. The story of Pennsylvania is preserved in the artifacts cared for in collections found in every region of the state—in our communities' museums, libraries, archives, and historic sites. These artifacts tell us who we are, where we came from, and may even suggest new directions for our future.

Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts is a campaign that celebrates our state's most inspiring items—drawings, paintings, manuscripts, rare books, maps, photographs, objects, textiles, and much more. The project is part of Save Pennsylvania's Past, a multi-year initiative to protect and preserve the state's cultural collections.

Building awareness of the threats facing Pennsylvania's historic institutions and cultural heritage, the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts is presenting a unique opportunity to move the crucial needs of our collections into the limelight.

Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts offers a new statewide awareness and fundraising campaign that will engage institutions and the general public in a little friendly conservation competition.

This is a call to action for all who love the past and care about the future:

Save Pennsylvania's Past. Nominate an artifact today on the Nominate page!

Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts

The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is the country's largest nonprofit conservation facility serving cultural, research, and educational institutions, as well as individuals and private organizations. Our mission is to provide expertise and leadership in the preservation of the world's material culture. We specialize in the treatment of works of art and artifacts on paper, such as drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, rare books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, along with related materials like parchment and papyrus. CCAHA also offers digital imaging services, on-site consultations, educational programs and seminars, fellowships, and emergency conservation services.

See news and recent treatments here.

Save Pennsylvania's Past

Save Pennsylvania’s Past is a statewide effort to preserve the millions of objects and historic artifacts that shape the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s history and define our nation. Now in its second year, this two-year initiative is preparing collections care staff to address the challenges threatening Pennsylvania’s world-class collections through training programs and online resources.

As Save Pennsylvania’s Past project leader, CCAHA has partnered with a creative coalition of arts, cultural, educational, government, and historic organizations from all across the state: the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC), PA Museums, and LYRASIS. The initiative is supported by an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grant, by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and by the Arthur Ross Foundation, Inc.

Is your institution the home of a great Pennsylvania artifact?

Nominate it today! Read the full guidelines below and apply on the Nominate page.

Each nominating institution must:

• Be located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Be a nonprofit organization or unit of state, county, or local government.
• Have a collection that is accessible to the public.
• Have one staff member or volunteer who will be available to coordinate and follow through with marketing and publicity if the organization's object is selected as a Top 10 Endangered Artifact.

The selected artifact must:

• Be of historical significance to the nation, the state, and/or Pennsylvania communities.
• Be demonstrably in need of conservation.
• Be an artifact or a related group of artifacts and cannot be a building.

Please note that a nominator must be affiliated with the institution that owns the artifact.

The Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts review panel will strive to select a diverse group of artifacts from institutions varying in type and budget size and representative of various regions of the state.

1. Nominations will be accepted on this site from January 2, 2013 through April 15, 2013.
2. An independent review panel of collections care professionals will review all nominations in the spring and select the 10 most endangered artifacts.
3. These Top 10 Endangered Artifacts will be highlighted on the campaign website through images and stories.
4. The public can vote for and donate to their favorite objects out of the Top 10.
5. Institutional owners of the Top 10 Endangered Artifacts will receive support throughout the competition through a statewide promotional campaign, helping them to build social media-based communities, attract votes, and raise funds for conservation through a new online platform. Each will also be offered a $250 matching grant for conservation
6. The People's Choice Winner will be announced.
7. Funds raised through the online platform during the competition will be used to conserve the Top 10 Endangered Artifacts.

The nomination period has closed. Please check back for the announcement of Pennsylvania's Top 10 Endangered Artifacts in September 2013.