HHT provides curatorial assistance to its member sites so that their significant historic collections can be preserved for the enjoyment and education of both current and future audiences.
Collections Specialists at the Ready
Many of HHT’s partner sites host valuable collections of artifacts, from photograph and document collections to important antiques. Most of these collections are owned by the museums themselves, unlike the historic structures, which are owned by New York City. Through a full-time Curator position, HHT provides guidance and on-site assistance to our partner sites in all areas of collections management, depending on the particular curatorial support needs of each site. Support provided by HHT includes conservation, inventorying, interpretation, exhibition, environmental monitoring, and disaster planning. By maintaining proper museum standards for these irreplaceable artifacts, HHT’s member sites keep history alive, relevant, enjoyable, and educational for New Yorkers across all five boroughs.
Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade
Founded in 2013, the award-winning Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade serves as a critical resource for HHT’s member houses by supplying trained, vetted volunteers for assistance in the maintenance and accessibility of their historic collections. This vibrant, community-oriented program addresses the need for additional support in caring for the over 90,000 historic objects within the collections of HHT’s partner sites, helping to offset larger curatorial problems by addressing immediate needs. Services provided include historic housekeeping, collection cataloging, object photography, and more.
In 2019, with support from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network and the Gerry Charitable Trust, HHT conducted a two-phase pilot project to train and deploy volunteers to three house partner sites with amazing stories to tell. Please click here to read more about this project.
“The 23 historic sites in the HHT portfolio are New York City treasures. This is why I have been thrilled to be part of their Roof Raisers program, where experienced curators train passionate, committed volunteers on the cleaning and maintenance of historic homes and the artifacts in them, how to catalog collections of historic items, and how to keep these places in pristine shape so that house staff can focus on what is really important – serving the communities in which these homes are located.”
Julie Blackburn
Interested in becoming a Roof Raiser? Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have temporarily paused trainings and onsite projects for the Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade. We hope to return to this exciting program in the near future. Please contact us to join our waitlist!
Our Partner Sites’ Collections
HHT’s historic sites collectively hold over 90,000 historic artifacts, consisting of an astonishing array of furnishings, decorative objects, clothing, archival materials, and archeological finds, some of which predate New York City.