Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade Expands Its Support Skills
HHT’s Roof Raisers Curatorial Brigade (RRCB) is a vibrant group of trained museum volunteers who have been assisting in the care of historic collections at HHT’s partner historic sites since 2013. As the program has grown over the years, the RRCB has become a particularly welcome resource for historic house staff who rely on trusted and effective assistance in maintaining their important collections.
This year, HHT partnered with the Greater Hudson Heritage Network to again expand the capabilities of our premier volunteer group, this time to include aiding in collection cataloguing and inventorying. With support from the Gerry Charitable Trust, HHT conducted a two-phase pilot project to train and deploy museum volunteers to assist in collections care at three houses with great need and great stories to tell.
Lefferts Historic House, the Wyckoff House Museum, and the Alice Austen House were the first of HHT’s sites to receive inventory support from the RRCB. The project was a huge success, with 21 Roof Raisers contributing 224 volunteer hours toward inventorying 927 collections objects across three sites. The tracking and rehousing of these collections will not only help preserve these collections for future generations, but will also help increase public access to the historic objects that help tell New York City’s stories.
Project Highlight: Lefferts Inventory
HHT's expanded cohort of curatorial volunteers lent helping hands to the staff of Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park. Over the course of three weeks, trained volunteers inventoried, photographed, and repacked over 400 historic objects belonging to the museum.
Click here to learn more about the Roof Raisers’ project at the Lefferts Historic House.
