LIS 2215 Grant Proposal Assignment Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Application Cover Sheet ------------ Opportunity Title: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Offering Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities CFDA Number: 45.149 CFDA Description: Promotion of the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access Opportunity Number: 20130718-PW Opportunity Open Date: 09/26/2013 Opportunity Close Date: 12/03/2013 Agency Contact: Division of Preservation and Access Room 411 National Endowment for the Humanities 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8570 [email protected]APPLICANT INFORMATION Contact Information Primary Contact First Name: Katelyn Last Name: Quirin Secondary Contact (if applicable) First Name: Last Name: Institution Institution Name: Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives Address: 225 North Muhlenberg Street City: Woodstock State: VA
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LIS 2215 Grant Proposal Assignment Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Application Cover Sheet ------------
Opportunity Title: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources
Offering Agency: National Endowment for the Humanities
CFDA Number: 45.149
CFDA Description: Promotion of the Humanities Division of
LIS 2215 Grant Proposal Assignment Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Application Cover Sheet ------------
Country: USA Zip Code: 22664
LIS 2215 Grant Proposal Assignment Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Application Cover Sheet ------------
PROJECT INFORMATION
Project Title (125 characters max):
Environmental Stability Assessment of the Sigma Sigma Sigma
National Sorority Archives
Project Abstract (1000 characters max):
The collections at the Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority
Archives date to the turn of the twentieth century and includes
yearbooks, photographs, scrapbooks, and copies of the sorority's
national magazine, The Triangle. The Archives also holds
institutional records, such as meeting minutes for conventions,
the National Panhellenic Council, and the Executive Council.
This collection is significant to the humanities because it
depicts the history and development of a cultural institution.
The materials in the Archives are essential to understand the
significance of the sorority for its members as well as its
impact on greater society.
An NEH grant would fund the hiring of a consultant to do a
environmental stability assessment and to instruct the staff on
best practices.
Proposed Project: Start Date: 2/1/2015 End Date: 6/1/2015
APPLICATION MATERIALS CHECKLIST Attach the following application materials as described in the guidelines:
Narrative Budget Supporting Documentation Résumés for project director and other key staff Résumé(s) and letter(s) of commitment for project consultant(s)
All application materials must be submitted as a single file in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept documents in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don’t already have software to convert your files into PDFs, many low-cost and free software packages will do so.
LIS 2215 Grant Proposal Assignment Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions Application Cover Sheet ------------
Application materials must be uploaded to CourseWeb by 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.
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Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives
Environmental Stability Assessment
Project Narrative
A. What activity (or activities) would the grant support?
The Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives at the Mabel Lee Walton House National
Memorial Headquarters requests a National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation
Assistance Grant to address environmental instability at our institution. The grant would fund the
travel and time expenses of a consultant, Mimi Bowling, who will spend three days at the
Archives to address environmental issues. The first activity of the consultant will be to examine
the environmental condition of both the archival areas at the Mabel Lee Walton House and the
house as a whole to establish an understanding of the most pressing environmental issues.
The second activity of the consultant will be to lead an educational seminar for both the archival
staff and general staff at the Mabel Lee Walton House. This seminar will explain the importance
of environmental stability for an archive and what each staff member can do on a daily basis to
ensure climate control.
B. What are the content and size of the humanities collections that are the focus of
the project?
The collection at the Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives is comprised of 140 linear
feet of documents, 37 scrapbooks, and approximately 150 photographs. These materials
document the history of Tri Sigma National Sorority from its founding, with each portion having
items from 1898 or the early 1900s until present. Within the documents collection, there are a
range of institutional records, including chapter files, the personal records of Mabel Lee Walton,
former National President, and meeting minutes from national conventions, the National
Panhellenic Conference, and the Tri Sigma Executive Council.
In addition to these records, the document collection houses one if not multiple copies of almost
every issue of the sorority’s national magazine, The Triangle, which began in 1909.1 These
magazines are one of the best documentation of the sorority’s history in the collection. Since it
began only ten years after the founding, the magazine records the prominent events of the
sorority. For example, the Winter 1951 edition of The Triangle contains an article that depicts
one of the most important events in the sorority’s history: the creation of The Robbie Page
Memorial Fund, the sorority’s national philanthropy. The article, entitled “The Last Days of
Robbie Page’s Life,” was written by Robert Page, the father of Robbie and husband of National
President Mary Hasting Holloway Page.2 Their son, Robbie, died of polio when he was 5-years-
old, and his father’s article describes that last few days of his life. It then details the Memorial
Fund that the sorority created to fund polio research, and now serves play therapy programs
1 Finding Aid, The Triangle Collection, Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives, Woodstock, VA. 2 Robert Page, “The Last Days of Robbie Page’s Life,” The Triangle (Winter 1941), The Triangle Collection, Sigma
Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives, Woodstock, VA.
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across the country. This article provides a crucial understanding of an integral part of the
sorority.
Another significant portion of the collection is comprised of 37 scrapbooks. The scrapbooks
range greatly in subject, from a personal college scrapbook of member Emily Walton dating
from 1904, to a scrapbook of birthday cards to the National President Mabel Lee Walton in 1953,
and scrapbooks made for the most recent national conventions.3 These scrapbooks play a vital
role in the collection because they provide visual representations of the development of the
sorority.
Despite spanning the same time frame, the photograph collection does not necessarily provide as
much context as the scrapbook collection. The roughly 150 photographs begin in the early 1900s
with images of the sorority’s founders and are primarily from the twentieth century. Many of the
early images have unknown origins or subjects. The archives volunteer staff is in the process of
researching the photographs to provide more context to researchers.4
C. How are these humanities collections used?
The humanities collections at the Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives serves the
institution as well as members of the larger community. Institutionally, the collections are used
primarily for the national records. The principal patrons are members of the sorority, who access
the Archives to research the history of the sorority. These researchers are usually focused on the
materials the Archives’ has about the founders or their collegiate chapter. This type of research is
often for personal use.
In addition, the Archives is used by genealogists, researching the activities of members
throughout the history of the sorority. Some genealogists use the Archives to research specific
members, particularly if they were prominently involved in the sorority. If the Archives does not
contain detailed information about a specific sorority member, genealogists use it to gain more
information on a person’s chapter or what the sorority was like generally when a research subject
was a member. This information gives a genealogist, or any researcher, an idea of what
membership would have been like for a specific person.
Beyond personal research, the Archives has the capability to assist academic researchers. The
collection at the Archives is a great resource for anyone studying the history of Greek
organizations or the activities of collegiate women from the late ninetieth century until today.
The breadth of the collection provides detailed information about the start of the organization
and its mission, as well as how the organization developed and expanded. It serves as an
excellent representation of the ways women formed organizations and acted as collegiate and
life-long leaders.
More specifically, the Sigma Sigma Sigma National Sorority Archives was utilized by prominent
women’s history scholar Cindy Louhoo in her recent book, Sorority Girls: The History of
