2007 – National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)—Stabilization Grant Program
$575,000 for a compactor track system, anthropology cabinetry, and move coordination*

2006 – Save America’s Treasures—A Collaborative Grant Project of NEH and the National Park Service
$250,000 for archaeology cabinetry

The MNA Collections Department received these two major federal grants, totaling $825,000, in 2006 and 2007 to support the acquisition of new storage cabinetry for the Collection Center and coordination of the move. These grants, one from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)* and another from the Save America’s Treasures program (a collaborative project of NEH and the National Park Service) will provide new museum-quality cabinets for the long-term care of MNA’s anthropological collections. These cabinets will replace existing fifty-year-old wood and metal cabinets that do not meet current museum standards. The new cabinets will be fabricated by Delta Design of Topeka, Kansas and will be made of steel. All materials and paints used to fabricate the cases will be stable and will not produce off-gases that can degrade the collections stored within them. The cabinets will maximize space and visibility; control temperature, humidity, and light; and guard against contaminants.

In assessing the need for the cabinetry grants, a peer-reviewer for the Save America’s Treasures program stated, “There is no doubt in my mind that these natural history and archaeology collections are of immense national significance.” Additionally, National Endowment for the Humanities Program Officer Charles Kolb wrote to MNA that, “Panelists confirmed that the collections at the heart of the project are of ‘unequaled depth and breadth’…[and that] the anthropology holdings at MNA are the result of systematic collecting on the Colorado Plateau. Evaluators stated that the ethnographic collections are an unparalleled resource and they agreed that the katsina doll collection is a ‘humanities treasure.’” The NEH grant will also provide support for a move coordinator, a museum professional who will coordinate the packing and movement of collections from the old cabinets to the new cabinets in the new Collection Center.

*This 2007 National Endowment for the Humanities grant contains a challenge clause offering an additional $25,000 if the Museum can, by 2010, raise an equal amount in matching funds from the public sector. A generous museum member has stepped forward to pledge $12,500 towards this amount, under terms of an additional challenge that asks MNA to raise $12,500 from other members to complete the match.

Twelve Additional Collection Grants Totaling $441,711

2007 – Arizona Historical Records Advisory Board (AHRAB) Grant
$3000 to add Heritage Program records to Institutional Archives

2007 – National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Grant
$50,904 to locate human remains in Ecofact collections

2007 – Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS)―Conservation Project (CP) Grant
$8,924 to condition survey textile and katsina doll collections

2007 – Southwestern Foundation for Education and Historical Preservation
$4,850 to hire consultant archivist to create storage and organization plans

2006 - National NAGPRA Grant Program
$74,629 for tribal consultations

2006 – Arizona Historical Records Advisory Board (AHRAB) Grant
$3,000 to inventory archives

2005 – Institute for Museum and Library Services—Museums for America Grant Program
$149,976 to hire a Registrar and a Collections Assistant

2005 – National NAGPRA Grant Program
$73,966 for new tribal summaries based on new data

2005 – Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS)―Conservation Project (CP) Grant
$42,746 for emergency and top priority needs of fluid preserved collections

2004 – Museum Loan Network
$19,849 to survey 200 Navajo textiles

2003 – National Endowment for the Humanities―Preservation Assistance (PA) Grant Program
$4,985 for cabinetry for silver jewelry collection

2002 – National Endowment for the Humanities—Preservation Assistance (PA) Grant Program
$4,882 to develop preservation plan

Total MNA Collection Grants from 2002–2007: $1,266,711