GREENEVILLE, TN -- The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library on the Tusculum College campus was presented an Award of Commendation from the Tennessee Association of Museums during its 2010 conference in Nashville.
The museum received the award for "superlative achievement" in the special events category for "Preserving Your Traditions," an exhibit and public program held in conjunction with National Archives Month and as part of Tusculum College's Homecoming 2009 activities.
Special presentations were made by Myers Brown, outreach coordinator for the Tennessee State Museum, and Amy Collins, archivist with the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University. The two presenters focused their sessions on providing information and techniques on storing and preserving textiles, metals, paper, photographs and film from personal family archives. Preservation "starter kits" were provided to those who attended one of the nine 30-minute sessions.
In between the presentations, films of Tusculum College and Greeneville made between 1929 and 1970 were shown. The films had been recently restored and transferred to a digital format.
An accompanying exhibit included rarely seen items from the archives of the college as well as examples of what happens to family artifacts that are not stored or handled properly. The exhibit, which has been visited by more than 1,800 people to date, will be on display through May 1, 2010.
The Awards Committee of the Tennessee Association of Museums was impressed not only with the scope and quality of the event but also the partnering between the museum, the college's Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, ETSU and the State Museum.
The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library and the Doak House Museum are operated by the Department of Museum Program and Studies of Tusculum College. In addition to the museums, the department is responsible for the College Archives and offers one of the few undergraduate Museum Studies degree programs in the country.
