The Elizabethtown College High Library’s Hess Archives and Special Collections recently received a Preservation Assistance Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant will provide funding allowing Elizabethtown College Archivist Rachel Grove Rohrbaugh to improve the housing conditions of the College’s rare books.
“With the College’s 125th Anniversary this year, it’s a wonderful time for such an impactful investment in preserving our history,” Grove Rohrbaugh said. “This grant will give us the much-needed funds and expertise to preserve the important books in our collections for future generations.”
Through the grant, a professional book conservator from the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts will conduct an on-site needs assessment of the rare books housed in the High Library in March 2025. After the conservator makes recommendations, the grant will provide funds for recommended housing supplies for 500 of the Hess Archives’ more than 4,200 volumes. Of the volumes, more than 530 were published before 1850 and more than 600 were published between 1850 and 1900. Less than 5% of the volumes are currently boxed, and fewer are in custom-sized enclosures, which are essential for long-term preservation.
The High Library handles more than 150 research requests every year, including researchers from across the United States and several foreign countries. The Hess Archives have never had a rare book needs assessment.
Rare books included in the Hess Archives’ collection include pamphlets originally published for Old Order Amish readers, notable titles from the Germantown Saur Press, 17th– and 18th-century printings of works by influential Anabaptist and Pietist writers, and the Clarence Spohn Collection of rare imprints from printers active in Ephrata between 1745 and 1830. As a leading repository on Anabaptist and Pietist groups, the collections contain rare and unique materials.
The grant will also cover a rare book workshop for staff at local cultural heritage institutions and the High Library.
The NEH grant is part of $37.5 million in grants for 240 humanities projects across the country. NEH granted 57 Preservation Assistance Grants totaling $541,972 to help small and mid-sized institutions improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections. NEH was created in 1965 as an independent federal agency to support research and learning in the humanities.
About the Elizabethtown College High Library’s Hess Archives and Special Collections
Constructed in 2014, the Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections is housed on the Elizabethtown College High Library’s first floor. The archives include an extensive collection of historical artifacts including a combination of the collections held by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies and the High Library’s rare holdings. The archives also have a broad online collection that includes digital photographs, newspapers, and historical audio and video. Learn more at etown.edu.
