The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula is encouraging donations to keep their massive collection of Missoula and Montana history alive for future generations this holiday season with their "Preserving Pieces of The Past" campaign. The museum relies heavily on donations from visitors to help keep their collections in excellent condition.

Since 1975, the museum has collected, preserved and displayed items from our region's history, most recently an exhibit displaying historical garments called "Undressing History" in the North Gallery. We were able to show our readers a sneak peek before the exhibit opened in October 2022 HERE.

Credit: Stacy Carr-Poole / Historical Museum at Fort MIssoula
Credit: Stacy Carr-Poole / Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
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We spoke with the museum's Development and Communication Director Stacy Carr-Poole who noted that while Fort Missoula gets a substantial portion of its artifacts via generous donations from the public, donation drives like "Preserving Pieces Of The Past" will be instrumental in preparing a new collection space in one of the fort's barracks.

The new exhibit space will need shelving and cabinetry to be installed, as some of the pieces that will be on display will need to be placed in "archival boxes" that are acid-free. This website explains how even room temperature heat and light affect the deterioration of paper documents, and how an archival box can lessen the impact a document experiences in being exposed to long-time storage.

Credit: Stanisław Gregor via Unsplash
Credit: Stanisław Gregor via Unsplash / Canva
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Old documents not kept in long-term storage like an acid-free archival box will yellow and deteriorate faster.

The museum will also need help paying for climate control equipment and  as well. You can help out the museum by donating HERE.

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