Mystic _ Mystic Seaport Museum has announced its has been awarded a three-year federal grant of $236,788, to recover and improve access to selected negatives in its Rosenfeld Collection of Maritime Photography that have deteriorated due to vinegar syndrome.

The grant comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Rosenfeld Collection, which contains nearly one million pieces from 1881 to 1992, is one of the largest archives of maritime photographs in the United States. Approximately 150,000 negatives from 1927 through the 1950s, are cellulose diacetate (safety film) and are prone to or affected by vinegar syndrome.

A team, which includes two grant-funded positions, will evaluate, select, recover, treat, digitize, rehouse, and catalog 5,000 images. The museum said the goal of the project is to create a model for its ongoing treatment of negatives affected by vinegar syndrome and to share the results with the museum and archive community.

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