Historical Mansion Adds Efficient Archive Storage

Blithewold Mansion, in Bristol, Rhode Island, was once the summer home of the Van Wickle family.Today, anyone who visits the home will see it almost exactly as it was in 1910. Recreated from family photographs and an article featured in Country Life Magazine, the rooms are arranged as they were then, with all of the original furnishings and most of original wallpapers. The gardens remain much as they were designed over a hundred years ago.

In her position as Curator, Margaret works with family archives and materials that are stored in the attic of Blithewold. Over 8,000 letters and 5,000 photographs along with diaries, costumes, and artwork are included the collection. With the collection growing every year, Margaret and her preservation team needed a better way to keep track of all of the materials being stored. When cataloging each piece was not enough, they looked at better storage solutions to fit their limited space.