Interim Report Historic Northampton CPC Historic Arms Small Grant
Historic Northampton
Preserving, Interpreting and Exploring Northampton’s Stories
To:Northampton Community Preservation Committee
From:KelsySinelnikov, Collections Manager, Historic Northampton
Date:March 20, 2020
Re:2019 interim report, Historic Arms Collection Storage Small Grant
In 2018, Historic Northampton received a Community Preservation Act Small Grant to preserve the historic arms collection. Since being awarded this grant, we purchased two metal cabinets
with drawers to house the historic firearms and swords in this collection. Historic Northampton’s collections manager, KelsySinelnikov, and volunteers are now in the process of moving
the collection into its new housing.
We also purchased a lockable metal cabinet for firearms. Historic Northampton’s collection is primarily composed of 18th and 19th century firearms, which are much longer than modern
guns. Modern gun cabinets are not designed to house firearms of these lengths. Therefore, we decided to purchase a locking metal cabinet and then outfitit with supports that would specifically
meet our collections needs. The cabinet supports were created andinstalled by Douglas Thayer Design of Florence.
In 2020, we will move ahead with rehousing the sword collection into its new cabinet and drawers. The drawers will be lined with ethafoam to cushion the objects and minimize movement
when they are opened. Supports will also be created as needed to provide proper support. Historic Northampton is excited to move forward with the preservation of this historic collection
through the support provided by this grant.
Expenses spent to date total: $2478.22
Firearms rehoused in the new cabinet outfitted with supports by Douglas Thayer. Photos aresmall and cropped for security reasons.