The Hett Art Gallery and Museum at historic Camp Chesterfield in Anderson, IN houses 127 years of historical documents and photographs related to the movement and religion of Spiritualism, as well as primary documents and artifacts dating back over a century to the original formation of the Indiana Association of Spiritualists (IAOS) in its museum archives.
Currently, due to the fragile condition of the archives (including handwritten documents dating back to the late 1880s and photographs—some on tin plates) it is not possible to allow researchers or individuals wide access to the archives for fear of damaging or ruining the stored materials.
This digitization project is important because the entire collection is at serious risk of being lost, which would be a calamity not only for the IAOS and the Hett Art Gallery and Museum, but also for Indiana state history and worldwide Spiritualist history.
This collection will capture the digitization and metadata for photographs, oral histories, hotel logs, paintings and murals.
This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.