SAVING AN AMERICAN TREASURE
A Two-Part Online Exhibit
Juanita Ahill collecting saguaro fruit at Saguaro National Park. Helga Teiwes, photographer. 1970. ASM 27569.
Part One:
An Unparalleled Collection of Anthropological Photographs
Designated an “American Treasure” in 2018, the Arizona State Museum’s (ASM) photographic collection documents 13,000 years of human occupation, ingenuity, and artistry in what is now the southwestern United States. The collection is unparalleled in its subject content and includes over 525,000 prints, negatives, transparencies, and more than 250 motion picture films, most not duplicated anywhere.
This irreplaceable collection is a unique compilation built from over a century of research, donations, and acquisitions from prominent scholars, collectors, and photographers. These images are integral to fostering our understanding of the region’s past and broadening knowledge and appreciation of the region's Indigenous cultures.
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Part Two:
Photographic Preservation Challenges and Degradation
For the last ten years, ASM’s photographic collection has been stored in seven separate and cramped rooms that lack climate control and space for growth. Unstable environmental conditions in these storage areas put the collection under immediate and persistent threat. The museum’s outdated air-handling systems and infrastructure are unable to adequately control severe fluctuations in temperature and humidity or to filter atmospheric pollutants that, when uncontrolled, can accelerate the rate at which image materials deteriorate. ASM conservators and curators work to protect the collection, and the building of a new storage suite will greatly help in this effort.
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