Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awards American Academy of Arts and Sciences $250,000 to build and maintain Academy archives

May 1, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the American Academy of Arts & Sciences a $250,000 grant to catalog, conserve, and improve access to the Academy’s earliest and most historically significant records.

Last year, the Academy completed construction of a state-of-the-art archive facility at its headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. Its holdings include communications from such early members as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton; correspondence with other learned societies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and Academy serial publications.

“The Academy’s records provide insight into the growth and development of America’s intellectual traditions, and document what our nation’s scholars and leaders were discussing and thinking during critical historical moments,” said Chief Executive Officer and William T. Golden Chair Leslie Berlowitz. “The Academy now has a wonderful opportunity to provide scholars access to these collections and to understand better its own rich history as well.”

The Mellon award will allow the Academy to support archival assistants; install specialized records management and cataloging software; and design an archives section of the Academy website, among other things.

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