The Museum recently received a grant from the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission to fund repairs and upgrades to the museum's gallery building. The grant, in the amount of $158,401, is supporting the museum’s efforts to improve artifact preservation and update current exhibits with a more comprehensive history of the farming community between 1880 and 1950.
So far, grant funding has enabled the Museum to update our HVAC systems in order to provide better climate control (temperature and relative humidity) to our collection of historic artifacts. The historic items we use to show the history of rural farming are now better protected from heat and high humidity which can cause historic items to deteriorate faster.
The Museum is also currently undergoing a roofing project which will modernize the Museum's roof and prevent leaks and other issues that could damage our artifacts or exhibits. The roofing project is being done by Red Letter Roofing and should be complete in early August.
The next phase of the grant project will start soon as staff and contracted historians begin the process of research in order to update the existing exhibit displays’ visual look and content. This will make the museum’s collections and stories more accessible to current and future generations who may not be familiar with agriculture’s significant impact on our past and present.
The Museum is very grateful to the NC TTFC for their support through this grant program. The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission (NCTTFC) was created to assist current/former tobacco farmers, former quota holders, persons engaged in tobacco-related businesses, individuals displaced from tobacco-related employment, and tobacco product component businesses in NC that have been affected by the adverse effects of the MSA. The NCTTFC can disburse funds through compensatory programs and qualified agricultural programs. For more information about NCTTFC visit their website: http://tobaccotrustfund.org/about-the-ttfc/
Read more about the Museum's TTFC grant here: https://www.tobaccofarmlifemuseum.org/post/n-c-tobacco-trust-fund-commission-supports-upgrades-to-museum-structures-exhibits