Bristol, Rhode Island
Historical Mansion Adds Efficient Archive Storage
Over 100 years of family history are stored within the Rhode Island home.
The Historic Challenge
Blithewold Mansion, an emblem of Rhode Island's rich history, faced a daunting task: managing its extensive collection spanning over a century.
Blithewold Mansion, in Bristol, Rhode Island, was once the summer home of the Van Wickle family. Today, anyone who visits the home will see it almost exactly as it was in 1910. Recreated from family photographs and an article in Country Life Magazine, the rooms are arranged as they were then, with all the original furnishings and most of the original wallpaper. The gardens remain much as they were designed over a hundred years ago.
In her position as Curator, Margaret Whitehead works with family archives and materials that are stored in the attic of Blithewold. Over 8,000 letters and 5,000 photographs along with diaries, costumes, and artwork are included in the collection. With the collection growing every year, Margaret and her preservation team needed a better way to track all materials being stored. When cataloging each piece was not enough, they looked at better storage solutions to fit their limited space.
"We wanted to put our storage in a much better position for retrieval..."
- Margaret Whitehead, Curator, Blithewold Museum
Recognizing The Need
Margaret Whitehead, the museum's steadfast curator, recognized the need for modernizing storage. Collaborating with Spacesaver storage solutions – together, a plan was created to optimize space and accessibility. With a local representative nearby in Massachusetts, they were able to work with sales reps and their management team to create a solution that fit their specific needs.
"Having every item’s information on a computer means that anyone who comes in can figure out where a piece is and find it very quickly. Just having the sense of everything being in its place and in order is a very good feeling."
- Margaret Whitehead, Curator, Blithewold Museum
Everything’s In Its Place
Closets repurposed, hallways cleared, Blithewold underwent a practical transformation. With meticulous cataloging and logical arrangement, navigating the collection became effortless, freeing up time for showcasing and curating.
