The Floating Hospital Archives Project
The Floating Hospital Archives Project was conducted as part of the Citi Center for Culture + Queens Library Fellowship program from September 2016-May 2017. At the time, The Floating Hospital, founded in 1866, had just celebrated 150 years of providing free healthcare services to the homeless and other medically underserved populations. The goal of the project was to take the first steps to ensure the long-term preservation of the Archives and to create interest in the Floating Hospital’s long history of charity.
Long Island City
The general public, as well as The Floating Hospital’s staff, patients, and friends.
- Archiving
- Exhibition
- Other
The fellows wrote a preservation assessment for The Floating Hospital’s archives, which included actionable steps that The Floating Hospital’s staff could take to preserve the archives. In addition to the assessment, the fellows created an exhibition featuring the archives, entitled “A Legacy of Caring — The Floating Hospital, 1866-2017”. The exhibition was made for a general audience. Its aim was to educate visitors and, hopefully, inspire them to support The Floating Hospital. It was spread across six large exhibit cases in the rotunda of the Citi Building. Three of the cases provided information about the history of The Floating Hospital and the three other cases provided information about the services that the charity provides today.
The preservation assessment was well-received by The Floating Hospital. The exhibition was particularly successful, garnering a lot of good press about The Floating Hospital’s mission and history. The exhibition was even featured in the New York Times in April 2017.
The main lesson of this project is to go with the flow, even when challenges arise.
- Regina Carra, Fellow
- Jeffrey Delgado, Fellow
- Pamela Hansen, Fellow
- Maddy Vericker, Fellow
Activity Timeline
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