Sandy Spring Museum

The Sandy Spring Museum will redress historical inequities in its cataloging practices by enhancing the metadata used to describe materials in its archival records. The project is designed to unlock the Black history of the region, which is not readily available due to past recordkeeping practices. The museum will hire a metadata associate to work with its archives and records manager and a community subject matter specialist to uncover family histories, apply page-level metadata, and transcribe materials. The project will allow people searching for Black history in the museum’s archives to access previously unknown information about the local Black community, such as labor remuneration, specialized skills, health and health care access, and informal economies. The museum’s entire digital collection will continue to be available on a collaborative statewide digital preservation program.