National Pearl Button Museum

The National Pearl Button Museum will inventory and catalog its collection of over 10,000 buttons and objects related to the pearl button manufacturing industry in the United States. The collection includes pearl buttons, paper and photographic records related to the button manufacturing industry, and preserved mussel shells, many of which come from extinct or endangered species. Museum staff will work with volunteers to sort, rehouse, catalog, and photograph objects as well as input data into a collections management database. By digitizing collections records, the museum will be able to access objects more easily for research and exhibition purposes. Both the museum’s personnel and public researchers will benefit from increased accessibility of the collection.