Browse funds

Established in 1997, with a lead gift from Paul R. Dupee Jr. '65 and with matching funds from the NEH Challenge Grants Program, to support the preservation of library materials.

The National Endowment for the Humanities Preservation Endowment was created in 1999 from a $625,000 grant and matching funds from alumni and other benefactors in the amount of $2.5 million.

Funds from the Library's preservation-focused endowments allow us to care for Brown University's outstanding library collections, which are critical to the teaching, learning, and research endeavors of a world-class research university.

During the 2024-25 academic year, the Library was able to conduct preservation treatments on a host of distinctive collections items thanks in large part to the generous support of donors. The following list highlights some of this vital preservation work.


Brown University Charter - Selected for treatment by the University Archivist, the parchment paper university charter manuscript was flattened and rehoused to make it more accessible to researchers.

Plans of Brown University Library, Providence, R. I. - Selected for treatment by the University Archivist, the heavily water-damaged book was unbound, and the architectural drawings were placed in individual folders and boxed.

Nineteen Eighty-Four manuscript - The 144 individual leaves of the manuscript — the only substantial Orwell manuscript not destroyed by the author — were encapsulated and placed in an archival post-binding that allows the manuscript to function like a book, making it easier for researchers to use.

The Last Will of Walt Whitman - The manuscript was flattened and housed in a new custom enclosure.

[African-American soldiers in World War II] - The photo album book was disbound and encapsulated for ease of use.

Histoire de Barbarie, et de ses corsaires, divisée en sic livres. - Selected for display in the library exhibit, Fashioning Insurrection: From Imperial Resistance to American Orientalisms, the book’s detached boards and spine leather were reattached.

Refugees - A custom box was created to protect the newly acquired ceramic artworks that are now part of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection.

Catoptrum microcosmicum - The binding of the anatomical flap book was re-backed and a custom enclosure was made to hold the book along with tools to assist with turning the delicate flaps.

HP Lovecraft Papers - Objects - A custom enclosure was designed and crafted to hold Lovecraft's personal objects, making them viewable without direct handling.