Hagley Heritage Curators is developing the library’s world-renowned research collections through new partnerships with businesses and trade associations. In early March, the program, started with support from the Longwood Foundation, achieved a notable milestone when Erik Rau, Director of Library Services, was invited to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) spring board meeting.
The NAM's records at Hagley are an important national resource for historians interested in the development of manufacturing in the United States, since 1895 when the NAM was founded. The NAM regularly draws on the collection at Hagley, aided by the library staff’s expertise, in preparing for its many events, and in its advocacy of American manufacturing. In fact, the display that welcomed board members in Naples, Florida, was composed largely of the NAM images curated and made available by Hagley’s library staff.
Rau made his presentation to 300 participants with John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. In introducing Rau and Heubusch, the NAM president and CEO Jay Timmons announced the NAM's commitment to preserving and making available its previously inaccessible records at Hagley. The records affected will cover the NAM's history since the early 1970s and will be made available through Hagley’s stewardship during 2020, the association’s 125th anniversary year.
Timmons also encouraged the audience in Naples to preserve their own companies’ histories, both for their firm’s benefit, and for the larger mission of promoting manufacturing in the United States.
To learn more about Hagley Heritage Curators, visit HagleyHeritage.com or contact info@hagleyheritage.com.