Institute of Jazz Studies Receives $443,500 “Save America’s Treasures” Grant to Conserve/Preserve Count Basie Collection

The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) at Rutgers University–Newark recently received a $443,500 “Save America’s Treasures”grant from the National Park Service, in 

IJS will use the grant and matching funds it currently is raising to stabilize, conserve, and ensure the long-term preservation of the William J. “Count” and Catherine Basie papers and artifacts.

partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Over a three-year period, IJS will use the grant and matching funds it currently is raising to stabilize, conserve, and ensure the long-term preservation of the William J. “Count” and Catherine Basie papers and artifacts acquired by IJS in 2018. The roughly 500-cubic-foot collection, consisting of more than 1,000 artifacts, is unparalleled in its size and thorough documentation of Count Basie’s life and career. It includes personal and professional papers and photographs; moving image and audio recordings with unique and previously unreleased content; scrapbooks; ephemera; artwork; select home furnishings; awards; honors; apparel and accessories; and Basie’s piano and organ.