The Allen Steinheim Museum is a historic building and former

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located on the campus of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

Allegany County, New York Allegany County is a County (United States), county in the Southern Tier of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 46,456. Its county seat is Belmont, New York, Belmont. ...

. It is a crenellated stone structure built from 1876 to 1880 to house the "mineral, geological, natural, and man-made curiosities" of Alfred University's second president Jonathan Allen. The building was originally started by Professor Ida Kenyon, who wished to make a private residence that resembled the castles of her native

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The building is constructed of over 8,000 rock specimens that were combined to form the walls of the structure and 700 samples of local and foreign wood to combine the internal framework. When operating in the 1930s, it was considered the second oldest college museum in the United States. The Federal Writers Project described the museum as exhibiting a unique collection of "rare shells, mounted birds and animals, Indian artifacts and pioneer agricultural implements, early American pottery, Steigel and Sandwich glass, and the finest workmanship in the ceramic arts". The building ceased being used as a museum in the early 1950s, was used as classroom space, and then fell into disrepair. After a 1995 renovation and a 1997 dedication, the Steinheim, which is German for "stone house," has since housed the Robert R. McComsey Career Development Center. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying two photographs''
/ref> In 2008 artist Lenka Clayton devoted time to several projects that sought to call attention to the Steinheim Museum's absent collection. Among these projects were:
7,000 Stones
" that collected a symbolic pile of stones- numbered as if part of a collection- which were then discarded;
Found Instructions 1
, that used an inventory sheet of the dying collection- found in the university's Special Collections- to create a modern display; and
Amnesty for the Museum
" where she put a call out for the missing artifacts of the collection in order to photograph them in their current environment. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973.

References

External links

Alfred University - Robert R. McComsey Career Development Center at the Allen Steinheim MuseumShoe Collection from the Steinheim Museum, Special Collections, Herrick Memorial Library
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Alfred University Museums on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Defunct museums in New York (state) Infrastructure completed in 1880 Buildings and structures in Allegany County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Allegany County, New York 1880 establishments in New York (state)