Maryon Pittman Allen’s Technological Legacy: Streamlining Preservation in The Fashion Archive
(poster presentation)

Juliana Ogden
Art History  (Class of 2025)
Gracey Woodson
Anthropology (Class of 2024)

Dr. Marcy L. Koontz, Faculty Advisor

Maryon Pittman Allen, former US Senator from Alabama, posthumously donated a capsule collection to The Fashion Archive in 2018. Using an original digital condition report form created with Adobe Acrobat, each of the collection’s 18 objects from the 1900s-1940s were examined.

Reports were completed on an iPad with Adobe Acrobat, Apple Pencil, and GoodNotes app, following ICOM terminology. This presentation highlights Maryon Pittman Allen’s forward-thinking donation and the use of technology to streamline object condition reports. A refined fillable PDF form facilitated tasks such as photographing, measuring, degradation documentation, and data entry.

The 18 completed forms were instantly accessible via cloud storage and linked to the collection database. Although a moratorium on donations to The Fashion Archive was established in 2018, this documenting process will be required for all future accessions and applied to previously accessioned objects. This approach preserves Maryon Pittman Allen’s legacy and contributes to the preservation of The Fashion Archive’s collection.