New Year, New Drawers, Huge Milestone

One of our primary curatorial goals for the collection in the past 25 years has been the replacement of old, non-archival materials (rusty metal cabinets, poorly sealed drawers, and cork-lined unit trays) and the reduction and eventual elimination of the use of naphthalene (aka moth balls) as pest repellent.

Collection legend has it that our old drawers were made by inmates in the Ohio Penitentiary back in the 1940s-1950s. The type of wood and the color of the old drawers varies greatly, but the red-stained ones are admired by many. Unfortunately, after 75 years or more of exposure to naphthalene crystals, the wood of the drawers is thoroughly impregnated with the chemical. To top it off, most of the old drawers do not seal well anymore.  Over the decades, lids have warped, bottoms have cracked open, and many of the metal parts that held the glass firmly in place have rusted and broken off. As beautiful and interesting as they are, the old drawers no longer provide safe storage for the collection’s specimens.

Examples of the old drawers

As part of the second phase of our beetle curation project, funded by the National Science Foundation, we proposed to transfer our entire beetle collection to modern, archival-quality drawers.

Early on Friday (1/16/2026) we made a huge leap forward towards that goal with the delivery of 1,000 new USNM-style drawers to replace the existing non-archival drawers: ten pallets, each with 100 drawers strapped to it. Once the pallets were unloaded from the delivery truck to the museum’s loading docks area, we started opening up the packages, placing the drawers on carts, and moving them to the collection.

Drawer delivery and opening the first package

Pallets containing drawers inside the delivery truck
Package partially open, showing the new drawers still wrapped in clear shrink wrap.
Multiple pallets containing new drawers waiting to be opened
Stacks of new drawers still on the pallet
Two stacks of new drawers in a moving cart

Once in the collection, we used clean, soft, damp cloths to wipe the drawers inside and outside to remove any sawdust residue. We checked the drawers for defects, and finally put them away in cabinets for temporary storage. As of today, two hundred new drawers have been dealt with, 800 more to go.

In the next few weeks (and months) we will be swapping out more old drawers for the new ones. Keep updated on our progress by checking this space frequently. And thank you for the support!

About the Author: Dr. Luciana Musetti is an Entomologist and Curator of the Triplehorn Insect Collection.