STRATFORD — The Swedish Foundation of Iowa’s Swede Bend Settlement has been awarded a grant from the Enhance Hamilton County Foundation.

The grant will help with cataloging archival storage and exhibit gallery project.

Following the passing of the foundation’s co-founder and president and of the museum manager in 2020, the board of directors convened, evaluated and set strategic goals for the museum and its collection to ensure its future in Stratford and develop a space for the community to gather, research and explore the history of the greater Swede Bend region.

The cataloging portion of the project will transition the museum from paper documentation to a searchable online catalog. It will be a central location to include all details about a particular artifact, including its historical significance, who it belonged to, who donated it and more.

The second portion of the project will be properly archiving and storing objects, documents, histories, manuscripts, photographs and maps in the collection. Acquiring archival storage products, and using them to store artifacts appropriately is needed to ensure the collection will be preserved.

The third portion of the project is to update the exhibit gallery space, replacing current open shelves with proper museum display cases, display props and interpretation signage to project artifacts while they are on display.

The public is invited to join the Swedish Foundation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the Swedish Immigrant Museum, 819 Goldsmith St., Stratford, for a first look at the exhibit gallery update progress. There will be children’s activities and holiday treats.