#preservation

Corpse Bride by Joshua Hoffine (https://joshuahoffine.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/corpse-bride/amp/)

Wet specimens.

Fish specimen.

teeth from skull trophies by Morbid Anatomy

msulconservationlab:

This poor book was full of mold, dirt, and accretions. (I urge you to click on the first image so that you can see a larger version). The mold was inactive when it came down to the lab, but the dark, black, fuzzy stuff still made me shudder.

I vacuumed the entire book - page by page - in the fume hood, using a vacuum with a HEPA filter, and wearing personal protective clothing. It took about 3 hours to vacuum the entire book.

Even inactive mold can produce allergic symptoms in sensitive individuals, and we wouldn’t want our patrons to become sick while using our collections! Although the mold spores have been removed, some staining remains. Additional conservation is needed to make this book usable, since the sewing is broken, the pages are loose, and the binding is badly distorted. Just another item for my “to do” list!

-Bexx

Yuck! These are the kinds of copy-specific features we don’t want to preserve for posterity. The staining, at least, tells a story—but the presence of the mold itself (active or inactive) is obviously a serious health risk.

For more on moldy books and what to do with them, check out these other fantastic posts from our Library’s Wallace Conservation Lab Tumblr: 

Mold, certain adhesives, and some pigments fluoresce under UV light
Mold from a July 4th, 2015 water leak (extra disgusting)
Purple paper staining the result of extensive mold damage
Vacuuming moldy books in the conservation lab (gif)

A big thank you to all the conservators out there for the work you do—behind the scenes—keeping patrons and staff safe and ensuring our library books are usable for generations to come!

~Andrew

We are getting excited for the @ohassociation conference sponsored by @sworalhistory in Salt Lake City October 16-20! Our oral history collections are growing and we look forward to sharing our research with these networks.

#archive #preserve #exhibit #70degrees #archives #preservation #Exhibition #Exhibition #oralhistory #history #historians #southwest #CA #California #narrative #story #Rode #Canon #audio #equipment
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3bBv6dJHlb/?igshid=1q5c6m3v96tpg

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum has an impressive site. Instead of a typical orientation film, you will be inpressed by the museum’s Reagan #hologram. We viewed the ranch narrative. “The Tack Room at Rancho del Cielo – President #Reagan has just returned from a #horseback ride and he talks to us about the Ranch and how it helps him to balance the pressures of the Oval Office, and then tells us a little about his ideas on #freedom.”

While you visit, be sure to visit the archive. #October is the designated month for American archives. “As a Presidential Library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (#NARA), the Reagan Library, under the authority of the Presidential Records Act, is the repository of presidential records for President Reagan’s administration. The Library’s holdings include over 60 million pages of documents, over 1.6 million #photographs, a half million feet of motion picture #film, tens of thousands of audio and video tape, and over 40,000 #artifacts.”
The are located at 40 Presidential Drive |Simi Valley, CA 93065. The are open hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. seven days a week.

#archive #preserve #exhibit #70degrees #archives #preservation #exhibition #CA #history #historians #southwest #RonaldReagan #nationalarchives #USA (at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3MznO5pYBy/?igshid=16wut33azo8tb

Located in the heart of the Los Rios District, the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society has been restoring and preserving historical structures. It is adjacent to the Capistrano Depot that actively takes you on the #train throughout #SoCal.

The National Trust for Preservation established the week long tradition of recognizing preservation practices during the Nixon administration. They now show how #ThisPlaceMatters with a toolkit for grassroots organization. We celebrate all the month of May. The trust created a list of 31 actions, one for each day, for you to get active in this movement. Visit https://savingplac.es/2VYOlr6 via @savingplaces.

#70degrees #tbt #history #fieldnotes #fieldnote #fieldwork #historian #preserve #preservation #story #stories #narrative #structure #building #restore #save #archive #SanJuanCapistrano #SJC #SanJuan #district #historicdistric #CA #California (at Los Rios District)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxz4vPtn3ba/?igshid=m6ze9t7jbfrs

Βροχερή ημέρα, ενδείκνυται για ζεστό καφέ και ενημέρωση!
Το γάλα γαιδούρας περιέχει βιταμίνες Α1, Β1, Β2, C και Ε καθώς και ένα εξαιρετικό ποσοστό ανοσοσφαιρήνης, μαγνήσιο, ασβέστιο, κάλιο, φώσφορο, ψευδάργυρο και sodium.
Οι πρωτεΐνες γάλακτος προσφέρουν αξιόλογες ενυδατικές και θρεπτικές ιδιότητες, ως αποτέλεσμα της εξαιρετικής απορρόφησής τους από την επιδερμίδα, καθώς και της δυνατότητας τους να δεσμεύουν νερό. Παράλληλα απελευθερώνουν συγκεκριμένα αμινοξέα, τα οποία είναι πολύ σημαντικά συστατικά του φυσιολογικού ενυδατικού παράγοντα του δέρματος (ΝΜF) και της διατήρησης της φυσιολογικής μεταβολικής δραστηριότητας των κυττάρων, καθώς συμμετέχουν στη σύνθεση του κολλαγόνου, της ελαστίνης και της κερατίνης. Όλα αυτά τα χαρακτηριστικά προάγουν τη δημιουργία ενός υγροσκοπικού φιλμ στην κεράτινη στοιβάδα της επιδερμίδας.

#Rainy #day, indicated for hot #coffee and #update!
#Donkey #milk contains #vitamins A1, B1, B2, C and E and an #excellent rate of #immunoglobulins, #magnesium, #calcium, #potassium, #phosphorus, #zinc and #sodium.
The milk #proteins offer #remarkable #hydrating and #nutritional #properties, as a #result of their excellent #absorption into the #skin, and the #ability to #bind #water. Furthermore, they release specific #amino #acids, which are very #important #components of the #normal skin #moisturizing #factor (NMF) and of #preservation of the normal #metabolic #activity of #cells, as they are involved in the #synthesis of #collagen, #elastin and #keratin. All these #characteristics #promote the #creation of a #hydroscopic #film on the #stratum #corneum of our skin.

Long before today’s CGI special effects, early animators of the silent era experimented and introduced new techniques into filmmaking. Check out a tour of the silent animation collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive—one of the few places in the world that captures this rich history of early animation.

A Landscape of Change: Cape Hatteras Light Station

Twenty years ago, in the summer of 1999, the Cape Hatteras Light Station was moved 2,900 feet from the spot where it had stood since 1870. 

As the natural process of shoreline erosion transformed this dynamic coastal environment, the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States now stood dangerously close to the ocean’s edge.

The remarkable undertaking including efforts to protect the structures, maintain the coastal setting of the original site, and preserve the original orientation to the shoreline and spatial arrangement of historic structures in the landscape.

Discover more about the transformation and preservation of this cultural landscape: Landscapes of Change: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

• Photo album of the 1999 Cape Hatteras Light Station move
• Cape Hatteras Light Station Cultural Landscape Report
• Cape Hatteras Light Station Cultural Landscape Inventory
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore website 
• More about cultural landscapes

Driving the lighthouse along the beach to its new location on June 24, 1999 (NPS).

Parterre Planting

In 2010, the Falling Gardens at Hampton National Historic Site were rehabilitated to reflect their historic configuration. The six parterres that comprise the Falling Gardens were re-defined on the turf-carpeted terraces and replanted to represent circa-1867 planting schemes.

The garden rehabilitation helped evoke the grandeur of the historic landscape, which had fallen into disrepair by the mid-1900s with missing and overgrown vegetation. 

The Falling Gardens and Greenhouse #2 from the Great Terrace, looking southwest, 1872 (NPS/HAMP 3493, in Cultural Landscape Report).  

The work didn’t end there, however.

Annuals are planted in the parterres each spring. This year, park staff, a summer work crew of 6 people, and volunteers planted 3,398 plants over a 2-week time period.

Want to see more of the 2019 parterre planting at Hampton National Historic Site? 

• Timelapse video
• Photos

(Recorded by and shared with permission of Tim Ervin, via Flickr.)

How do Cultural Landscape Reports inform landscape preservation?

Discover history, plant lists, before and after photos of the Falling Gardens, and more about Hampton National Historic Site cultural landscape :

• Cultural Landscape Report, Volume I (Site History, Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation) 
• Cultural Landscape Report, Volume II (Treatment and Record of Treatment) 

The Falling Gardens and Greenhouse #2, c. 1935 (NPS/HAMP 19240, in Cultural Landscape Report).  

Cultural Landscape Preservation

It’s already the end of May, which means that Preservation Month is coming to a close. Here are just a few ways to continue exploring cultural landscape preservation in the National Park Service:

• Timeline of Cultural Landscape Preservation, 1850-Present 

• Guidance Documents and Cultural Landscape Report Collections: 

You can also find access to the Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) Portal there, an NPS-wide repository for documents, publications, and data sets related to natural and cultural resources of the National Park Service. The cultural landscape documents in this growing collection contain history, analysis, and treatment recommendations to support the management of cultural landscapes.

• Cultural landscape video collection from the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 

These videos highlight preservation projects in various park cultural landscapes, revealing how management documents (like Cultural Landscape Reports) guide preservation treatment that can impact the experience of historic places.

• The National Park Service & Historic Preservation 

Keep celebrating preservation all year!

Appomattox Court House Village, April 9

On April 9, 1865, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the Civil War. The landscape at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park marks the beginning of the country’s transition to peace and reunification following four years of war. The rural landscape is also significant in areas of architecture and conservation.

In commemoration of the 154th Anniversary of Lee’s surrender to Grant, learn more about the park’s cultural landscape through a new video and the recently published Cultural Landscape Report:

• Discover the Appomattox Court House Village landscape through the latest video from the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 
• TheCultural Landscape Report Treatment Implementation Plan guides long-term management and preservation decisions for this historically significant landscape. 
• Visit the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park website to learn more and plan your visit 
• More information about the Appomattox Court House Landscape  

Thereconstructed McLean House at Appomattox Court House, the site of the surrender on April 9, 1865 (NPS Photo). 

The Brain Scoop:
Conserving Akeley’s Elephants

It’s been about 3.5 years (!) since we’ve talked about Carl Akeley’s fighting African elephants (throw back to that first video here– I was such a baby science communicator!!!). These elephants represent some of the best taxidermy ever created, but after being on display for the last century they’re beginning to show their age. 

So, the Field hired a team of conservators to assess the specimens, with the hope of repairing damage sometime this year, so they can continue to inspire and educate our visitors for another 100 years. 

Conservator Technician (GS-7) at the US NATIONAL ARCHIVES
The National Archives and Records Administration (Washington DC area) is seeking applicants for the position of Conservator Technician GS-7.  This is a permanent full time position that will focus on carrying out basic conservation treatments and preventive conservation activities on archival records. The salary range is $43,684.00 to $56,790.00 / per year.  
Applications are due at the end of this week on Friday, December 9.
Please see the link to USAJOBS for more information about the position and application process:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/449618900

Two staff members from the Preservation program in St. Louis experienced quite a case of déjà vu last month. The staff were set to present  at a statewide museums and archives conference in St. Joseph, Missouri about the preservation work being done on burned military records from the 1973 NPRC-St. Louis fire.

The night before the staff were set to speak, a fire broke out in an older building a block north of their hotel. (See photo) Visitors in the hotel were evacuated, as embers from the fire were floating northward and managed to set another building’s roof on fire. Nobody was hurt thanks to the quick response of the fire department, but it was definitely a tense situation! Nobody knows better than the Preservation Program at St. Louis about the devastation that fire can wreak on buildings and the items within those buildings. As our staff works every day to preserve the records of the past, it is our hope that no other archive or museum has to experience such a destructive event. Our hearts go out to those in Tennessee and elsewhere who have been effected by the recent wildfires.

NARA’s copy of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, more commonly known as the “Dunlap Broadside” underwent extensive conservation treatment this past summer.  The document, printed in Philadelphia the afternoon or evening of July 4, 1776 by John Dunlap, was originally tipped into the Rough Journal of the Continental Congress and had been extensively repaired over its lifetime.  A NARA conservator carefully removed a fabric lining that was probably done in the early 20th century, followed by washing with buffered deionized water on a suction table to reduce discoloration and acidity.  Remaining treatment steps included filling losses in the paper with a cotton/linen paper pulp followed by lining with two sheets of very thin Japanese mulberry tissue.

 [RG 360, Paper of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention]

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Look what we found on Halloween in the Decontamination Lab at our Preservation program in St. Louis! After changing her title from Preservation Technician to Preservation Gnome, Shannon got down to business surface cleaning burned records from the 1973 fire. Gno-matter what, preserving records comes first! Shannon has been working at NARA-St. Louis for almost 8 years, and her background is in repairing, filming, and preserving microfilm. We love having her on the team, and she is definitely our favorite gnome by far!

First Volume of Presidential Pardons

This volume contains early copies of pardons granted by the first five presidents of the United States. The original leather binding was very tight, severely red rotted, and the spine had been poorly mended with cloth. The textblock was split and pages were torn. Book conservator Steven Loew mended the pages, rejoined all split folios and guarded weak center folds (mended all along), resewed the entire textblock on five linen cords, and bound it into a new cloth cover with a flexible spine that reveals the sewing cords. This record book can now be safely accessed. The images show the original binding, the spine and the split textblock before treatment, a repaired section of pages ready to be sewn, the text block being sewn, and the volume in its new cloth cover with a flexible spine that reveals the sewing cords.

RG 59, entry 897, Pardons and Remissions, Vol. 1 of 16, April 25, 1793 to Nov. 19, 1812

Give Way to Tanks!

This poster from the WWII foreign poster holdings in the Still Pictures Branch at NARA came to the conservation lab recently for treatment. The poster was humidified and flattened, and the surface was lightly cleaned using vinyl eraser crumbs, which can pick up surface dirt yet are gentle on the paper and media. The cracked and flaking ink was consolidated. Tears were mended and the small loss at the top right corner was filled with acrylic-toned Japanese paper. 

[RG 44, Records of the Office of Government Reports, 44-PF-123]