|
Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections The 2004 recipients of the Heritage Preservation/American Institute for Conservation Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections represent a wide range of cultural institutions. This award is a recognition by professional conservators for dedication to high standards of conservation policy and practice. From a sprawling national landmark to the agency overseeing the National Archives to a relatively young natural history museum, these institutions stand out not only for their emphasis on conservation, but also for engaging their communities on conservation issues. The Henry Ford The Benson Ford Research Center, which opened in March 2002, has greatly enhanced the visibility of the important research collection as well as improved the storage of the most environmentally sensitive collections. A special low-temperature storage area, with separate air handling, has been provided for a collection of over 5 million nitrate and acetate negatives. Conservators and collections managers at The Henry Ford are currently surveying and re-housing over 50,000 artifacts that will be moved into the facility in the coming year. The path The Henry Ford took to get here is remarkable. In the early 1970s the institution staffed a state of the art conservation facility, but by the end of that decade the conservation department had been reduced to a fraction of its size due to financial problems. During the ‘80s the institution underwent a restructuring in which conservation and collections care were reinvigorated with the hiring of new staff. A computerized environmental monitoring system was installed in the main exhibition hall. Intense efforts were begun to document the collections, artifact condition, and treatment records. A 1990 IMS Conservation Project support brought six nationally prominent conservators in to help develop a long-range plan for conservation. The plan focused on preventive conservation balanced with artifact treatments driven by exhibits. Conservators began to train presenters, security, union cleaning and trades staff. An integrated pest management program was implemented. Numerous other preventative conservation efforts such as the development of exhibit guidelines, numerous storage re-housing efforts, and new and expanded collections care routines that reduce damage to collections from light, dirt, pests, and storage materials. These and other improvements allowed The Henry Ford to receive full reaccreditation in 1996 after provisional reaccreditation had been granted in 1988. Major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities supported the installation of a climate control system in the main exhibition hall and in turn led The Henry Ford to initiate a $40 million capital campaign to address a range of critical infrastructure issues. Along with completing the installation of the climate control system, the campaign paid for:
The award committee commends The Henry Ford for systematically addressing conservation issues. Additionally, the committee applauds the institution for its outreach efforts: to the professional community through efforts such as sponsoring a disaster planning conference and assisting the Detroit Historical Museum in cleanup after a fire, and to the public through the Caring for Your Artifacts section on its Web site. National Archives and Records Administration Through an integrated program that merges archives and preservation management, NARA preserves a vast array of documents that span the history of the federal government, from the colonial and pre-federal period to the present. The holdings of the National Archives represent the entire history of record-keeping practices in the United States, from early public laws engrossed on parchment to modern electronic records and virtually everything in-between. The size and diversity of the holdings of the National Archives combine to form a daunting preservation challenge, which is made even more complex by the number of NARA facilities across the country. NARA has responded systematically and effectively to this challenge over the years by building in-house technical expertise among the staff who use, serve, and preserve the holdings; initiating broad programs to assess and characterize the preservation risks to various record formats; educating researchers and the public about preservation; and implementing appropriate preservation and conservation procedures to ensure the preservation of original records and the information they contain. NARA integrates a range of preservation strategies into the functions and activities of the institution. Each staff member is aware of their responsibility for preserving the records in the way he or she handles, houses, stores, and serves records to researchers. NARA’s Preservation Programs department provides expertise and guidance and works closely with other staff in a wide range of activities to carry out this key responsibility. Building construction and facility maintenance are additional areas where procedures and policies integrate preservation considerations. The National Archives first opened its doors in downtown Washington, D.C., in 1935. From its inception, preservation was a core mission and activity. The National Archives building was among the first federal buildings to be air conditioned and was thus an early leader in providing a suitable preservation environment for permanently valuable records. In the early 1980s, the National Archives founded the Advisory Committee on Preservation, an expert group of scientists, conservators, and preservation professionals. The planning and development of the National Archives facility at College Park, Maryland (Archives II), in the late 1980s continued NARA’s sustained commitment to preservation. NARA is in the midst of completing a major upgrade to the historic National Archives Building. A primary focus of the renovation is key improvements for the care of the holdings. In 1998, NARA embarked on a special project to re-encase the Charters of Freedom. This multi-year collaborative project involved National Archives staff as well as scientists and technical experts from the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) and other agencies and organizations.
NARA has long sought to investigate issues of concern to the profession and to share its expertise and research. For 17 years, NARA has sponsored an annual preservation conference. Attendees come from other federal agencies, large to very small archival and cultural institutions, and the private sector. Twice a year, NARA offers the Modern Archives Institute. This three week course in archival practices integrates preservation methodologies and approaches, and has contributed to a broader understanding of preservation goals within the archives field. NARA provides advanced conservation internship training and pre-graduate training opportunities. Archives and preservation professionals regularly receive training and assistance in special media reformatting, duplication and digital imaging. NARA’s guidelines for preservation microfilming have influenced programs throughout the world; numerous individuals have come for training. By virtue of its position and irreplaceable holdings, NARA has been on the cutting edge of preservation and conservation technologies. The committee commends the agency for going beyond its mandate as well as for its forward thinking and its contributions to the field through sharing results of its research and providing venues for communication and discussion. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History The territory had not been explored biologically or geologically, so collections related to research and teaching the natural sciences were begun among several academic departments. Over the years, these collections were housed in a variety of buildings on the University of Oklahoma campus, including barns and stables built in the 1920s. For more than half a century, these poor structures—lacking climate control or even heat in some cases—“protected” the 6 million objects that represent the largest collection of Oklahoma’s heritage, as well as significant collections of rare objects from throughout the world. In the late 1980s, a group of committed supporters in Norman acted to save their museum. In 1988, director Michael Mares published a book titled Heritage at Risk to alert the people of Oklahoma to the possible catastrophic loss of their heritage in the museum’s deplorable buildings. A resulting bond referendum won a landslide victory, and $5 million was provided to initiate the museum campaign. Another bond shortly thereafter provided another $15 million. These victories at the polls gave the museum project high visibility and soon private foundations and individuals stepped forward with donations.
The new Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History was dedicated in 2000. Conservation and security consulting firms, as well as a private conservator, were involved in every aspect of building design. Not only are the collection and exhibit areas provided with constant temperature and humidity, but the building design called for a vegetation-free strip around the structure to reduce the risk of pests. The design for water pipes was modified along the lines of the Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center so no pipes carry fluids over collections or exhibits. There are alarms for water leaks in every collection area. A room for preparing vertebrate collections is isolated from the main structure and has separate ventilation and mechanicals. Because the collections had been housed so poorly, a team of six people spent three years preparing the collections to move into the new facility. Objects were treated in a decontamination facility before entering the building. The museum staff has grown from 10 in the mid 1980s to over 120 today, with almost half the staff involved in collection care and security. The museum staff is committed to maintaining high standards in collection care, through the maintenance of their state-of-the-art facilities and the implementation of preservation policies and procedures. The museum is hiring its first conservator as a result of a General Conservation Assessment conducted as part of a strategic planning process. The award committee commends the Sam Noble museum for the great community engagement that enabled an extraordinary turnaround for this important museum and applauds the museum’s recent decision to hire a staff conservator. Finally, the committee wishes to specially recognize the contributions of Dr. Michael Mares for his extraordinary personal commitment and vision, which has guided the entire process. |
The Henry Ford, a National Historic Landmark, includes Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, Henry Ford Academy, the Benson Ford Research Center and Ford Rouge Factory Tours. Automobile magnate Henry Ford founded the Museum and Village in 1929 to house his collections highlighting American innovations and inventors and to document the daily lives of ordinary people. Today the collection includes more than 1 million three-dimensional artifacts; 26 million archival documents, photographs, graphics, books, periodicals and other literature; and more than 76 historic structures. 
Additionally, from September 2002 through June 2003, Greenfield Village underwent a total replacement of its underground infrastructure and made several substantial aboveground improvements, including storm and sanitary sewer piping, creating an infrastructure that can support a range of improvements in the conditions of buildings and collections in the Village that were not previously possible. Conservators are now working with facilities programs and the collection manager/curator of historic structures to identify historic structures that are most in need of conservation, environmental improvements and artifact conservation. 
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency created in 1934 that safeguards records of all three branches of the federal government. NARA meets thousands of information requests daily, ensuring access to records on which the entitlements of citizens, the credibility of the government, and the accuracy of history depend. 
Information gained on the condition of the parchment and ink was used to develop treatment protocols, and this information has already been shared with colleagues in the conservation field. Likewise, the process of designing and fabricating new encasements resulted in much new information on materials and display environments that will be useful to other cultural institutions. The information gained from this work is being disseminated through lectures, conferences, publications and even a film for public television. 
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History traces its roots to when Oklahoma became a Territory of the United States. Shortly after the last Oklahoma Land Run in 1899, the legislature ordered the establishment of a “cabinet of curiosities” for the new territory at the new University of Oklahoma. From these modest beginnings, the collection began to grow and develop as the academic programs of the university grew. 
By the end of the 1990s, the museum had raised more than $50 million for a new building and new staff positions. In all, more than 10,000 people in Oklahoma (the 44th poorest state in the nation) donated money to make their new museum a reality. Preservation of heritage was cited as the primary reason for supporting the new museum and so preservation became a primary underpinning of the museum’s design.