Vanya-
I definitely would against punching through the object.  Is he worried about
them only while on exhibit.  Why not find a material that could be placed
over just the SS#  while on display? A first thought might be to
encapsulated them and them use something like a marking material or a pencil
for plastic numbering to "black out" the number.  You could also agree to
restrict access to them even while in storage until after he has passed
away.  We often deal with lots of similar materials like that and this is
some of the way that we have handled this in the past for many of the law
enforcement officers that we deal with here.

Hope this helps
Tracie Evans
Collections Manager
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanya Scott [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 10:38 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Social Security Numbers on Artifacts
>
> Greetings all,
>
> I recently received three identification security badges from a donor who
> worked at the Nevada Test Site -- one badge from the 1960s, one from the
> 1970s, and one from the 1980s. They reflect the evolution of the
> Department of Energy from the AEC through ERDA to the contemporary DOE.
>
> My question is this: each badge has a photo of the donor with his social
> security number printed below. Two of the badges are laminated cardstock,
> and the third is plastic. The donor would like me to punch through his
> SSN, but I'm wondering if there is a less invasive way to handle this. The
> cards are not currently slated for exhibit, by the way.
>
> Any recommendations?
>
> Thanks,
> Vanya Scott, Registrar
> Atomic Testing Museum
> 755 E. Flamingo Road
> Las Vegas, NV  89119-7363
> (702) 794-5142
>
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