Dear Cybercolleagues,
I would like to thank you all for input ,some serious, some humerous, most
very helpful all professionally concerned.

Our researchers are pulling the journals mentioned and once scanned I will
share the bibliography with y'all. It is not an easy subject to find good
information on. By all sharing as you have this list will be and is a credit
to the museum community. Better still it's free!
As a conservation intern and also married to a nurse, I learned one does
have to be carefull when opening medical bags accessioned in collections.
Tetanus shots are a must. Sharp rusty instruments ,old syringes and just old
dirt and dust requires the caution of wearing good nitrile gloves ( latex
tear too easily) and at least a mist or dust mask. Some like myself are
allergy prone to dusts and molds.
While interning I heard a story about a Mom and daughter who'd contracted
Scarlet Fever through handling old clothing. I went through that experience
as a child and was quarantined to a dismal hospital ward it was no fun.
All life's lessons are cues which ring alarm bells ,especially in the
Conservation field.
I believe in working safely and caring for the staff around me and that
means our handlers who are first in line when they pickup these items from
well meaning donors.
It is better to slow down and research the possibilities if it is possible
to contract a virus thast may lay dormant ( if there is such a possibility)
before handling and treating the artifact.

My internship with David Harvey at Colonial Williamsburg was the best one
could have . There in the metals lab when working on the Cartwright woodwork
tool collection I learned about historical trace. On a wooden marking gauge
I found a thumbprint in the varnish because I happened to have examined the
piece under the microscope.
I discussed it with my "teacher" and cleaned gently around the print and
noted it in my condition report. Perhaps it was the original cabinetmaker's?
How exciting and so that taught me not to just start cleaning an object but
to thoroughly examine what is first obvious and then search for more
intimate detail.
We are taught to draw every scratch and depression found on the overall
object's surface, when beginning the career of Conservator. I had excellent
training and of course the luxury of time not always afforded when there is
the "exhibit deadline " to meet.
When I train my growing team of volunteers in my lab from ages 15 to 70 who
have never done conservation, I teach them the art of seeing and what I
learned about "Historical Trace" before they are permitted hands-on artifacts.

To address the concerns from a few who aren't conservators about the blood
on a firearm . No attempt will be made to remove it ,it is part of that
weapon's history as it travelled through the Civil War.
A way will be found to apply a coating so that it will not disintegrate and
for me to ascertain that anyone handling the artifact in the future is not
at risk.
Thanks for letting me share this with you and thank you again for your eager
replies.

Sincerely.


Len Hambleton -Chief Conservator
N.C.Museum of History
Raleigh N.C.