Jenni-- By copy of this to my sister Lou Alberschardt, who works with the NSF on
climatology projects in Greenland and Antartica (I'm afraid her's deal with eons
and millenia, not just centuries) I thought she may have some ideas/leads for
you!
Good luck, Jim Cz
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 09:28:12 -0500
From: Jenni Rodda <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Blizzard artifacts
Greetings from the snowdrifts:
The Blizzard of 1996 has past, being billed as only the 3rd
largest in the history of New York City. The snow reminded
my father of a family artifact, currently housed in his
attic, about which I'm asking your collective advice:
My father's family lived in Brooklyn for many years, and
weathered the blizzard of 1888. My great-grandfather took
some of the snow that had piled up outside his home, melted
it down, and sealed it in a bottle (I think he used parrafin
and foil), labelling it as carefully as if it were a museum
object. The bottle still exists; it is still sealed rather
well, but fully half of the quart of snowmelt originally
contained there has evaporated away. That it took more than
a century to lose half the volume of the snowmelt seems
remarkable to me.
My question is this: what is the best way to preserve this
particular artifact? I wouldn't be the least bit surprised
to discover, via this listserv, that there is a Museum of
Blizzards out there--Should this bottle be bequeathed to
such a museum? Is there any interest in the chemical composition
of 19th century snowmelt?
With thanks for your help,
Jenni Rodda, Curator
Visual Resources Collections
Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 772-5872, (212) 772-5807 fax, [log in to unmask]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
M.J.Czarniecki III Program, Facilities, & Financial
Principal & CEO Planning for Cultural Institutions
S/RI Cultural Planners - - - - - - - - -
123 Farrington Cultural Programming & Planning
Saint Paul MN USA 55102.2101 for Communities
- - - - - - - -
612.224.6954 [log in to unmask]
|
