Dear Nancy Russell: This may be my opinion, but "historic" levels of dirt,
or any other accumulation, mark, or attachment to an artifact, are really
only historic if they provide some information or evidence about the
history or provenance of the object. This stuff should be protected. On
the other hand, certainly dust and dirt from present day Santa Fe would
not be historic - just a little more particulate debris to do nasty things
like attract insects, abrade surfaces, or react with airborne moisture to
form a nice caustic reaction on the surface of the collections.
You may have a battle on your hands, but your guidelines should focus on
trying to protect collections from new accumulations and the removal of
"modern dust" as much as you can during renovations or otherwise. If you
keep your methods to gentle dry surface treatments, you will likely not be
disturbing the "historic" stuff.
Good luck with your project! Karen
At 02:43 PM 8/23/97 EDT, you wrote:
>Hello, all. How do living history museums compromise between "historic"
>levels of dirt and good housekeeping/preventive conservation? I will be
>starting a new job soon at a reconstructed Santa Fe Trail fort
>(reconstructed accurately enough to be as dusty as it was in 1830s-1840s)
>and will need to develop a housekeeping plan. Given the reconstruction,
>it will be virtually impossible to elimate dust/airborne contaminants.
>Rather than drive myself insane trying to do so, I would like some
>opinions on how other museum people have reached a reasonable compromise.
>I should mention that most of the furnishings on display are also
>reproductions (although they are still considered museum objects, cost
>lots of money to acquire and replace, require proper care, etc). Any
>opinions geatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>Nancy Russell
>PO Box 871
>Deer Lodge, MT 59722
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>
>
>
******************************
Karen E.K. Brown
Field Service Representative
Northeast Document Conservation Center
100 Brickstone Square
Andover, MA 01810-1494
[log in to unmask]
Tel.(508) 470-1010
Fax (508) 475-6021
http://www.nedcc.org
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