I would suggest you enlist the services of a paper conservator before you do anything else.  Unless you are a trained paper conservator, there is little you can do to better the condition of the papers yourself.  You cannot clean or unfold paper artifacts without expertise to guide you because you will likely damage the papers in some way.    For example, the papers in questions are probably at their weakest point along the folds.  If you unfold them, they may well tear along the fold lines.  As for storage methods, a paper conservator can help you there as well, but in general, you’re looking at storing paper flat in opaque, unbuffered, acid free envelopes. I understand the need for public viewing but preservation of the documents should be the higher priority (at least for the most important documents).

Jeff Tenuth

Natural History Collection Manager

Indiana State Museum

650 W. Washington St.

Indianapolis, IN 46204

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Dear Listers –

Once again I am appealing to your collective knowledge for assistance. I have a question about how to properly house paper objects that are found in historic buildings in our park. On several occasions, we have found caches of objects in building interiors, stuffed behind walls or under floorboards or the like. Most date to the very early 20^th century and were in situ until being removed during building renovations in the last few years. A whole variety of material types/objects have been discovered, but the ones I have least familiarity with are works on paper. (As an archaeologist by training and profession, (historic) paper is something I rarely encounter in my work!) The paper objects are predominately hand-written letters, although there are typed forms, printed pamphlets and other ephemera. They have a multitude of condition issues, from dirt to brittleness to folds, although no visible biological issues (no evidence of insects/mold/mildew).

There is a desire on the part of our staff to view the original works, so I’d like to find a storage solution that provides this opportunity with minimal handling of the material. I was thinking something along the lines of clear polyester envelopes that are available from Gaylord and the like, which would allow both sides of the object to be visible without actually having to handle the paper directly. A few specific questions: is inert polyester appropriate for storing poorly preserved but relatively stable paper? Is it okay to store the letters removed from their envelopes and unfolded? (Most have been removed at least once since their discovery as interested staff have read/scanned/transcribed the contents.) Is there anything I can do to gently clean the paper (brushing/blower brush)? And finally, at what point should I consider enlisting the services of a paper conservator?

Many thanks for your input – as always, it is much appreciated.

aloha

~Liz

Liz N. Clevenger, MA, RPA 

Curator of Archaeology 

(415) 561-5086

Presidio Archaeology Lab  |  www.presidio.gov/history/archaeology  |  (415) 561-ARCH info  |  (415) 561-5089 fax

The Presidio Trust  |  P.O. Box 29052, San Francisco, CA 94129

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