Library of Congress's Blog, page 149

Library in the News: January 2015 Edition

More than 112,000 patrons visited the Library of Congress exhibition “Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor”  during its brief 10-week viewing, which ended Jan. 19.

“Much has been written about Magna Carta’s current visit to America, particularly in relation to the inchoate liberties it birthed. Rightly so,” wrote Kevin R. Kosar for The Weekly Standard. “The Magna Carta’s importance cannot be understated. It is font of the liberties we enjoy today.”

“So the Great Charter is more compelling as a reflection of a broader human quest, and its momentum ever since, despite the autocratic rulers, injustices, and conflicts spread across those eight centuries,” wrote Robin Wright for the New Yorker. “Its spirit, however erratically, has only deepened.”

The Washington Post highlighted the exhibition in its KidsPost section. Reporter Marylou Tousignant explained why the charter was important and the significance of its legacy.

“Magna Carta was the first charter to support the rights of the individual,” she wrote. “And although it was signed in another time and place, it was embraced by the Founding Fathers of the United States more than 550 years later as they wrote the new nation’s Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Continuing to make news in January was the all-star tribute concert honoring Billy Joel as the recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The concert aired on PBS Jan. 2. Covering the concert was Stav Ziv for Newsweek. Ziv spoke to several of the concert participants, including LeAnn Rimes, Gavin DeGraw and Twyla Tharp, in addition to Library officials.

Suzanne Hogan, special assistant to the Librarian of Congress told Ziv that  you could see members of the “U.S. Senate tapping their toes and mouthing the words to ‘Piano Man,’ sharing a common moment and common experience,” whatever their political inclinations and personal backgrounds might be, he reported.

Reminding readers that the Library of Congress has a wealth of resources for researchers, Roll Call presented a “refresher” on how to get acquainted with the institution’s collections.

“Whether you are new in town or just haven’t gotten around to perusing the wealth of knowledge maintained by the Library of Congress, now is the time to get schooled in the art of getting one’s proper learn on,” wrote Warran Rojas.

Speaking of collections, the Library has placed more than 400 images from Chilean-born photographer Camilo José Vergara on its website.

“This is the first step toward making more than 10,000 works available to the public,” William Grimes reported for the Artsbeat blog at the New York Times. “The project is open-ended. As Mr. Vergara continues to shoot, his work will be sent to the library and displayed online.

And, lastly, the Law Library of Congress blog, In Custodia Legis, was named one of ABA Journal’s annual “Blawg 100.”

Pinteresting African American History

February is African American History Month, an annual celebration that has existed since 1926. This year’s theme, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is “A Century of Black Life, History and Culture.” This year also marks the centennial of ASALH, which was established in 1915 by Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History.”

The Library is home to comprehensive collections on African American history and culture, particularly robust in the area of civil rights. Currently on exhibit at the Library is “The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom.”

To get a glimpse into the breadth of the Library’s collections, make sure to follow the Pinterest board on African American History Month.

Convention of former slaves, Washington, D.C. 1916. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

A few highlights and popular pins include “The Brownie Book,” a monthly children’s magazine edited by W.E.B. Dubois; collections of notable African American figures like Thurgood Marshall and Nannie Helen Burroughs; and striking images such as a photograph of two former slaves, both allegedly over 100 years old, attending an “emancipation reunion” in 1916 Washington, D.C.

In partnership with several institutions, including the Smithsonian and National Archives, the Library has pulled together even more  to recognize African-American heritage and achievement. Highlighted are presentations on the artist Hale Woodruff, African American veterans and teacher resources.

Make sure to check out the Library of Congress blogosphere to see what they are posting to commemorate African American History month. Here are a couple of recent postings: In Custodia Legis and Folklife Today.

Happy Birthday to Rosa Parks!

(The following is a guest post by Lee Ann Potter, director of Educational Outreach for the Library of Congress.)

Rosa Parks, November 1956. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Ala., the civil rights activist would have been 102 years old today.

It is impossible to imagine how many birthday wishes she received in her 92 years of life, but among the items in the Rosa Parks Collection that recently arrived at the Library of Congress on a 10-year loan from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, there are hundreds of birthday messages–many from school children–sent over a span of nearly 20 years. From 1986 until her passing in 2005, scores of kindergarteners to high school seniors from across the country used the occasion of her birthday to both wish her well and to thank her for the inspirational role she played in the civil rights movement.

Their notes, drawings, songs, poems and essays reflect varying degrees of knowledge about her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Ala., bus in December 1955. Some mention that it led to a year-long, city-wide boycott ending when the city of Montgomery lifted its law requiring segregation on public buses. Others, like a first grader from Wright Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, indicate awareness that she went to jail for her actions. In 2000, Morgan wrote, “Dear Mrs. Parks, I like you. I am sorry that you had to go to jail. Happy Birthday. Love, Morgan.” 

Some of the students point to the bus boycott as the beginning of the modern civil rights movement and to Rosa Parks as its catalyst. Their pride in her is evident. For example, in 2000, a fifth-grader named Ashley from Floyds Knobs Elementary School in Floyds Knobs, Ind., signed a class card to Mrs. Parks with, “Way to fight for your rights! You go girl!” And a 1994 package from seventh-graders in Ohio included dozens of hand drawn cards, including one that on the outside reads “Hey Brave Lady Who Wouldn’t Get Off of the Bus” and on the inside concludes with “Since it’s Your Birthday We’re Making a Fuss.”

Quite a few student notes to Mrs. Parks explain that they had either read about her or learned about her actions from their teachers in school. Some suggest a real familiarity and friendliness; a few invite her to visit their school, others tell her to give them a call.

Virtually all of the cards and letters reflect genuine emotions–from appreciation to admiration; from interest to respect. And many describe how her actions encourage them to make the world better. For example, in the very first folder is a note from third-grader ‘Mark’ from Norcross Elementary School in Norcross, Ga., who wished her a happy birthday and announced, “One day I would like to c[h]ange the world like you did.”

Not only do the students tell Mrs. Parks to enjoy her birthday celebration, but a few tell her about their celebration of her special day. In 1990, a hand drawn card and a letter sent by Mrs. Murphy’s first grade class in Indiana describes the chocolate cake that the class had eaten–and a photograph of the students devouring it in Mrs. Parks’ honor is also included.

The bulk of the drawings in the collection are of buses, and most resemble the yellow school bus variety, certainly reflecting student experience. A few are accompanied by thoughtful, original poetry or song lyrics. For her 87th birthday, she received an anonymous card containing the following creatively spelled rhyme, “Happy Birthday to a spchle laddy [special lady]. Roses are red, Vi[o]lets are blue, civil rights are good for you.”

Importantly, among the children’s messages are a few cover letters from their teachers. While they describe class activities and summarize the contents of the students’ cards and letters, many explain what motivated them to introduce students to Rosa Parks, and share their personal sentiments. A hand written letter on flowery stationary, by Mrs. Yellin from New York in 1995, that accompanied class photos and drawings, explained, “My children were touched by your story. . . They also wanted to thank you for your strength and commitment. We all do.”

Yes, we do. Thank you, Mrs. Parks, and Happy Birthday!

Alan Lomax’s Legacy

(The following is a story written by Stephen Winick, folklorist and writer-editor in the American Folklife Center, for the January/February 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. The issue can be read in its entirety here.)

Folklorist Alan Lomax at work at his manual typewriter, 1942.

A century after his birth, folklorist Alan Lomax is remembered for his preservation of the nation’s cultural heritage.

Of all the pioneering folklorists and documentarians whose work can be found in the American Folklife Center (AFC) in the Library of Congress, none is as well-known as Alan Lomax (1915-2002), both for the quantity and quality of his collections and for his influence on American culture.

Lomax’s career at the Library began in 1933, when his father, John A. Lomax, became a special consultant to the Library’s Music Division, in charge of the Archive of American Folk Song. Alan took over most of the day-to-day running of the archive, and by 1937 had a position at the Library and the title “assistant-in-charge.” He remained at the Library until 1942, when he left to serve in World War II.

Either alone or with his father, Alan spent his tenure at the Library traveling widely in the United States, carrying an instantaneous disk recorder and often a camera. His signature field trips resulted in some of the earliest documentation of traditional music in Louisiana (including Cajun music) and other parts of the American south (including ballads and fiddle tunes of the Appalachian Mountains and blues from the Mississippi Delta), Michigan and the Midwest (including music of numerous European ethnic communities).

With important collaborators, including his father, his wife Elizabeth, Pete Seeger and colleagues from other institutions (such as Fisk University’s John Wesley Work III), Alan was the first to record Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, McKinley “Muddy Waters” Morganfield, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Aunt Molly Jackson and an enormous number of other significant traditional musicians. He also recorded many musicians at the Library, including a landmark series of 1938 recordings of Jelly Roll Morton, which yielded nine hours of music and speech. In 2006, “Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax” (Rounder Records) won a Grammy Award for best historical album.

Alan Lomax records the music and language of the people living in La Plaine, Dominica, in 1962.
Antoinette Marchand, Alan Lomax Collection, American Folklife Center.

Lomax did not return to work at the Library after the war, but he did spend the rest of his life collecting and analyzing folk culture for a variety of organizations, including the BBC, PBS Television, Columbia and Atlantic Records, Hunter College in New York, and his own organization, The Association for Cultural Equity. During this time, many of the songs he collected on his Library of Congress field trips became iconic examples of American culture, from “Bonaparte’s Retreat” (which became famous as the hoe-down section of Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo”) to “House of the Rising Sun,” which was recorded by Bob Dylan, the Animals and a host of other musicians.

“Alan was one of those who unlocked the secrets of this kind of music,” Dylan once said. “So if we’ve got anybody to thank, it’s Alan.”

In 2004, the American Folklife Center (AFC) in the Library of Congress acquired the Alan Lomax Collection, which comprises the unparalleled ethnographic documentation collected by the legendary folklorist over a period of more than 60 years.

The collection, which had been housed at Hunter College in New York City, includes more than 5,000 hours of sound recordings, 400,000 feet of motion-picture film, 2,450 videotapes, 2,000 scholarly books and journals, hundreds of photographic prints and negatives, several databases and more than 120 linear feet of manuscript materials.

The acquisition was made possible through an agreement between AFC and the Association for Cultural Equity (ACE) at New York City’s Hunter College and the generosity of Lillian and Jon Lovelace, members of the Madison Council (the Library’s private- sector advisory group). With this acquisition, the Alan Lomax Collection joined the material that he and his father, John, collected during the 1930s and 1940s for the Library’s Archive of American Folk Song, thus bringing the entire collection together at the Library of Congress.

To mark the centennial birthday of the influential folklorist Alan Lomax, the Library’s American Folklife Center is presenting a year-long series of projects, concerts and special events. The events will celebrate the Lomax family’s contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional music and dance, and highlight the depth and diversity of the Library’s Lomax family collections.

Information about Lomax events at the Library and around the country can be found on the American Folklife Center’s blog, “Folklife Today,” and the Lomax centennial website. You can also read more about the centennial celebration here.

A Jefferson Book, Rediscovered in Law Library

(The following is a story written by Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library of Congress staff newsletter, The Gazette.)

Anna Bryan holds the book she discovered in the Law Library’s rare-book collections. Photo by Amanda Reynolds.

A tiny, handwritten “T” at the bottom of page 113 offered a clue that this book – long part of the Law Library collections – needed a new home: the permanent exhibition of Thomas Jefferson’s library.

Every four months, Anna Bryan and other catalogers in the U.S./Anglo Division’s Rare Materials Section work on an ongoing Law Library project involving American and English law treatises.

While cataloging for that project in August, Bryan picked up an 18th-century volume by John Freeman, Baron Redesdale, “A Treatise on the Pleadings in Suits in the Court of Chancery, by English Bill.”

Examining the leaves, Bryan noticed the markings on page 113: the handwritten “T” next to a printed “I.”

She had seen it before, cataloging books in the “Thomas Jefferson’s Library” exhibition. Jefferson often identified his books by writing his first initial next to the printed “I” signature, which, for printers, also doubled as the letter “J.”

She didn’t, however, expect to find Jefferson’s mark in a Law Library volume.

“I thought, ‘What the heck? I really do need that vacation – now I’m seeing things,’ ” Bryan said.

She wasn’t.

Bryan consulted E. Millicent Sowerby’s annotated bibliography of Jefferson’s library – considered the definitive work – and confirmed her suspicions. She had found one of the original 6,487 volumes Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress in 1815 – books that form the foundation of the modern Library.

Sowerby listed the Redesdale book as No. 1,738 – with a hitch: “The Library of Congress copy, probably Jefferson’s, disappeared sometime ago and cannot be located,” she wrote.

The “disappearance” was, in part, just a reflection of the way Jefferson’s books were viewed in the decades following the purchase of the library.

The Library didn’t gather the volumes in a single collection or even track them as “Jefferson books” for quite some time. The books, after all, were acquired not as historical artifacts but as reference works for everyday use.

“The library was not purchased as a monument to Mr. Jefferson,” Bryan said. “It was purchased for use by Congress in doing its job of legislating.”

Following the invention of the card-catalogue system in the late 19th century, the Library began producing cards for the books in its collections – including cards for Jefferson’s books.

Thomas Jefferson placed his characteristic, handwritten “T” initial at the bottom of page 113. Photo by Amanda Reynolds.

The original card for the Redesdale volume, created in May 1919, bears no hint that it once belonged to Jefferson.

That’s not unusual, Bryan said. She estimated that 25 percent of the original cards for books in the Jefferson collection don’t indicate that the volumes once belonged to the third president – again reflecting the perception of his books as a working library.

As decades passed, that view changed. Today, researchers regularly use Jefferson’s books, but their historical importance now is fully recognized, too.

Part of Sowerby’s project in the 1950s was to “rediscover” Jefferson’s books as historical objects. Later, the Library decided to reconstruct Jefferson’s library, gathering all of its Jefferson books in one place and acquiring identical editions of his books destroyed by fire in 1851.

That exhibition opened in 2000, and, now, the Library can add one more volume to it.

“This is just one more example of the great puzzle the project to reconstruct Jefferson’s collections has proved to be,” said Mark Dimunation, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. “Even though we have been at this for more than 16 years, we are still bumping into unexpected treasures such as Baron Redesdale’s work. And it is certainly no surprise that Anna would be the one to uncover the item. She has evolved into a tremendous sleuth for the project.”

Buying a Library

James Madison, fourth president of the United States. Between 1836 and 1842. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Two hundred years ago today, President James Madison approved an act of Congress appropriating $23,590 for the purchase of a large collection of books belonging to Thomas Jefferson in order to reestablish the Library of Congress.

Under Madison’s leadership, the United States went to war with Great Britain in 1812. After capturing Washington, D.C. in 1814, the British burned the U.S. Capitol, destroying the Library of Congress and its 3,000-volume collection. Jefferson offered to sell his personal library to the Library Committee of Congress in order to rebuild the collection of the Congressional Library.

In a letter to his friend Samuel Smith, Jefferson wrote, “I do not know that it contains any branch of science which Congress would wish to exclude from this collection . . . there is in fact no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer.”

Jefferson’s collection contained more than twice the number of books Congress lost in the fire and included a much wider range of subjects. The previous library covered only law, economics and history.

The purchase of Jefferson’s library wasn’t without some controversy. According to the Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congress took more than three months to deliberate.

According to the “Annals of Congress,” “The objections to the purchase were generally its extent, the cost of the purchase, the nature of the selection, embracing too many works in foreign languages, some of too philosophical a character, and some otherwise objectionable. Of the first description, exception was taken to Voltaire’s works, &, co., and of the other to Callender’s ‘Prospect Before Us.'” (pg. 398)

The taking of the city of Washington in America. Published by G. Thompson, Oct. 14, 1814. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

“Those who opposed the bill, did so on account of the scarcity of money and the necessity of appropriating it to purposes more indispensable than the purchase of a library; the probablE insecurity of such a library placed here; the high price to be give for this collection; its miscellaneous and almost exclusively literary (instead of legal and historical) character, &c.

“To those arguments, enforced with zeal and vehemence, the friends of the bill replied with fact, wit, and argument, to show that the purchase, to be made on terms of long credit, could not affect the present resources of the United States; that the price was moderate, the library more valuable from the scarcity of many of its books, and altogether a most admirable substratum for a National Library.” (pg. 1105)

Approved by the Senate on Dec. 3, 1814, the bill passed in the House of U.S. Representatives on Jan. 26, 1815.

Madison’s connection to the Library of Congress actually existed long before 1815. He first proposed the idea of a congressional library in 1783. That year, a committee chaired by Madison submitted a list of approximately 1,300 books to the Confederation Congress that were “proper for the use of Congress.” Madison urged that “it was indispensable that congress should have at all times at command” authorities on public law whose expertise “would render . . . their proceedings conformable to propriety; and it was observed that the want of this information was manifest in several important acts of Congress.” His proposal was defeated because of “the inconveniency of advancing even a few hundred pounds at this crisis.”

However, it was under the authority of President John Adams that the Library of Congress was established through an act of Congress on April 24, 1800.

Madison’s contributions to the establishment of the Library are memorialized in one of the main buildings on the institution’s Capitol Hill campus: not only is the James Madison Memorial Building named after the fourth president but there is also a statue of him inside.

The Library to the Rescue

(The following is a story in the January/February 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

Library of Congress restoration specialist William Berwick took this photograph of the New York State Library’s folio edition of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” in the aftermath of the 1911 fire. Manuscript Division.

The Library of Congress has a long tradition of assisting other institutions in preserving their collections.

Nearly a century after the Library of Congress collection was destroyed by a fire in the U.S. Capitol building in 1814, the New York State Library in Albany, N.Y., experienced a similar fate.

On March 29, 1911, just weeks before the New York State Library was scheduled to move to the newly constructed State Education Building, a fire ravaged the State Capitol, which housed the library. While parts of the building were unaffected, the State Library and its collection of 600,000 volumes were badly damaged. As the New York State National Guard worked to secure the building and safeguard its contents, a member of the staff of the Library of Congress helped to preserve the collections of the State Library.

William Berwick, a bookbinder at the Government Printing Office, had been detailed to the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress in 1899. Berwick quickly established himself as the American master in the Vatican technique of silking, as well as other restoration techniques. The technique–adhering silk gauze to both sides of a deteriorated document–was state-of-the-art at the time. Berwick directed the State Library staff in the restoration of John James Audubon’s priceless “double-elephant” folios of hand-colored plates illustrating more than 700 species of North American birds published between 1826 and 1838.

November 1966 witnessed the flooding of the Arno River in Florence, Italy, which damaged millions of art masterpieces and rare books housed in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze. Library of Congress staff were among the volunteers led by British bookbinder and conservator Peter Waters, who were dispatched to clean, dry and re-bind some of the library’s most valuable volumes. Waters, who had trained at the Royal Academy of Art, was subsequently appointed head of the newly created Restoration Division (today the Conservation Division) at the Library of Congress, and served in that position until his retirement in 1995.

In the five decades following the Florence Floods, the Library’s trained staff has continued to assist in the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters at home and abroad. For example, Library conservators were dispatched to the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg following a devastating fire in 1988. In 2003, they helped reconstruct the National Library of Iraq, which was destroyed under Saddam Hussein’s regime, and they advised on the establishment of a memorial archive following the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech. Most recently, Library staff helped with disaster-recovery efforts following the earthquake in Japan and the fire at the Institut d’Egypte in Cairo. Library conservators have provided training to personnel in the national libraries, museums and archives of more than a dozen countries throughout the world

Library of Congress Archivist Cheryl Fox and Paper Conservation Section Head Holly Krueger contributed to this article. 

Conservator’s Picks: Treating Treasures

(The following is a story in the January/February 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

Conservation Division chief Elmer Eusman discusses conservation treatment options for a variety of prized collection items.

Pre-Columbian Objects

“Collections such as this classic Maya whistling vessel, dated A.D 400-600, are safeguarded in customized storage boxes constructed of smooth, inert materials that provide padding without abrading the surface of the object. The boxes are designed with drop walls or easily removable padding to provide safe access to the collection of fragile and irreplaceable objects.” Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division 

Martín Ramírez’ “Madonna”

“This 1951 drawing is one of the earliest surviving works by the self-taught, “outsider” artist. His ‘Madonna’ was drawn on the back of 22 pieces of postal mail, patched together using pastes he made by chewing starchy foods such as bread, oatmeal and potatoes–items found at the hospital where he was treated for schizophrenia.

Library conservators flattened the many creases, mended the tears and filled the losses.” Charles and Ray Eames Collection, Prints and Photographs Division

Map of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

“Hand drawn by Lamiralle Boucoune, this map depicting a pivotal battle at Cape Breton during the French and Indian War was discolored and illegible.

Conservators removed the brown-colored silk fabric that had been pasted onto the surface, washed the item to remove discoloration and mended the many tears and losses.

After treatment, many details and colors were once again visible.” Geography and Map Division

Ethiopian Prayer on Parchment

“Originally housed in a separate, telescoping carrying pouch, this traditional Ethiopian text written on vellum (‘Prayer to Our Lady the Virgin, Mother of Light’) is now housed in a custom-fitted box. The boards are wood, covered in leather. This rare item bears the hallmarks of a traditionally bound Ethiopian manuscript.” Thomas L. Kane Collection, African and Middle Eastern Division

Platinum Photograph

This platinum photograph by Zaida Ben-Yusuf (1869-1933) is an excellent example of pictorialist photography– a style in which the photographer manipulates the image rather than simply recording it. The Library’s photograph conservators are conducting research into how platinum photographs were made, how they deteriorate and what treatments are possible to preserve them for future generations. Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection, Prints and Photographs Division

American Ballet Theatre Exhibit Closes Saturday

The Library of Congress exhibition, “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years,” closes this Saturday, so if you’re in town, make sure to visit.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT), which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2014, donated its archives of more than 50,000 items of visual and written documentation to the Library. The exhibition features a selection from the collection, including photographs, scores, costume sketches, posters and programs.

The ABT materials enhance and complement the Library’s many other dance, theater and music collections held in its Music Division, including the papers of composers Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Morton Gould, set designer Oliver Smith and choreographer Bronislava Nijinska.

The exhibition is on view from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Reading Room, located on the first floor of the James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C.

The Science of Preservation

(The following is a story written by Jennifer Gavin for the January/February 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

Preservation specialist Michele Youket assesses CD damage through a microscope known as an Axio Imager. Photo by Amanda Reynolds.

Scientific research in its laboratories helps the Library to preserve and display world treasures.

Books with cracked leather bindings; crumbling, yellowed maps and newspapers; faded photos; delaminating audio tapes. Most of us have seen what time can do to the media of the moment, when that moment is years, decades or even centuries past.

Preventing such damage is a significant issue for the Library of Congress, which holds millions of books, maps, photos, illustrations and manuscripts in many formats–and preserves them for future use, even if they are also digitized. While many Library divisions have a hand in the maintenance, preservation or recordation of these original materials, the Preservation Directorate is at the heart of the effort. Its expert staff brings science to the task of preserving a given item by keeping it stable, and thereby available for future users; ensuring that the Library’s handling doesn’t hurt it; and finding out what secrets an object may hold.

The Mission: Keep It Usable

The Preservation Directorate’s mission is to assure long-term uninterrupted access to the intellectual content of the Library’s collections. Materials to be preserved range from parchment and paper to glass, fabrics, ceramics, photographs and metals, as well as inks and colorants used on those items. Preservation must occur while still allowing access to the collections.

This daguerreotype plate, created to mimic
those made in the 19th century, can be studied under an electronic microscope to determine its properties. Photo by Abby Brack.

The Preservation Directorate manages several programs to ensure this long-term access. Specialists in the Preservation Reformatting Division prepare collections of brittle material to be reformatted into microfilm or digital files. Staff in the Preservation Directorate’s Conservation Division and Binding and Collections Care Division address how an item is stored: the temperature, humidity, and light conditions of its environment, its enclosures, and its handling, including care taken so labels or other utility marks don’t deteriorate the item.

In addition, staff in both divisions treat the Library’s collections to improve their physical condition. This includes the deacidification of books and paper-based manuscripts–the process of removing acid–which can add centuries to an item’s life.

A recent example of a conservation project was the treatment of an artwork by “outsider artist” Martín Ramírez. Titled “Madonna,” the work was created on pieced-together envelopes. It was discovered tucked into the Library’s papers of designers Charles and Ray Eames, tightly rolled and chewed by insects. With permission from the late Ramírez’s heirs in Mexico, the artwork was cleaned, its holes were expertly patched, and it was flattened and framed. It graced an exhibition at the Library celebrating Mexico in December 2013.

Conservator Heather Wanser treats a rare Korean map. Photo by Richard Herbert.

Out of a Crisis, New Expertise

Modern preservation science is often traced back to the triage methods devised by an ad-hoc team of experts who rushed to Italy from around the world in 1966, following the catastrophic flood of the River Arno in Florence. Ancient artworks, books, manuscripts and other world treasures, soaked in water and silt, required speedy intervention if they were to be saved.

One of the so-called “mud angels” later established the Library’s Conservation Division and the Library’s first preservation laboratory. Today, the Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) in the Preservation Directorate includes a set of recently renovated laboratories in the Library’s Madison Building on Capitol Hill. One is the Optical Properties lab, where new methods of analyzing collection items take place including X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and use of hyperspectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence and the Physical and Chemical Testing Laboratory, where housing materials are tested to make sure they meet preservation standards. There, conditions of storage areas–sampling of the air for pollutants, for example–can be assessed.

PRTD finds non-invasive ways to assess and preserve collections; devises ways to slow or halt deteriorating factors–such as the “iron gall” ink used in historic manuscripts and the acidity of wood pulp-based papers, which, left untreated, will yellow and crumble.

Scientific Sleuthing

Equipment developed by PTLP is being used by the Library to deacidify books and manuscript pages. Photo by Amanda Reynolds.

Advanced techniques, such as hyperspectral imaging, are making it possible to learn things about centuries-old documents that previously could not be known.

In 2010, PRTD Chief Fenella France–a world-renowned expert in conservation science–made an exciting discovery while using hyperspectral equipment to analyze one of the Library’s top treasures, a draft Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson’s hand. Hyperspectral imaging has allowed the Library to see previously obscured details of the 1791 Pierre L’Enfant plan of Washington, D.C., and four fingerprints on the handwritten draft of the Gettysburg Address.

The Library has also used hyperspectral imaging to establish links between a rare copy of Ptolemy’s 1513 “Geographica,” an atlas with hand-colored maps, and the 1507 Waldseemüller World Map, the first known document to have the word “America” in it.

The Library is able to publicly display the Waldseemüller map and Abel Buell’s 1784 map of the newly independent United States due to hermetically sealed encasements that control humidity and minimize oxygen. The cases were designed and constructed in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

“The most challenging part of what we do is knowing that you may be working with the ‘only’ copy, so that’s why the focus is on new non-invasive technologies that can reveal hidden, exciting information about our amazing collections,” said France. “Using current techniques, while looking to new high-tech advances that we can adapt, means we know more about our rare collections than ever before, and without even touching them!”