The Conservation lab has been a hubbub of activity lately with a plethora of projects ranging from the never-ending supply of book repairs and document mending to specialized projects such as the cleaning and repairing of Daguerreotypes.

Monitoring the humidity of Daguerreotypes

Taking apart a Daguerreotype for cleaning and repair

Cleaning the glass of Daguerreotypes

In addition to items from our general collections, the current collections being worked on are the Forrest Home Daguerreotypes, the WPA Posters (made possible by a generous donation through our Adopt a Collection program), and the various Civil War collections specified in the Digital Center for Americana Project.

Dry cleaning a WPA poster

Investigating maps from the A. A. Humpreys collection - DCA Project

We also thought our map rolling days were over, until a set of crumbling blueprints came into the lab last week.  One of the prints was photographed for an upcoming article in HSP’s publication, Legacies, which will focus on maps and mapmaking in Pennsylvania.

Our current staff includes the Director of Preservation and Conservation Services, Tara O’Brien, Project Conservation Technician, Leah Mackin, and Preservation Technician, Watsuki Harrington. We are pleased to have two interns this semester whose time will be split between assisting on the DCA Project, the WPA Posters and individual projects from the general collection. We look forward to sharing our conservation projects and discoveries with the readers of this blog!