Preservation

Parchment and Titanium

19th Preservation Conference

September 22, 2005

The 2005 Preservation Conference provided detailed information on the multi-year project undertaken by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to preserve and re-encase the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

The conference gave a history of the documents through the lens of preservation, and the challenge to preserve the nation's best-known and valued historical documents. Presenters discussed past encasement technologies used for display and the research that informed the development and fabrication of new encasements.

List of Conference Presentations

 
History and Context of the Charters of Freedom Documents by Dr. Milton O. Gustafson, Chief, Diplomatic Branch (retired), National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

Encasement History, Theory, and Use as a Preservation Tool by Don Etherington, President, Etherington Conservation Services, Brown’s Summit, NC

NBS Encasements:   History and Examinations Prior to Disassembly by Margaret Ann T. Kelly, Research Chemist, Document Conservation Laboratory, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD and Dr. Charles R. Tilford, Consulting Physicist - Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

New Encasement Design Criteria by Norvell Jones, Chief, Document Conservation Laboratory (retired), National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD

Managing the Inter-Institutional, Multi-Year Re-Encasement Project by Richard P. Judson, Project Manager, Space and Security Management Division, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
Encasement Fabrication and Testing:   Processes and Innovations by Richard L. Rhorer, Mechanical Engineer, Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Design and Production of Paper for the New Encasements by Timothy Barrett, Paper Specialist and Research Scientist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

The Charters of Freedom Documents:   Examination and Treatment by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Chief, Document Conservation Laboratory, and Catherine Nicholson, Supervisory Conservator, Document Conservation Laboratory, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD

Display Criteria:   Access, Lighting and Aesthetics by Christina Rudy Smith, Head of Exhibits, Museum Programs, and Michael L. Jackson, Senior Exhibition Designer, Museum Programs, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

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Close-up of a conservator performing treatment on the United States Constitution.

19th Preservation Conference flyer

19th Preservation Conference brochure

19th Preservation Conference poster

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