Properly storing magazines is of essential importance to ensure their long-term preservation and safeguard their historical, cultural, and sentimental value. Whether antique, vintage, or contemporary, magazines hold a wealth of information and serve as valuable artifacts of their respective time periods.
Whether you are a history lover, a genealogy buff, or a family storyteller, family documents can be a treasure trove of information. Family documents are sources of valuable knowledge that help paint a picture of your ancestors and the world in which they lived. By storing family documents properly and preserving them for future generations, we can keep these stories alive for generations to come.
At first glance, it is difficult to know exactly what is happening with this tightly rolled item. When they arrived at The Center, these two documents - one paper, one parchment - had experienced extremely high heat conditions from a fire that consumed a building. They were rolled together in a fireproof box and had contracted and shrunk together because of the extreme heat. The two documents were incredibly brittle and could not be safely unrolled during the initial examination.
Antique photography presents a challenging set of condition issues for any conservator. They are inherently delicate and often have significant inherent vices. Inherent vice - also known as an inherent fault - is the object's likelihood of deterioration because of the qualities of the materials initially used, not because of anything that happened to the artwork during its lifetime.
When Mrs. Dahlis Marshall wrote to the United Press in December 1942, she was a recent war widow, seeking answers for the sake of her sons. Her husband George F Marshall, Lieutenant Colonel United States Army, had lost his life in November 1942 during the battle of Oran Harbor, Algeria. Mrs. Marshall received notification of his death through the next of kin notification that so many families received during World War II. But as the mother of two young sons, she knew she needed more details; one day, the children would ask questions, and she wanted to be able to give them answers. Leo Disher, United Press war correspondent, answered the plea. He sent a humble document made from humble materials - a Western Union telegram.
People love to know where they come from. Online family mapping services have become popular in the past few years, used primarily to create “family trees,” a common way to trace genealogical lineage. Historians have traced the “tree” image back to a medieval piece illustrating the Tree of Jesse, used to map the genealogy of Christ. Chinese philosopher Confucius has the longest family tree in the world, more than 80 generations and including over 2 million members. Tracing lineage is emotionally and practically important for any family, so when we received a family tree in for treatment at The Center, we knew how special this would be for the family.
Many of us have things passed down from our family, maybe stuffed in boxes in the attic or basement, that are treasures to us. These treasures, though maybe not valuable in the eyes of the public (or art market), are priceless to us. “Everybody thinks their Great Aunt Margaret was a great artist,” said one of our clients. Yet sometimes, as that same client found out, it turns out to be true.
Sometimes pieces arrive at The Center in good condition, but have inappropriate framing treatments. We are frequently asked to reframe art, or to provide solutions to address faulty framing. For instance, one piece came to us in great condition, it had simply slipped from its mount inside its frame. The piece was a mixed media work by Mark Bradford, an installation and conceptual artist from Los Angeles who had first experimented artistically in his mother’s hair salon, and now has pieces in museums around the world.
Frederick Douglass changed the course of history with his powerful writing and moving speeches. An escaped slave, Douglass devoted his life to the abolition movement and even became involved in the movement for women’s rights. Douglass also published his own newsletter called the North Star and wrote numerous autobiographies.
It seemed like any other Wednesday in September at The Center. Things were relatively quiet after a previously hectic week at EXPO CHICAGO, and the Client Services team was expecting an appointment with Israel Idonije who had a large watercolor piece that needed display options. When the client arrived with the watercolor, the team quickly realized that “display options” was an understatement. The Conservation Center prides itself on interdepartmental collaboration and the consultation soon included several conservators from many departments, all of whom were ready to Bear Down and tackle the task at hand.
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