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Pagan (first row, second from the left) and other participants stand in front of the San Juan National Historic Site for a group photo.
Mar 14 2019

Pagan heads to Puerto Rico for cultural heritage conservation project

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Abigail Evans
Pagan (first row, second from the left) and other participants stand in front of the San Juan National Historic Site for a group photo.
Pagan (first row, second from the left) and other participants take group photo at the National Historic Site, Castillo de San Cristobal in San Juan.

Candida Pagan, project conservator, traveled to Puerto Rico in early February to participate in the Helping Puerto Rican Heritage Project (HPRH).

Puerto Rico faces specific preservation challenges due to the tropical climate. Salt and humidity, along with more catastrophic weather like hurricanes, pose issues for institutions that house archives and collections. HPRH seeks to educate participants about conservation efforts in Puerto Rico while also advising conservators about care and preservation of their collections.

During HPRH, Pagan and the other participants toured a number of cultural heritage sites including the San Juan National Historic Site, Museo de Arte de Ponce, and the Hacienda Buena Vista, a living history museum whose coffee crops were damaged during Hurricane Maria. Participants also toured the Materials Characterization Center at the University of Puerto Rico’s Molecular Science Research Center. The Project included a symposium at the Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín, during which Pagan presented on basic book care and conservation. The presentations were followed by a Q & A, one of many sessions that Pagan enjoyed throughout her time with HPRH. The final day was a work day at Casa Blanca followed by a tour of La Casa del Libro for book and paper conservators.

“There are a lot of people who care about the preservation of cultural property and history,” Pagan said. “There are over 500 years-worth of historical artifacts from the time of Spanish and US governance, and a rich archaeological history that tells us about the lives of indigenous people before then.”

Photo shows rows on cannonballs sitting on the floor and another stack on a cart with HPRH members walking in the background.
Cannonball conservation at Castillo San Felipe del Morro
Debora Mayer (second from the left), Helen H. Glaser Senior Paper Conservator at the Weisman Preservation Center speaking from the panel of conservators during audience Q&A at the Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
Debora Mayer, Helen H. Glaser Senior Paper Conservator at Weisman Preservation Center speaks during Q&A at Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín

Coffee bean drying rack with scale model in front of a small blue building.
Coffee bean drying rack with scale model at living museum, Hacienda Buena Vista coffee plantation in Ponce.
Colorful umbrellas hanging from wire about Foraleza Street.
Umbrellas above Fortaleza Street, in Old San Juan
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín building with trees and bushes out front and a sign that reads "Archivo Historico."
Archives building at Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
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