Friday, October 10, 2008 Three feather and wicker fans were salvaged from the African American Museum, all three were moldy and covered with a thick layer of muck. We knew they would take a very long time to clean so as part of the museum’s triage we were told to save two of the three.Continue reading “Feather Fans”
Category Archives: Flood Recovery
Basket Cleaning
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 We march on with cleaning baskets. This consumes most of my time at the lab now, as we are trying to finish cleaning the baskets before November 11th. I think we might cut it close. Sometimes it is difficult to know when to stop, as it seems there is always moreContinue reading “Basket Cleaning”
George Washington Carver Woven Mat Cleaned
Monday, October 6, 2008 Among the artifacts from the African American Museum were two mats woven by George Washington Carver. The mat pictured was cleaned in about 15 hours by myself using saliva and swabs. I began work on the other but it was so fragile and brittle that I decided to send it toContinue reading “George Washington Carver Woven Mat Cleaned”
Music Rare Book Room Project Continues in the Dark
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 It’s business as usual in spite of the challenges. About a year ago, Gary Frost and Linda Lundy started a boxing project for the Music Library rare books. Gary takes the measurements and Linda makes the boxes. In the past, Gary would go over to the rare book room, take theContinue reading “Music Rare Book Room Project Continues in the Dark”
Goodby Ventilation Equipment
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 All are in agreement that we no longer need the additional ventilation equipment. Early arriving staff will finally be able to enter the building through the west door. It’ll be good to be back to “normal” — at least for the Main Library staff. We’ve had the equipment around so longContinue reading “Goodby Ventilation Equipment”
Training Under Helen Alten Continues
Thursday, September 17, 2008 Waking up in our dorm rooms, we went to work nearly immediately, as the lab was only fifty feet away. Caitlin and I began tackling the “George Washington Carver clay mess.” Clay had absorbed water in the flood, slid out of its storage jar and resealed itself, becoming moldy. We neededContinue reading “Training Under Helen Alten Continues”
Training Under Helen Alten
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 After the pretty drive over to Illinois, Caitlin and I unpacked the car–a load of baskets, the clay from George Washington Carver, some metal objects, a few gourds and some supplies Helen had recommended we bring. Although it was almost dinner time, Helen thought we should dive into some training, and thenContinue reading “Training Under Helen Alten”
Conservator Helen Alten Visit
Sunday, September 14, 2008 Helen Alten is teaching at the Campbell Center, Mt. Carroll, Illinois, http://www.campbellcenter.org this week and graciously agreed to stop in for a visit to assist with some of the African American Museum of Iowa objects. To our surprise she offered to train Beth Stone and Caitlin Moore on how to clean baskets,Continue reading “Conservator Helen Alten Visit”
Celebration
Thursday, September 4, 2008 Finished with the initial cleaning of all–yes all– the records. We had abused the Oakdale paper facility for the summer, and Tim let us use the space for a party. Nancy picked up sandwiches, Gary and Joyce brought drinks and the table decoration, and Caitlin, Kat and I cleaned up theContinue reading “Celebration”
Moving On!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 When we finished the record project at the Oakdale paper facility we moved everything to the main library except a few boxes of LP covers which we put in our remote storage area in Oakdale Hall. We scrubbed and bleached everything we had used to make sure we weren’t leaving behindContinue reading “Moving On!”