By Dong Eun Kim, Head Conservator, Center for Jewish History Michael Simonson, Archivist and Registrar, Leo Baeck Institute Post 3 In the previous blog post, the Werner J. and Gisella Levi Cahnman Conservation Laboratory had received the Leo Baeck Institute’s Metz Jewish Community Collection for assessment and treatment. The Conservators in the lab were captivated by these artifacts; we felt there was something truly…
By Dong Eun Kim, Head Conservator, Center for Jewish History Post 2 In the previous blog post, the Werner J. and Gisella Levi Cahnman Conservation Laboratory had received the Leo Baeck Institute’s Metz Jewish Community Collection for assessment and treatment. The Conservators in the lab were captivated by these artifacts; we felt there was something truly important about them, yet none of us could…
By Dong Eun Kim, Head Conservator Post 1 What is it that attracts us to certain objects? What makes one artifact more compelling than another? These answers can often be obvious, but occasionally an object can take us on a winding journey before it reveals the secret to its appeal. This was our experience with the Leo Baeck Institute’s Metz Jewish Community Collection. As…
Bagged Sobel Collection books in the American Jewish Historical Society stacks. The Sobel collection of early American Jewish printing was donated by the late Morris Sobel, former president of the American Jewish Historical Society, and his wife, Eleanor. Here in the Werner J. and Gisella Levi Cahnman Conservation Laboratory we aim to prolong the life of the Center’s extensive paper-based collections. Flattening, cleaning and…
This post was written by Kat Fanning, conservation technician, Center for Jewish History A cookie, a memento of a past special event, was brought to the conservation lab from the American Sephardi Federation (ASF) to see if anything could be done in order to preserve it so that it could be kept in the collection. The cookie had originally been stored in a plastic…
Celebrating Archivesby Susan Woodland, Senior Archivist, American Jewish Historical Society October is Archives Month, and the archives community in metropolitan New York celebrated the week of October 7th with an extensive list of repository tours, programs, exhibits, a symposium on Disaster Recovery inspired by last fall’s superstorm Sandy, and an award ceremony. See the website of the Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York (ART)…
by Felicity Corkill, Associate Conservator, and Kevin Schlottmann, Processing Archivist, Center for Jewish History All physical objects change over time. Whether accelerated through exposure to light, changes in temperature and humidity, poor handling, or just natural decay, things break down. At the Center for Jewish History’s Collection Management and Conservation Wing, we attempt to address some of this inexorable decay through good storage environment…