Something afoot in the President’s Office

We’ve been disbinding a large University Archives collection of copybooks of outgoing correspondence from the Office of the President covering a few decades around the turn into the 20th century.  The office copies are on a very light-weight tissue; the disbinding will facilitate a scanning project which will in turn provide better access to researchers.

The topics of correspondence have been relatively run of the mill with an odd perk here and there such as an order for gymnasium equipment c.1895: trapeeze bars, a ‘thigh machine’, juggling clubs and medicine balls, as well as a letter of recommendation for a graduate to a Miss Clara Barton of the Red Cross Society.

Until yesterday, in a volume from early 1906…

BRAINS! TRAPS! CHEMICALS! A quick perusal on Google points toward the chemicals being commonly used in preserving human tissue. An express delivery of ‘government’ traps to the Donaldson Farm? Only one thing comes to mind: A clandestine, experimental zombie lab that to this day has never been exposed.  Further orders for electrical wiring supplies only confirmed our suspicions.

-as a side note, if you’d like to read more about copybooks and copy presses- the forerunners to carbon paper, Xerox machines and scanners- have a look through this book.

Paper Silhouettes from the 1860s

These beautifully intricate paper silhouettes by Karl Froehlich are a wonderful example of the diverse special collections of Indiana University’s Lilly Library.

Midwest Regional Conservation Guild Symposium 2012

Last weekend, the IU Preservation Department welcomed the MRCG Symposium 2012 attendees for a tour of our labs. This year’s symposium was held in Bloomington on the IU campus. Staff from the IU Art Museum, Mathers Museum, Libraries Preservation and Lilly Library all helped with the organization and hosting.

The weekend began with a lively reception at Lilly Library provided by kind support from Friends of Lilly Library, with a “Treasures of the Lilly” talk by Jim Canary (Special Collections Conservator, Lilly Library).

Saturday’s schedule included nine speakers and tours of the IU Art Museum conservation lab and collections storage (for more information on the individual speakers and subjects, please visit the MRCG website).

The day’s events ended with a tour of the IU Auxiliary Library Facility and the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Labs. Doug Sanders, Paper Conservator, and Rebecca Shindel, Paper Conservation Technician, spent time explaining the mission of the General Collections and Paper Conservation subunits and some of our current projects. Doug even drove the tour bus to the site! Saturday evening finished with a lovely reception at a private residence.

Sunday concluded the conference with three more talks, including discussion of a local midwesterner’s experience with the March 2012 tornadoes and how conservators can assist in the recovery efforts. This talk highlighted the continued need for the presence of the Midwest Regional Conservation Guild and provided a thoughtful ending to the Symposium.

Photographs by Rebecca Shindel

Obituary for Garry Harrison – from the Bloomington Herald-Times

Garry Lee Harrison, 58

AUG. 16, 1954 — SEPT. 4, 2012

BLOOMINGTON — Garry Lee Harrison, 58, a native of Coles County, Illinois, passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 4, 2012, in his home in Bloomington, Indiana.

He was born August 16, 1954, in Charleston, to Clifford O. and Pauline (Mason) Harrison.

Garry was a 1972 graduate of Charleston High School. In his teens he learned to play fiddle from his father, a passion that he pursued throughout his lifetime. In addition to playing the fiddle, he also taught himself to build fiddles and other stringed instruments. He collected and restored a complete catalog of autoharps and fretless zithers, then donated that collection to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

In his adult life, Garry made his living working in the building trades until he accepted a position at Indiana University Libraries in 1998. In 2000, he became Head of the General Conservation unit of the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Lab at Indiana University.

In the 1970s, Garry began collecting and recording old-time music from senior musicians in Illinois which resulted in a collection that is housed in the Library of Congress and also in a book titled “Dear Old Illinois.”

In 1981, Garry’s band, The Indian Creek Delta Boys, was named the ‘Official State of Illinois Traditional Old-Time String Band’ by act of the 82nd General Assembly of the State of Illinois.

Most recently, Garry played fiddle with the New Mules, a five-member string band that included his daughter Genevieve on fiddle and her husband Smith Koester on banjo. This band received a blue ribbon in the traditional stringband contest at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in West Virginia in 2008.

He recorded a number of LPs and CDs including “Late for the Dance,” “Red Prairie Dawn” (which consisted almost entirely of his own original fiddle tunes) and “Pride of America.”

Survivors include his daughter, Genevieve (Harrison) Koester and her husband, Smith of Chicago; Genevieve’s mother, Gaye Harrison of Charleston, Illinois; twin brother, Terry, and nephew, Clifford Harrison of Charleston, Illinois; brother, Steve and Linda (Catalana) Harrison and niece, Molly (Harrison) Keene of St. Albans, West Virginia; and longtime friend and musical collaborator, Jo Burgess of Bloomington, Indiana.

A memorial service will take place in the near future in Charleston, Illinois.

Donations to fund an old-time music scholarship can made out to Pick Away Press, P.O. Box 7102, Bloomington, IN 47407.

Allen Funeral Home 4155 South Old Highway 37, is handling the arrangements and online condolences may be sent to the family at www.allenfuneralhome.org.

Garry Harrison

It is with a great deal of sadness that we let all of you know of the unexpected death of Garry Harrison this past weekend.  Garry had been Head of the General Preservation unit since July of 2000 and was employed by the Indiana University Libraries since December 28, 1998.  More details will follow as they become known.

Conservation insights from the 1870s

In the Paper Lab, we’ve been working on a collection of “Journals of useful knowledge, romance, amusement, &c.”, but in actuality they seem to be morality themed newspapers filled with serial stories of ladies in distress and/or fallen women, swashbucklers, highwaymen, and dandies with a side of “Dear Abby”-style courtship and etiquette advice. While mending these papers, we couldn’t help but indulge in a little reading only to discover a few tidbits that might be of interest to conservators and library types.

Details Most Curious

This gallery contains 5 photos.

As is somewhat typical, we’ve been working on varied collections lately in the Paper Lab, from 18th century English legal …

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Craig Lab Annual Report – 2011

The E. Lingle Craig Preservation Lab hit two milestones during the 2011 calendar year.

First, the General Collections Conservation Unit has treated over 125,000 items since July of 2000.  This unit is currently headed by Garry Harrison who is assisted by Anitta Salkola-White and Miriam Nelson plus our hourly assistants.  Second during 2011 Herb McBride noted that he has constructed over 100,000 enclosures using the Kasemake box making machine since its purchase in 2001.

Personnel Changes at the Lab

In the realm of good news/bad news, the Preservation Lab is experiencing two changes in personnel.  First, the bad (for IUL) news.  Miriam Nelson has accepted the position of Head of Preservation and Conservation at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.  In her new role, Miriam will oversee the operation of both the preservation department and the Ohio University high density storage facility.  Miriam’s last day with IUL will be February 8, 2012; she will assume her duties at OU later in February.  We want to congratulate and wish her well in her new role.

Mold in the Herbarium

Garry Harrison, Anitta Salkola-White and Miriam Nelson were tasked with treating a number of items located in the Herbarium Library for mold.  The project took several days but as can be seen from these examples it is obvious that their care and attention was needed. We did not get any post-treatment photos (sorry about that), but all of these were treated successfully and put back into circulation.

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