Materials Conservation

NCPTT, in partnership with the Historic Natchez Foundation  will offer a cemetery monument conservation basics workshop May 11, 2013, in Natchez, Mississippi.  The training is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. The workshop registration is $25 per person, this price includes a box lunch. The lecture portion ...

In this episode, we join NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Marshall Millet, owner of MMars 4-D. Today they are talking about Millet’s work with U.C. Davis and the KeckCAVES visualization facility.

Call for presentations and posters, International Cemetery Preservation Summit NCPTT is soliciting oral and poster presentations that focus on research and innovation in cemetery conservation and preservation for the NCPTT’s International Cemetery Preservation Summit to be held in Niagara Falls, NY, October 8-10, 2013. Topics for presentation may include recent developments in technologies, unique treatments, and creative ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA 3D Scanning of Matisse, the Back I-IV: One Thing After Another Matisse created Back, his largest sculpture in 1908/1909. Matisse resculpted Back three times over the next twenty-one years (1913, 1917, 1930/31), each time beginning with a ...

If you have sat in the window seat, chances are you noticed that the airplane window was made of plastic.  In fact, most aircraft include plastics in their design and have done so from the early years of human flight, yet the technological history of synthetic polymers in aviation is largely unexplored.  This may be ...

With a 2011 Grant from NCPTT, conservators at Georgia O’Keeffe’s Residences in Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch, New Mexico undertook research comaparing digital photogrammetric methods for preservation documentation of historic homes. They documented their project as they went along at http://okeeffeimagingproject.wordpress.com/. This project studied whether existing, three-dimensional (3D) digital photo imaging technologies could be easily adopted by ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size COOPERATION CREATES A CUSTOM CRATE: Conservation, Laser Scanning, 3D Milling and Crate Building Work Together Claes Oldenburg’s Red Tights with Fragment 9 (1961) is created from single piece of contoured chicken wire, ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size Recording Structure and Process: HAER 3D Digital Documentation Methods For many historic engineering works the structure’s historical significance is based on its structural design. This is especially true for bridges. By understanding ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Advances in Computational Photograph Techniques for Cultural, Historic, and Natural History Materials This talk presents advances in robust new imaging tools from the emerging science known as Computational Photography. The common feature of the computational photography imaging ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA. Poster full size and detail Laser Scanning America’s Cultural Landscapes The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Documentation to the Secretary of the Interior Standards, Assessing the Value of Laser Scan Data The Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) mission is ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Full Detailed Poster   Post-Processing Workflows: Identifying Hidden Costs in Converting Scan Data to Useable Information This poster aims to demonstrate the unique challenges associated with scanning and documenting OV-103 (Space Shuttle Discovery). In demonstrating the workflow ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size   3D Data Recordation and Immersive Visualization: Considerations for Creative Mitigation Practices The proposed presentation approaches the potential of 3d data collection and analysis in an immersive 3d visualization system, emphasizing digital format ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size Integrating Aerial and Ground-based LiDAR in Appalachian Heritage Planning and Visualization The Natural Resource Analysis Center (NRAC) at West Virginia University is building a portfolio of integrated LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) ...

This poster was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Fransisco, CA. See Poster full detail and size Mind the Gap: the Need to Supplement Laser Scan Data in HABS Documentation Projects The HABS poster will discuss the use of laser scanning in relation to the documentation of historic buildings. ...

Today we join NCPTT’s Mary Striegel as she speaks with Chandra Reedy. Reedy serves as Director of the Laboratory for Analysis of Cultural Materials in the Center for Historic Architecture and Design at the University of Delaware.  Today we are talking to Chandra about the importance of thin section petrography for conservation.

On October 29, 2012 Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the New York and New Jersey coastal area. The news covered the destruction, devastation and loss to homes, business, and families. In the weeks after the storm surge had receded we first started hearing about the loss and damage to cultural materials. The first time I ...

Traditionally, conservators have relied on 2-dimensional (2D) photography to document and monitor conditions in heritage sites and objects. When a shocking, visual indicator appeared (e.g., a sudden crack in a surface), conservators took notice of what were actually thousands of slow, incremental changes (e.g., tiny fissures and failures in slowly aging materials). Conservators then photographed ...

It’s more than just a job… it’s your future. Get hands-on experience and build your resume while preserving the history of our country. Summer internships at NCPTT provide students and recent graduates an opportunity to undertake laboratory or field research in archeology, architecture, engineering, collections management, historic landscapes, and materials science. What do interns do? Interns work in ...

On December 1, 2012 NCPTT’s materials conservator Jason Church taught a one day cemetery conservation workshop in Natchez, Mississippi. This workshop was the first of a series being developed by the  Historic Natchez Foundation with the  Copiah-Lincoln Community College.  Copiah-Lincoln Community College hopes this series of preservation related workshops will build interest in a developing ...

Safe Hoist Operation for Lifting Stone When a stone needs to be removed or set back in place, lifting is required.  A hoist or crane can be used whenever the stone cannot be moved manually.  So, it is important to keep safety in mind when operating a crane or hoist.  You should be familiar with the ...

Calculating the Weight of Stone This is a guide intended to help anyone get the approximate weight of a stone without having to use a scale.  The only required tools are a calculator, tape measure, pencil, and paper.  Using the above tools allows the user to safely calculate weight prior to lifting stone with a hoist ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Designing the LiDAR Mission for Industrial Heritage: Cooperation Across the Fields Heritage managers and digital documentarians may observe the same subject, but observe it through a contrasting set of filters. The focus of this paper is to ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and conservator Martin Burke announces a two day conference on the conservation of fountains. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri will host the conference which includes presented papers, poster presentations, and discussion sessions on July 10-11, ...

This document provides guidance on wood preservation options in the context of historic preservation. Preserving wooden building materials is critical to historic preservation practitioners. Biodeterioration can be minimized through design, construction practices, maintenance, and, if neces¬sary, by use of wood preservatives. Moisture is the primary cause of biodeterioration, and if exposure to moisture cannot be ...

Geophysical and laser scan surveys were conducted at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (NHS), Cambridge, Massachusetts in August, 2011. This work was undertaken as part of the Archaeological Survey Technology, Data Integration, and Applications (ASTDA) Workshop. This workshop was funded by the National Center for Preservation Technology Training and supported by the Joukowsky ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) in the University of Delaware’s School of Public Policy and Administration are partnering to host a two-day hands-on workshop on the uses of polarized light microscopy for the study of stone and ceramic cultural materials.  The workshop ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Why DIGITAL? Its only 1′s and 0′s We still seem to be fighting the war over the value of digital information some 30 years after its introduction to the public. Developments in technology have occurred so rapidly that skepticism ...

Video in Production This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Archive of Digital Data for HABS, HAER, and HALS The NPS creates a variety of documents and records, such as inventory and monitoring plans, drawings, photographs, and conservation treatment records, to assist in the planning, ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Close Range Photogrammetry vs. 3D Scanning for Archaeological Documentation The proliferation of terrestrial laser scanners on the market over the past few years has been accompanied by a rapid adoption of the technology by archaeologists.  This increased archaeological use ...

On September 20-21, 2012 NCPTT’s materials conservator Jason Church taught two cemetery monument conservation workshops as part of the Kentucky Heritage Council annual Historic Preservation Conference. Church’s contribution to the well attended and diverse annual conference was entitled “Our History Rests Here: Preservation and Restoration of Historic Cemeteries, Part 1 and Part 2″. The first day ...

NCPTT, in partnership with the Historic Natchez Foundation and Copiah-Lincoln Community College, will offer a cemetery monument conservation basics workshop December 1, 2012, in Natchez, Mississippi.  The training is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. The workshop registration is $25 per person, this price includes a ...

This presentation was presented as the keynote address for the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012, Presidio, San Francisco, CA.   Rocket Science and 3D Analyses in the Preservation of Artistic and Historic Works More than sixty years ago development began on the nuclear-propelled ORION Spaceship destined for a manned mission to the planet Saturn. This ...

Here are notes from three presentations I found interesting.  I hope you’ll find them interesting, too. Interior Stone Cleaning at Saint John the Devine: practical and logistical considerations — Claudia Kavenagh While construction on the church was started in the 19th century, it is still not completed.  During construction in 2001, a fire broke out that damaged ...

Disasters can strike at anytime, sometimes with little or no warning. Experience has shown us that while natural disasters can leave a path of destruction there are also man-made disasters that can bring an area to its knees. Being informed and preparing for those that could affect you are key to saving your site, building ...

NCPTT’s Jason Church and Carol Chin presented research at the International Stone Congress on Wednesday, October 24.  Church presented a comparative cleaning study for fragile marble monuments after pretreatment with hydroxyl conversion treatment.  The purpose of this work was to develop a treatment methodology for the Arsenal and MaComb Monuments found in Congressional Cemetery, Washington, ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Monitoring Using Laser Scanning – Case Study of Watts Towers This paper will explore the use of laser scanning as a part of a controlled survey to measure movement of buildings and structures over time. In 2011 a ...

Conservation Scientist for a Day One day event offered July 30, 2013 to students who have finished the 8th grade or those who participated in the 2013 NCPTT Robot Camp. $10 per person limited to 25 students STUDENTS WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHENIC POTTERY SHARDS AND PARTICIPATE IN HANDS-ON EXPERIMENTS! Instructors: Curtis Desselles, Carol Chin, Jason, Church, Mary Striegel

  Learn: Soldering, Programming, Electronics, Robot  Assembly, Navigation Using Sensors and More!  Robotics Camp     July 22-26, 2013   Who: Middle and High School Students(finished 6th grade to 12th grade) Location: National Center for PreservationTechnology and Training645 University ParkwayNatchitoches, LA 71457318-356-7444 Time: 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon each day Attire: Casual Attire: Jeans and T-Shirts. Cost: • $50.00 Per Person •Limited to 15 students, payment in full is required at ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Evolution in Project Workflow – Is High Definition Survey the Missing Link? There is a major shift occurring in the preservation and building industry today. It was only 30 years ago that architects and engineers where designing ...

Since raising the H.L. Hunley submarine (1863) from the seabed in 2000, the project has incorporated 3D technologies including laser scanning, patterned light scanning, Vulcan point system, and computer modeling. Archaeologists developed the use of 3D technologies primarily for site plan development and artifact documentation. As the project progressed, conservators found other applications for the ...

Two additional grants totaling $50,000 were made to the following recipients. The Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center is receiving $25,000 to develop a symposium on the Conservation and Continuation of Native American Monumental Wood Carving. The California Preservation Foundation is receiving $25,000 to advance distance learning through the Preservation Virtual Classroom.

Have you ever wondered what an art conservation scientist does? Have you thought about how science can teach us about an historic object? Come join us this summer and be your own scientific sleuth to learn about the culture of early inhabitants of Natchitoches through the pottery shards they left behind. NCPTT is offering a ...

NCPTT wants to introduce you to the excitement of science and technology through NCPTT’s 2012 Robotics Camp! Get hands-on experience building and programming your own robot. Then have a chance to test your navigational skills against others in the camp. You’ll learn about soldering, programming, electronics, robot assembly, navigation using sensors, and more! NCPTT’s 2012 Robotics ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Paradise Gardens; its Past and its Future Abstract Speakers Biography Jordan Poole,Executive Director Paradise Garden Foundation A Chattanooga County native Jordan ...

NCPTT, in partnership with Monroe County History Center at Indiana University, conducted a workshop focused on the techniques and knowledge needed to preserve ornamental ironwork in an architectural setting. This workshop begin with an opening lecture session at 6:30 p.m. by NCPTT’s Materials Conservator Jason Church on Friday, October 14th at the History Center in Bloomington, Indiana. ...

The Wooldridge Monuments are a group of eighteen life-sized sculptures located in Maplewood Cemetery, Mayfield, Kentucky. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, they commemorate the life and relatives of Henry G. Wooldridge.

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Planning to Stabilize, Document, Conserve and Interpret Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia Abstract This presentation will illustrate ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art Abstract The Orange Show Foundation Inc. recently received a grant from the ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Unicultural Ethnography: Preserving Outsider Art Through the Ethnography of Individual Outsider Artists Abstract Certain aspects of the artistic experience ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. God’s Architects; Documenting the Materials, Methods, and Self-Taught Builders of the South Abstract Scattered about remote back roads and ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Taking the Art to the Streets: How the Citizens of Los Angeles Saved Watts Towers Abstract When the assorted ...

Under the microscope sat a thin section of the smaller Bamiyan Buddha from Afghanistan which was destroyed in 2001. As polarizing filters were placed in front of and behind the sample creating cross polarization, grains of large quartz, feldspars, chert, and other components sparkled in vivid color on a dark background. This technique is called ...

These lectures were part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Dennis Montagna Creating a Conservation Plan for Vollis Simpson’s Whirligigs Abstract For the past thirty years, 92-year-old Vollis Simpson has ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Abstract Re-evaluation of 1984 Preservation Decisions for the African House Murals by Clementine Hunter In 1984 as an Associate ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Greatest Show on Earth:  the history and conservation of Jefferson Davis McKissack’s Orange Show Abstract The Orange Show ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts (The Watts Towers) Four Decades of Interventions and Still Searching for a ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.   What’s In and What’s Out Abstract James Dixon (1887- 1970) was a primitive landscape painter from Tory Island an ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Virtual Conservation of Folk and Outsider Art Environments Abstract The presentation will address the issue of conserving documents pertaining ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. A Creative Obsession: Materials and Techniques of the Self-Taught Artist James Castle Abstract Identifying the materials of works of ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Realms of the Unreal and the Henry Darger Archives Abstract The American Folk Art Museum maintains the single largest ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Magical Mosaics: Preserving Isaiah Zagar’s Philadelphia Art Environment Abstract One of the nation’s most amazing, yet least known, art ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Discriminating Palettes:   The Painting Materials of Clementine Hunter and Her Imitator Abstract The paintings of Clementine Hunter, an illiterate ...

United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Robert E. Lucky, Jr, 64, of New Orleans, was sentenced today to 25 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $326,893 in restitution for mail fraud in connection with selling fake paintings attributed to Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter. Lucky was also sentenced to three years’ ...

Monday’s meeting with Dr. John Pojman, an LSU professor specializing in polymers, was a great exchange of ideas.  Pojman is a prototypical eccentric professor, who defines himself as a chemist, amateur herpetologist, and self-proclaimed owner of the world’s largest pocket protector collection.  His is a gregarious researcher who can quickly go from a light-hearted story ...

The talk presents a biographical sketch of the folk artist, Clementine Hunter, born in southern Natchitoches Parish in late 1887 and died January 1, 1988. Around 2000 a group of paintings appeared on the market supposedly by Hunter but later found to be painted by Beryl and William Toye. The lecture will include details of the ...

Cultural Heritage Imaging (C-H-I) is offering a four-day workshop on the use of reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) to document cultural heritage.  The workshop will be held July 16-19, 2012 at the C-H-I offices in San Francisco, California.  The new technique helps create digital representations of artifacts and sites.  The workshop is a combination of lectures, demonstrations ...

NCPTT, in partnership with the University of Delaware, will conduct a two-day workshop focused on a highly successful PTT grant by Chandra Reedy on Thin-Section Petrography of Stone and Ceramic Cultural Materials. The April 2012 workshop is open to 20 conservation professionals and will be held at the research laboratories of the National Conservation Training ...

July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio of San Francisco, California NCPTT in conjunction with the Presidio Trust and the Friends of NCPTT will host a three day summit on digital documentation for the preservation of cultural heritage. The program features two days of contributed papers and a poster session, followed by a third day of field ...

Human skeletal remains from archeological sites are often studied to determine historical information such as sex, age, and health, among other facts.  The information from individuals can be used to better understand a population and the culture of a past people.  With the aid of a Preservation Technology and Training Grant, Dr. Shannon Hodge at ...

This webinar will cover the basics needed for Cemetery Documentation. The talk will run one hour of lecture with a following half hour for questions and answers. Topics covered in this talk will include an introduction to documentation surveys and forms followed by an overview of definitions general needed in cemetery documentation. Definitions covered are ...

The major goals of this project involved: laboratory set-up; synthesis of Ca(OH) 2 nano- particles; cordage sample acquisition; development of a research design; preliminary testing of solutions and solvents; mechanical and aging studies; analytical characterization; imaging and data collection; and report preparation. The project has demonstrated that aqueous dispersions of calcium hydroxide nano-particles are not ...

Paul Whitmore, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Art Conservation Research Center (ACRC), has developed a portable device that can be used to determine how exposure to visible light and ultraviolet (UV) rays affect the colors on a work of art, providing vital information that can be used to better preserve the artwork.

Growth of salt crystals within the pores of stone can cause serious damage. Salt may enter with ground water or be created by reaction of the minerals in the stone with atmospheric pollutants. As water evaporates from the pores of the stone, the salt concentration rises and the crystals grow until they approach the pore ...

While archaeologists have had some success identifying who made ceramics and where they made them, these techniques relied on removing a sample and complex instrumentation. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) used portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrumentation as a tool to determine the geographic origin of Native American ceramics.

A recent NCPTT grant assisted a team from Princeton University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to propose an approach on controlling salt damage. The goal of the project was to create a method for protecting stone from crystallizing salts by modifying the surface chemistry of the stone. Although frost and acid rain are more familiar ...

With a PTT grant funded by NCPTT, a research team including conservators from the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, scientists with the Physics Department of Union College, Schenectady, New York, and scientists from the nanotechnology industry began experimenting with nanoparticles to advance conservation treatments in the field of historic preservation. This collaboration ...

Hola, en este video le estaremos enseñando los procedimientos básicos para limpiar lápidas de piedra. Hay dos cosas que se deben de recordar: lo primero es que siempre hay que asegurarse de la seguridad personal y lo segundo es no hacer daño a la lápida como tal.

We are looking for proposals which develop new technologies or adapt existing technologies to preserve cultural resources. Call for Proposals (Details of the grants program) Optional Pre-Proposal (Due October 1, 2011) Submit Grant Proposal (Due October 17, 2011)

Preparing your collection for a disaster could greatly increase what survives. Northeast Document Conservation Center recommends to first prepare an emergency preparedness plan. This will allow your staff to respond quickly before, during and after a disaster with explict instructions that will provide the best practices for preparing and salvaging your collections. ...

NCPTT, in partnership with Monroe County History Center at Indiana University, will conduct a workshop focused on the techniques and knowledge needed to preserve ornamental ironwork in an architectural setting, October 7-8, 2011 in Bloomington, Ind..  The class will be split between classroom lectures and in the field hands-on activities. For more information contact Jason ...

Since the summer of 2010, NCPTT has been actively researching the removal of crude oil from objects and sites of cultural significance, such as Fort Livingston. This 19th century coastal fort on Grand Terre Island, Louisiana, was badly contaminated by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Our scientists visited the site twice last year to ...

In the wake of recent oil spills, many in the public sector recognized a need for concise, reliable information to protect cultural heritage from the long-term effects of crude oil. In particular, government officials, archeologists, and preservation professionals wanted to know the risks associated with crude oil contamination on buried and submerged archeological objects and ...

In 2004, the Department of Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration turned to NCPTT when it wanted advice on chemical cleaners for their marble headstones. This began and partnership and extensive research on the subject of commercially available cleaners for removing biological growth and general soiling from marble headstones. This week, NCPTT’s Mary Striegel reported the results ...

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 2:00 pm EDT Theresa Anne Voellinger, Paper/Photograph Conservator, Harpers Ferry Center, National Park Service will join us to discuss the Connecting to Collections Online Community’s Featured Resource for August – the online video series Cold Storage:  A Long-Term Preservation Strategy for Film-Based Photographic Materials. To join these events, go to http://www.connectingtocollections.org/ and visit the meeting ...

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 3:00 pm EDT Led by Barbara Cumberland, Conservator, Museum Conservation Services at the Harpers Ferry Center, National Park Service, and Carol DiSalvo, Integrated Pest Management Coordinator at the National Park Service. The following resources are recommended for this webinar: Identifying Museum Insect Pest Damage (PDF) 11 Step Process for Implementing an Integrated Pest ...

Have you ever been to Gettysburg or other battlefield sites and noticed the condition of the outdoor sculptures? Or, closer to home, are there any commemorative markers or metal plaques on your way to work today that are in poor condition? Most National Parks and almost every town square have at least one outdoor ...

Welcome to the Preservation Technology podcast; the show that brings you the people and projects that are advancing the future of America’s heritage. I’m Kevin Ammons with the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. Today we join Jason Church as he speaks with Karen Pavelka, a lecturer in the School of ...

What will students learn from the “Conservation Scientist for a Day” program? Students will learn about: The role of the conservation scientist, The Scientific Method, Conservation, Cultural heritage, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) theory, The Metric System, Chemical analysis testing, and Safety in the laboratory setting.

May 18-19, 2011 Savannah, GA The purpose of this event is to educate people about the differences in cast and wrought iron and preservation/restoration methods for each type of material. This workshop will be useful to anyone who cares for historic buildings (that contain railings, balconies, or other decorative elements), parks, or cemeteries. $399 Registration $299 Student Registration – ...

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $360,000 three-year grant for preservation research to the University of Southern Mississippi, Hybrid Plastics, and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT). The research team is developing new stone strengtheners, also called consolidants, based on the latest advances in polymer science. “This National Science Foundation grant ...

Can chemistry lead to better understanding of archeological objects?  Ask Dr. Evan Peacock from the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University.  With funding from NCPTT, Peacock is using an analytical technique called Laser Ablation-inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analyzing spoons made of freshwater mussel shell.  Spoons like these were used to smooth pottery ...

NCPTT made a second visit to Fort Livingston, Grand Terre Island, in September, 2010. Eight surface washing agents were tested for their effectiveness in removing weathered crude oil from the brick masonry at the fort. A few of the products tested were somewhat effective, removing approximately 50% to 70% of the surface soiling from the ...

Location: Sand Hill, TX Date: April 2011 Partner: Stephen F. Austin State University Description: This cemetery basics workshop is targeted to the parks seasonal interpretation staff, regular yearly staff, and family members of the cemeteries located at the park. This one to two day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master plans, simple resetting techniques, and ...

Location: Saint Augustine, FL Date: April 1-2, 2011 Partner: University of Florida This multiday cemetery workshop will focus on a variety of cemetery materials and conservation treatments. This includes proper cleaning and consolidation techniques for stone grave markers, lime washing of build features, and simple repair techniques for stone. A small class of 15-20 will be comprised ...

This Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics workshop is a partnership between Great Smokey Mountains National Park and NCPTT. It is targeted to the parks seasonal interpretation staff, regular yearly staff, and family members of the cemeteries located at the park. This one to two day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master plans, simple ...

NCPTT has partnered with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Springdale Cemetery Association to offer Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics in Peoria, IL. This cemetery basics workshop is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. This one day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master ...

NCPTT staff visited Fort Livingston, Grand Terre Island, on June 16, 2010 to evaluate the condition of the structure and the amount of oil contamination; to conduct field tests on cleaning methods; and to collect oil, water, and oil-contaminated sand samples for further testing in the laboratory. The amount of oil and area of contamination ...

The University of Wisconsin at Madison recently wrapped-up a research project begun in 1910 to examine the long-term performance of concrete samples stored under different conditions. When Owen Withey, a professor of mechanics at the university, began his study at the turn of the last century there had been little scientific research of concrete and ...

In this edition of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we join NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Derek Patton, Assistant Professor in the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at The University of Southern Mississippi. NCPTT is partnering with USM and Hybrid Plastics on a National Science Foundation grant to advance the science of ...

The NCPTT 2010 Annual Report outlines research, training, and grant activities undertaken by the Center during FY2010. NCPTT advances the application of science and technology to historic preservation. Working in the fields of archeology, architecture, landscape architecture and materials conservation, the Center accomplishes its mission through training, education, research, technology transfer and partnerships.

This database of micrographs of textile fibers acquired through the use of multiple microscopic techniques contains 145 collections with 1404 individual files, and requires 23GB of storage space. Each file contains a high resolution image with text fields that delineate image location and size, image collection information, microscopy technique and details of the features presented ...

Researchers at NCPTT are discovering new treatments for historic stone conservation with the help of Hybrid Plastics, the University of Southern Mississippi, and a grant from the National Science Foundation.  The team is developing new stone strengtheners, also called consolidants, based on the latest advances in polymer science.  The National Science Foundation is awarding the ...

In this video we will discuss a traditional Louisiana construction method called Bousillage. Bousillage is a Louisiana French term for walls made of mud. The origins of the word comes from Bous which means mud. Louisiana’s bousillage techniques appear s to be a blending of French and Native American traditions. Both cultures employed similar mud walled ...

Some of the world’s most famous art will never appear in a gallery. Indeed, outdoor bronze sculpture may spend decades or centuries outdoors, exposed to pollution and extreme weather conditions. Researchers at North Dakota State University (NDSU) used a grant from NCPTT to study ways to test and develop a coating system to resist corrosion ...

This document is written as general guidance for property owners, as well as state and federal officials, for the care of historic structures facing the impact of oil contamination from releases of crude oil in marine and terrestrial environments, whether from oil tankers, drilling rigs, wells, offshore platforms, or pipeline breaks and failures.

The effects of oil contamination on cultural resources will continue to be a challenge to the Gulf Coast region for years to come. NCPTT is meeting this challenge with technical research support for state and federal land managers, and for the public.

In this edition of the podcast, we join NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Tony Rajer. He is an Art Conservator with the Nek Chand Foundation and a conservation professor at the University of Wisconsin. Today they will discuss Rajer’s interest in folk art and his work with the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India.

For conservators working with iron, rust is always a consideration.  In museum collections or in our homes, we easily encounter rusty fences, grates, car parts, artwork and collectibles.  Iron oxide (commonly called rust) results from the natural oxidation of iron by oxygen.  Some metals, like bronze, can form a protective layer of corrosion products called ...

In this episode of the Preservation Technology Podcast, we join NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Vern Mesler, adjunct professor at Lansing Community College. They will discuss the “Preservation of Iron and Steel and Bridges and Other Metal Structures Workshop,” which was funded by a grant from the National Center.

Salt damage is one of the leading causes of deterioration of monuments and historical buildings. While this problem is widespread, proper prevention methods are not understood, leading to remedies that sometimes cause additional harm. Princeton University is tackling the problem by using strategies to better understand the salt/water/pore interface. University researchers are using a PTT ...

In an ongoing commitment to promote heritage education in historic preservation, the Materials Research Program at NCPTT recently hosted two school groups. On Friday, March 12, thirty-four Avoyelles Public Charter School high school juniors took part in the “Conservation Scientist for a Day” lesson. For this the students studied French colonial and Native American pottery using ...

Many fallen or sunken grave markers are too large or weigh too much to be reset by hand. For these markers a mechanical hoisting or lifting system must be used. There are many types of lifting systems in use from very complex cranes and truck mounted hydraulic booms to less complex gantries and tripod hoists. ...

Have you ever wondered what kind of metal that object was made of?  Or perhaps you needed to read the inscription of a coin that was corroded.  Maybe you have a laboratory with a limited research budget and need to study a collection of firearms.  NCPTT is researching new applications for an old technology: Eddy ...

NCPTT has internships available in the fields of historic architecture, materials conservation, and historic landscapes. Positions include 10-week historic architecture and materials conservation summer internships and a 6-month historic landscapes internship.

The Konica Minolta Vivid 9i 3-D LASER scanner has been used to create better computer graphics in movies such as Bolt and The Golden Compass. It was also used to make online museums, such as the Virtual Hampson Museum, with 3-D images of every artifact. Now NCPTT will expand its use into the preservation field.

This project involved developing a new method for using the chemical content of freshwater mussel shell as a means of sourcing prehistoric, shell-tempered pottery and shell artifacts to their places of origin. By extension, this means that prehistoric trade and exchange networks can be mapped out. Because each waterway is chemically different to some extent, ...

A variety of materials and methods have been used to preserve ceramic vessels. Many have proven successful, while others are damaging. Monitoring and evaluation of past treatments is a documented research priority in the conservation field. The Arizona State Museum (ASM) has examined, recorded and analyzed the performance of past treatments on ...

The best preservation decisions are based on first-hand knowledge.  NCPTT is creating new technology-based information for people active in hands-on preservation and conservation. NCPTT contributed its first-hand knowledge to the Department of Defense in 2009.  Recently, the DOD wished to establish a series of standard rehabilitation treatments for better management of its built heritage.  Initial drafts ...

Ohio State University is looking to provide ethnobotanists, archeologists and analysts with a new way to identify fibers found in prehistoric artifacts. Through a grant from NCPTT, the university is creating an online database containing digital images, explanatory text and terminology that is designed to give researchers important information about artifacts.

A live webcast of the Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit was streamed on October 19. 2009. View the webcast.

Chemistry and Materials Research at the Interface between Science and Art: Thoughts from an NSF Workshop co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Northwestern University In July, I was invited to participate in a National Science Foundation workshop entitled “Chemistry and Materials Research at the Interface between Science and Art.”  I had the good fortune ...

In this episode, Jason Church speaks with Curtis Deselles, an intern with the Materials Research program at NCPTT, discusses the use of eddy currents and eddy current technology in conservation science. Mr. Deselles has built several eddy current analyzers, custom software, and presented on this topic at a non-destructive conference in St. Louis. NCPTT has been ...

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is creating a new, interactive way of preserving historic landscapes. Slated for launch in October, the PTTGrant-funded “What’s Out There” project will raise awareness about the wide range and diversity of historic landscape design through a collaborative Wikipedia-style website. The site will enable users to directly contribute information, resulting in ...

NCPTT has completed the rewriting and editing of 12 Standard Treatments for the DOD. Sixteen additional treatments are under review, and DOD comments will be incorporated as they are received. This effort is directed at improving the technical content of the draft DOD treatment standards and the stewardship of DOD cultural resources.

NCPTT’s Mary Striegel participated in a National Science Foundation/Andrew Mellon Foundation workshop held to examine and improve the state of science used to study, preserve and protect cultural patrimony. Forty participants met to identify areas where new research in basic science can provide a foundation for significant improvements in understanding the way art and artifacts were ...

Today we are joining NCPTT’s Jason Church as he speaks with Claire Dean of Dean Associates of Conservation Services about using lasers to remove graffiti from rock art. Rock art or rock imagery is the common term for paintings and carvings on rock and in North America that is mostly associated with native communities. Download Episode ...

When the use of the internet for communication is exploding exponentially, the economics of California and Stanford University has brought an end to the Conservation Online DistList and Archives (CoOL).

Schedule and abstracts for the Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit from October 19-21, 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee. Register before September 11, 2009 for $299 ($399 thereafter). Key sessions are expected to include Archeology, Mapping and Documentation, Landscapes, Engineering Challenges, Issues in National Cemeteries, and Materials Conservation.

We do not advocate the use of shaving cream for investigating inscriptions on stone. The shaving cream has natural emollients for softening the skin. These emollients have oils and moisture holding agents that can have detrimental effects on the stone.

NCPTT and Hybrid Plastics are partnering to make and use POSS modified polymers in preservation applications. Researchers and preservationists discussed the potential of developing new nanotechnologies for application to preservation problems.

NCPTT is soliciting oral and poster presentations that focus on research and innovation in cemetery conservation and preservation for the NCPTT’s Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit to be held in Nashville, Tenn., October 19-21, 2009.

This course emphasizes sound maintenance techniques for cemetery and commemorative monuments that are sustainable, cyclic, non-invasive, and do no harm. The course will address documentation, maintenance plans, stone deterioration, cleaning, and resetting headstones.

This course emphasizes sound maintenance technqiues for historic iron fences. These resources could be located around cemetery markers, commemorative monuments, or architectural features.

Mary Striegel will be the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the American Society for Non-destructive Testing, to be held March 17 in St. Louis, Mo.

Recent research reveals bacteria may be the biggest ally in the fight to preserve ancient artifacts from erosion and deterioration.

The topic is the use of eddy currents for identification of metals (ferrous and non-ferrous), measuring the thickness of corrosion, and the recovery of serial numbers and/or images beneath corrosion.

NCPTT is organizing a session on non-destructive testing in historic preservation as part of the American Society for Non-destructive Testing’s meeting on March 17, 2009 in St. Louis.

The conservation of the King Kamehameha I sculpture in North Kohola, Hawai`I demonstrates a dynamic of public involvement in conservation.

Limewash is enjoying renewed interest as a protectant for historic structures, thanks in part to research undertaken by NCPTT and its partners.

Carol Chin has joined NCPTT as a joint faculty researcher in the National Center’s Materials Research Program. The position is held in partnership with Northwestern State University of Louisiana

NCPTT researchers, in partnership with masonry experts from NPS Historic Preservation Training Center, recently completed a study to develop treatments for use on marble monuments in Historic Congressional Cemetery.

The grant allowed for documentation of traditional language, foods, music and the cultural landscapes associated with the Timbisha Shoshone people in their aboriginal territories.

2006 NCPTT Grant to Harvard University, “Development of a Rapid Indicator of Biodeterioration of Historic Stone.” Biodeterioration plays an important role in the degradation of stone in historic buildings, monuments, and archeological sites.

This six minute video explains how to prepare and apply limewash.

NCPTT was awarded the Oliver Torrey Fuller Award at the Association of Preservation Technology International (APTI) conference in October.

NCPTT’s held its sixth annual Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Connecticut. Twenty-six registrants participated in a variety of hands-on sessions.

NCPTT has received the PTT grant product “Wooden Artifacts in Cemeteries: A Reference Manual,” submitted by the Historic Preservation Commission; the City of Aspen, Colorado, and Anthony & Associates.

NCPTT and the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) are partnering with the Veterans Administration’s National Cemetery Administration to complete cleaning treatment studies on the U.S. Arsenal Monument in Historic Congressional Cemetery. Based on research and training by NCPTT’s Jason Church, HPTC staff will undertake intermittent misting cleaning of the Arsenal Monument during November. This ...

This report provides information and progress on the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for federally issued headstones.

Traditional thin-section analysis techniques such as tedious manual point counting are time consuming and require numerous measures. The use of visual estimation charts produce results of questionable accuracy.

In this study, Inspired Partnerships, a non-profit organization in Chicago, investigated the virtues and liabilities of various protective glazing installations over stained glass.

This manual teaches communities and neighborhoods how to complete their own historic resource surveys and share that information quickly.

This video covers a workshop on the conservation and restoration of stained glass.

A critical and long-standing challenge in the preservation field has been finding unmarked graves.

NCPTT’s materials research program hosted representatives from Hybrid Plastics. The company specializes in new resin and plastics based on a new chemical technology called POSS.

NCPTT’s Curtis Deselles, a graduate student in the Masters of Heritage Resources program at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, is developing a handheld metal tester using eddy current technology.

NCPTT and the City of New London will deliver the sixth annual New England Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop on October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Conn.

NCPTT is developing better strategies for the removal of graffiti from brick masonry buildings.

Molly McGath, NCPTT summer intern, is studying interactions between air pollution and limestone treated with commonly used chemical stone strengtheners.

More than $165,000 will fund research to protect America’s historic legacy as part of the National Center for Preservation Technology & Training’s PTT Grants program.

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and Northwestern State University seek a Ph.D. analytical, organic, or physical chemist to fill a joint-faculty position for two years, with an option for annual renewal pending availability of funds.

Anna Johnson, a high-school junior at the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, took NCPTT research to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Atlanta, Ga. on May 11-16.

Stace Miller, a longtime undergraduate intern at NCPTT, received a B.S. in chemistry and an B.S. in Math from Northwestern State University of Louisiana on May 9.

NCPTT and the Department of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration has released the interim report entitled, Comparative Study of Commercially Available Cleaners for use on Federally-issued Headstones.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art recently provided a portable laser system to NCPTT as part of the National Center’s laser research facility.

This report is an executive summary of testing undertaken by NCPTT in partnership with the Cane River Creole National Historical Park (CARI) and Quality Finish.

NCPTT will host four interns in its materials research program this summer: Molly McGath, Catherine Arseneaux, Candida D’Avanzo, and Paige Isaacs.

The study tested a variety of limewash recipes for possible use on historic structures located in the Cane River Creole National Historical Park, located in central Louisiana.

Jason Church and Stace Miller presented results of NCPTT research at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation in Denver Colorado, April 21-24.

$695 per participant. Topics Will Include: Condition Assessments, Conservation Ethics, Protection, Cleaning, Stone Loss Repairs, Bases and Resetting, Adhesion & Reinforced Repair, Consolidation.

Mary Striegel of NCPTT presented at the 2008 Louisiana Library Association Annual Meeting, held March 4-6 in Shreveport.

NCPTT interns Stace Miller and Bilal Khurshid were acknowledged for their research and professional presentations at NSU’s Annual College of Science and Technology banquet.

Six NCPTT staff members presented at Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s (NSU) annual research day on March 20.

NCPTT has been granted a cultural diversity intern for summer 2008 through the NPS Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program.

A new Perkin Elmer Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrometric microscope was recently installed in the NCPTT research labs.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

NCPTT recently provided technical assistance to the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport regarding concerns about the condition of several archeological copper objects associated with the Gahagan burials that were excavated in the 1930s.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

NCPTT hosted the American Chemical Society Regional Chapter Meeting on Nov. 27 in Lee H. Nelson Hall. The meeting included a banquet dinner and guest lecture by Dr. Mary Robert Garrett on synthesis of enantioenriched beta-ketoesters.

Development of a Rapid Indicator of Biodeterioration of Historic Stone. Ralph Mitchell, principal investigator, and Christopher J. McNamara, of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences worked to identify microbial species for possible use as a microbiological indicator for identification of stone deterioration.

NCPTT held the Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop at St. Michaels Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida on October 23-25, 2007.

In the interest of saving as much historic fabric as possible and not altering or scarring historic materials as a result of investigative probes, architectural conservators look to nondestructive testing methods for the evaluation and identification of materials, conditions and alterations made to structures over time.

Recovery specialists need to have a clear sense of the pros and cons of existing treatment options before they can respond effectively.

Swelling clays in stone can generate damaging stresses during a wetting or a drying cycle, which leads to deterioration of building stones such as Portland Brownstone.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly repair an iron fence.

This project is about saving historic wooden artifacts in cemeteries. Cemeteries are important repositories of local and national history, valued not only for the stories they tell, but also for their emotional and civic connections.

This study evaluates the physical effects of drying waterlogged archaeological wood using supercritical carbon dioxide as compared to air drying and the polyethlene gylcol (PEG)/freeze drying method.

NCPTT’s Sarah Jackson along with colleagues Mary Striegel and Tye Botting were awarded the Oliver Torrey Fuller Award for their article, “Durability of Traditional and Modified Limewash.”

This thorough website was built and designed as a clearinghouse of information on videotape preservation.

Caleb Johnson recently joined NCPTT’s materials research program as a graduate assistant.

NCPTT’s Jason Church presented the results of recent research on the scaling and deterioration of granite monuments.

NCPTT worked with consultant Margaret Abraham to complete the NSU/NCPTT joint laser research facility and undertake safety and operational training.

The Department of Veteran Affairs agreed to fund NCPTT’s two-year continuation of the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for use on federally issued headstones.

Debra Elaine Dandridge, Lichens: The Challenge for Rock Art Conservation, a Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, Texas A&M University.

Dr. Catherine Situma joined the NCPTT materials research program in the NCPTT/NSU joint faculty position.

$695 per person. October 23-25, 2007.

Mary Striegel and Jason Church of NCPTT conducted a comprehensive condition assessment and documentation of the Macomb and the U.S. Arsenal Monuments in Washington, DC’s, historic Congressional Cemetery.

PTT Grant MT-2210-03-NC-05, Thin-Section Petrography of Cultural Materials: Comprehensive Resource and Training, Publication, Dr. Chandra Reedy, University of Delaware, Museum Studies Program.

San Antonio, TX · June 16, 2007. 9:00AM to 12:00 PM.

This work has leveraged additional funds through the purchase of an Infrared Camera by the University.

Eric Shindelholz, formerly The Mariners’ Museum, successfully concluded his grant research and submitted his final deliverables regarding his project to investigate the use of emerging technologies for drying waterlogged archeological wood artifacts.

NCPTT’s Mary Striegel and Jason Church completed a progress report, “Comparative Study of Commercially Available Cleaners for Use on Federally-Issued Headstones” for the Department of Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly clean a stone grave marker.

Educators may find the following resources useful in teaching heritage education in the classroom.

Mary Striegel and Jason Church conducted visits to the Antietam National Battlefield and the Harper’s Ferry Conservation Center immediately after the TELNPS course.

On Feb. 1, NCPTT offered technical advice to the Historic Preservation Training Center about the cleaning and repair of 165 cenotaphs located in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

A report on NCPTT’s research, entitled “Durability of Traditional and Modified Limewashes,” by Sarah M. Jackson and Mary F. Striegel, has been accepted by the APT Bulletin for publication in its Summer 2007 issue.

The work, which is funded by the National Cemetery Administration, began in Oct. 2006 and is expected to continue into FY 2008.

The cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was officially opened 1847 and its fence and walls were added in 1905.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care” broadcast on January 30, 2007.

Some natural science specimens and ethnographic artifacts in museums were historically treated with arsenic and mercury salts. This has created an environmental concern for museum workers and the public who may be exposed to these toxins. In addition, museums are frequently being asked to return sacred objects under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation ...

Mary Striegel represented NCPTT at the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) board meeting, held Nov. 2-4, 2006.

NCPTT materials research staff Dr. Tye Botting and Sarah Jackson presented research at the annual APTI conference on Sept. 15, 2006, in Atlanta.

National Parks at a Turning Point focuses on air pollution effects in the National Parks and highlights what the National Park Service is doing about it.

NCPTT is partnering with NSU to set up a lab to research lasers as a method for safely cleaning historic materials.

NCPTT was awarded the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for its Cemetery Preservation Initiative.

NCPTT materials conservator Jason Church was selected from applicants across the United States to participate in the 2006 Metals Conservation Summer Institute.

NCPTT graduate intern Caitlin O’Grady has begun a study to examine scale that has been widely found on granite headstones.

Results are available on the durability of traditional and modified limewashes tested by NCPTT.

NCPTT is moving forward with the second phase of a two-year study to evaluate the effectiveness of commercial chemical cleaners for the removal of biological growth and dirt from federally issued headstones.

NCPTT worked in conjunction with the American Institute for Conservation to produce the workshop series, “After the Storm: Recovery of Wet Collections,” which was held in March.

NCPTT is expanding its training in Cemetery Monument Conservation to three levels in 2006: Basic, Introductory, and Advanced.

Hallmarks on silver and gold objects can reveal much about their history.

The focus of this project was to investigate test methods for determining water vapor transmission (WVT) rates in mortar and to assign appropriate WVT rates for specific hydraulic and non-hydraulic restoration mortars.

The name of the silversmith, the date of manufacture, the quality of the metal alloy, as well as other information can be determined from the study of the hallmarks.

The use of hallmarks on silver has a long history, dating back to at least the sixth century AD.

This publication studies three monitoring systems and efforts to eliminate termites at San Cristobal and El Morro of the San Juan National Historical Site in Puerto Rico.

In 2003, NCPTT supported research that studied biodeterioration on metallic monuments. Ralph Mitchell, Professor at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, employed electrochemical impedence spectroscopy to analyze the susceptibility of monument coatings to degradation by indigenous microflora activity.

In 2003, the Infrared and Raman Users Group received NCPTT support to develop and implement an online collaborative database and bibliography of high quality infrared reference spectra. Currently, the database contains over 1250 spectra of oils, waxes, natural and synthetic resins, dyes, pigments, proteins, gums, and minerals.

This material provides guidance for a successful presentation of the course. The guide is organized, along with the Training Manual, in the order of the presentation of the material. The course is designed to be presented over the course of two days. The course material is presented in three formats: Class presentation – a classroom lecture format. Exercises ...

Baits containing an insect growth regulator, hexaflumuron, were used in the historic Presbytere and the Creole House of the Cabildo, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to control infestations of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes Formosanus Shiraki.

In 2002, researchers from North Dakota State University received funding from the NCPTT to study protective coatings for outdoor bronze sculpture and ornamentation. Previous research had shown that the most protective coatings tend to be impervious to conventional solvent removal techniques and that standard mechanical removal methods damage bronzes and their patinas. This ...

The purpose of this project was to develop improved consolidants for restoration of stone damaged by weathering. Conventional consolidants are organic polymers or silica gels, which are simple materials that do not permit matching of a range of properties of the stone. Later improvement of the suspension procedure resulted in consolidants that are much more stable ...

Termites are a significant structural pest in the United States, costing the public nearly $1.5 billion in damage each year.

This report presents a review of the literature followed by recommendations based on best practices for the analysis of historic cement-based materials. The report is geared towards the practicing analyst.

Because of the scale of contamination, gaseous fumigation with chlorine dioxide was proposed as the method of decontamination for the Senate building.

Phase 1 of this project used electrochemical characterization methods to evaluate coatings’ corrosion protective performance under conditions that directly emulated exposure to polluted atmospheres.

In 2001, North Dakota State University presented conclusions from the second year of a three year NCPTT funded project on outdoor bronze protective coatings. Coatings investigated include: a fluorocopolymer blended with various acrylics, conductive polymers, BTA pre-treatments, and a very fine titanium dioxide.

The objectives of this grant were to determine the responses of the microflora to contamination of historic limestone materials with atmospheric pollutants. We also studied the effects of these interactions on the deterioration of the materials.

Eddy current testing methods were used to characterize model gilding layers on bronzes and to make measurements on gilded bronze objects in the Freer Gallery of Art.

Knowledge of material properties, reactivity and history can be crucial to conservation treatment success and safety.

The role of air pollutants in the soiling of a limestone building was investigated by measuring pollutant airborne concentrations and deposition at different heights at the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The ultimate goal of this three-phase research project was to develop new coating strategies through an increase in understanding of how coatings for outdoor bronze sculpture and ornamentation work and fail. The immediate objective of Phases II and III of the project was to determine the weathering performance of five medium to high performance coating ...

Infestation by the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), was found throughout the two ground floors of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Preservation 101 is an online course that will help you learn about the basics of preservation in the context of small and moderately-sized library or archival collections. This course was produced as one component of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded to the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC). The grant supported ...

This research addresses the continuing need for new coating strategies to protect outdoor bronzes from the effects of polluted environments.

The objective of this study was to develop a test method to measure the hardness of masonry mortars with a pendulum hammer.

A whewellite-rich rock crust covers vast areas of limestone inside dry rock shelters and under rock overhangs throughout the Lower Pecos Region in southwestern Texas (USA).

There are only a handful of laboratories specialized in, and dedicated to, the study and analysis of cultural property.

NAPAP researchers exposed limestone and marble briquettes to weathering for months to years at several different sites. They sampled the briquettes and analyzed multiple layers for anion content.

In the summer of 1998, the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, Nebraska hosted a seminar focusing on the restoration and conservation of three-dimensional and stained glass objects. Participants included conservators, professionals, and preservationists from all across the Midwest. During the five-day seminar, the Center provided lectures, educational materials and instruction, and hands-on learning ...

It is extremely difficult to determine how much of the deterioration observed on stones is due to “acid rain” since its action is not limited to one mechanism. Rather, it results from the interaction of various mechanisms, many of which also occur in natural weathering.

In 1998, NCPTT partially funded a research project that involved an investigation of rock paintings in the Lower Pecos River area of Texas.  Rock Art Research, the journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO), communicated results which were published by Elmo J. Mawk and ...

Sensitive building materials such as calcareous stone are subject to accelerated deterioration by several agents. These may be physical processes such as freeze-thaw cycles, chemical processes such as reaction with sulfur dioxide gas, or biological processes such as attack by microorganisms.

Museum conservators and the like are well acquainted with the fact that some types of museum exhibits are susceptible to damage caused by exposure to light.

The analyses reported here indicate that the IUAM paintings have not been damaged by reaction with DEAE.

The CCI work is being carried out in two phases, with Phase 1 to establish appropriate analytical procedures for determining the presence and effects of DEAE on paintings, and Phase 2 to analyze the effects of DEAE and conservation treatments on DEAE contaminated paintings.

We developed a plasma-chemical technique to remove carbon from rock paintings. This extraction is followed by accelerator mass spectrometric analysis of the 14C to yield direct estimates of the ages of rock paintings. We have demonstrated use of the technique on charcoal as well as iron and manganese pigmented paintings. Unfortunately, there are no rock paintings made ...

The conservation community has expressed general dissatisfaction and frustration in numerous forums over current protective coatings used in the preservation of outdoor bronzes.

Considerable interest, as well as concern, exists within the profession of art and artifacts Conservation regarding the potential improvements which may be brought about by the introduction of laser-based methods of cleaning.

Maintaining public records requires judicious management of resources. It compels records custodians to identify simple, practical, cost-effective approaches that can be incorporated into daily routines.

A study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of renovating and upgrading an original condition window to the extent that its thermal performance would be equivalent to a window using replacement sash or window inserts.

Simple book repair was defined as those repairs meeting the following criteria: the repair could be completed in a relatively short period of time, required a relatively low level of conservation skill and experience, and could be accomplished with available tools and supplies.

Visual inspection of the Chapel indicated that lateral movements, meteoric and ground water, and soluble salts are the main causes of deterioration of the Chapel’s facade and walls.

The AIC polled its membership in May 1996 via a mail-survey to provide an updated and refined list of the most critical needs for research and training in the field of materials conservation.

During rehabilitation of historic buildings, the question of how to treat the windows is inevitably raised. Within the decision-making process for deciding to replace or renovate an existing window, energy consideration should not be the primary criteria, but should not be ignored.

Numerous studies have shown that air pollutants can cause deterioration of sensitive materials. This problem is particularly important for buildings and monuments, where materials are chosen for structural support as well as for their aesthetic value.

The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) started in the early 1980s and has continued more or less to the present. At least parts of the program and resulting data have been inherited by the Materials Research Program of the recently established National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) of the National Park Service.

The web version of the Simple Book Repair Manual was created by members of Preservation Services, Dartmouth College Library.

Air pollution has been responsible for increasing the rate of deterioration of many historically and culturally valuable monuments.

Traditionally, conservators have relied on 2-dimensional (2D) photography to document and monitor conditions in heritage sites and objects. When a shocking, visual indicator appeared (e.g., a sudden crack in a surface), conservators took notice of what were actually thousands of slow, incremental changes (e.g., tiny fissures and failures in slowly aging materials). Conservators then photographed ...

This document provides guidance on wood preservation options in the context of historic preservation. Preserving wooden building materials is critical to historic preservation practitioners. Biodeterioration can be minimized through design, construction practices, maintenance, and, if neces¬sary, by use of wood preservatives. Moisture is the primary cause of biodeterioration, and if exposure to moisture cannot be ...

Geophysical and laser scan surveys were conducted at the Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (NHS), Cambridge, Massachusetts in August, 2011. This work was undertaken as part of the Archaeological Survey Technology, Data Integration, and Applications (ASTDA) Workshop. This workshop was funded by the National Center for Preservation Technology Training and supported by the Joukowsky ...

Human skeletal remains from archeological sites are often studied to determine historical information such as sex, age, and health, among other facts.  The information from individuals can be used to better understand a population and the culture of a past people.  With the aid of a Preservation Technology and Training Grant, Dr. Shannon Hodge at ...

The major goals of this project involved: laboratory set-up; synthesis of Ca(OH) 2 nano- particles; cordage sample acquisition; development of a research design; preliminary testing of solutions and solvents; mechanical and aging studies; analytical characterization; imaging and data collection; and report preparation. The project has demonstrated that aqueous dispersions of calcium hydroxide nano-particles are not ...

Paul Whitmore, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Art Conservation Research Center (ACRC), has developed a portable device that can be used to determine how exposure to visible light and ultraviolet (UV) rays affect the colors on a work of art, providing vital information that can be used to better preserve the artwork.

Growth of salt crystals within the pores of stone can cause serious damage. Salt may enter with ground water or be created by reaction of the minerals in the stone with atmospheric pollutants. As water evaporates from the pores of the stone, the salt concentration rises and the crystals grow until they approach the pore ...

While archaeologists have had some success identifying who made ceramics and where they made them, these techniques relied on removing a sample and complex instrumentation. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) used portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrumentation as a tool to determine the geographic origin of Native American ceramics.

A recent NCPTT grant assisted a team from Princeton University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department to propose an approach on controlling salt damage. The goal of the project was to create a method for protecting stone from crystallizing salts by modifying the surface chemistry of the stone. Although frost and acid rain are more familiar ...

With a PTT grant funded by NCPTT, a research team including conservators from the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, scientists with the Physics Department of Union College, Schenectady, New York, and scientists from the nanotechnology industry began experimenting with nanoparticles to advance conservation treatments in the field of historic preservation. This collaboration ...

Hola, en este video le estaremos enseñando los procedimientos básicos para limpiar lápidas de piedra. Hay dos cosas que se deben de recordar: lo primero es que siempre hay que asegurarse de la seguridad personal y lo segundo es no hacer daño a la lápida como tal.

In 2004, the Department of Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration turned to NCPTT when it wanted advice on chemical cleaners for their marble headstones. This began and partnership and extensive research on the subject of commercially available cleaners for removing biological growth and general soiling from marble headstones. This week, NCPTT’s Mary Striegel reported the results ...

NCPTT staff visited Fort Livingston, Grand Terre Island, on June 16, 2010 to evaluate the condition of the structure and the amount of oil contamination; to conduct field tests on cleaning methods; and to collect oil, water, and oil-contaminated sand samples for further testing in the laboratory. The amount of oil and area of contamination ...

This database of micrographs of textile fibers acquired through the use of multiple microscopic techniques contains 145 collections with 1404 individual files, and requires 23GB of storage space. Each file contains a high resolution image with text fields that delineate image location and size, image collection information, microscopy technique and details of the features presented ...

This project involved developing a new method for using the chemical content of freshwater mussel shell as a means of sourcing prehistoric, shell-tempered pottery and shell artifacts to their places of origin. By extension, this means that prehistoric trade and exchange networks can be mapped out. Because each waterway is chemically different to some extent, ...

A variety of materials and methods have been used to preserve ceramic vessels. Many have proven successful, while others are damaging. Monitoring and evaluation of past treatments is a documented research priority in the conservation field. The Arizona State Museum (ASM) has examined, recorded and analyzed the performance of past treatments on ...

2006 NCPTT Grant to Harvard University, “Development of a Rapid Indicator of Biodeterioration of Historic Stone.” Biodeterioration plays an important role in the degradation of stone in historic buildings, monuments, and archeological sites.

This six minute video explains how to prepare and apply limewash.

Traditional thin-section analysis techniques such as tedious manual point counting are time consuming and require numerous measures. The use of visual estimation charts produce results of questionable accuracy.

In this study, Inspired Partnerships, a non-profit organization in Chicago, investigated the virtues and liabilities of various protective glazing installations over stained glass.

This manual teaches communities and neighborhoods how to complete their own historic resource surveys and share that information quickly.

This video covers a workshop on the conservation and restoration of stained glass.

In the interest of saving as much historic fabric as possible and not altering or scarring historic materials as a result of investigative probes, architectural conservators look to nondestructive testing methods for the evaluation and identification of materials, conditions and alterations made to structures over time.

Recovery specialists need to have a clear sense of the pros and cons of existing treatment options before they can respond effectively.

Swelling clays in stone can generate damaging stresses during a wetting or a drying cycle, which leads to deterioration of building stones such as Portland Brownstone.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly repair an iron fence.

This project is about saving historic wooden artifacts in cemeteries. Cemeteries are important repositories of local and national history, valued not only for the stories they tell, but also for their emotional and civic connections.

This study evaluates the physical effects of drying waterlogged archaeological wood using supercritical carbon dioxide as compared to air drying and the polyethlene gylcol (PEG)/freeze drying method.

This thorough website was built and designed as a clearinghouse of information on videotape preservation.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly clean a stone grave marker.

Some natural science specimens and ethnographic artifacts in museums were historically treated with arsenic and mercury salts. This has created an environmental concern for museum workers and the public who may be exposed to these toxins. In addition, museums are frequently being asked to return sacred objects under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation ...

Hallmarks on silver and gold objects can reveal much about their history.

The focus of this project was to investigate test methods for determining water vapor transmission (WVT) rates in mortar and to assign appropriate WVT rates for specific hydraulic and non-hydraulic restoration mortars.

The name of the silversmith, the date of manufacture, the quality of the metal alloy, as well as other information can be determined from the study of the hallmarks.

The use of hallmarks on silver has a long history, dating back to at least the sixth century AD.

This publication studies three monitoring systems and efforts to eliminate termites at San Cristobal and El Morro of the San Juan National Historical Site in Puerto Rico.

In 2003, NCPTT supported research that studied biodeterioration on metallic monuments. Ralph Mitchell, Professor at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, employed electrochemical impedence spectroscopy to analyze the susceptibility of monument coatings to degradation by indigenous microflora activity.

In 2003, the Infrared and Raman Users Group received NCPTT support to develop and implement an online collaborative database and bibliography of high quality infrared reference spectra. Currently, the database contains over 1250 spectra of oils, waxes, natural and synthetic resins, dyes, pigments, proteins, gums, and minerals.

This material provides guidance for a successful presentation of the course. The guide is organized, along with the Training Manual, in the order of the presentation of the material. The course is designed to be presented over the course of two days. The course material is presented in three formats: Class presentation – a classroom lecture format. Exercises ...

Baits containing an insect growth regulator, hexaflumuron, were used in the historic Presbytere and the Creole House of the Cabildo, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to control infestations of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes Formosanus Shiraki.

In 2002, researchers from North Dakota State University received funding from the NCPTT to study protective coatings for outdoor bronze sculpture and ornamentation. Previous research had shown that the most protective coatings tend to be impervious to conventional solvent removal techniques and that standard mechanical removal methods damage bronzes and their patinas. This ...

The purpose of this project was to develop improved consolidants for restoration of stone damaged by weathering. Conventional consolidants are organic polymers or silica gels, which are simple materials that do not permit matching of a range of properties of the stone. Later improvement of the suspension procedure resulted in consolidants that are much more stable ...

Termites are a significant structural pest in the United States, costing the public nearly $1.5 billion in damage each year.

This report presents a review of the literature followed by recommendations based on best practices for the analysis of historic cement-based materials. The report is geared towards the practicing analyst.

Because of the scale of contamination, gaseous fumigation with chlorine dioxide was proposed as the method of decontamination for the Senate building.

Phase 1 of this project used electrochemical characterization methods to evaluate coatings’ corrosion protective performance under conditions that directly emulated exposure to polluted atmospheres.

In 2001, North Dakota State University presented conclusions from the second year of a three year NCPTT funded project on outdoor bronze protective coatings. Coatings investigated include: a fluorocopolymer blended with various acrylics, conductive polymers, BTA pre-treatments, and a very fine titanium dioxide.

The objectives of this grant were to determine the responses of the microflora to contamination of historic limestone materials with atmospheric pollutants. We also studied the effects of these interactions on the deterioration of the materials.

Eddy current testing methods were used to characterize model gilding layers on bronzes and to make measurements on gilded bronze objects in the Freer Gallery of Art.

Knowledge of material properties, reactivity and history can be crucial to conservation treatment success and safety.

The role of air pollutants in the soiling of a limestone building was investigated by measuring pollutant airborne concentrations and deposition at different heights at the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The ultimate goal of this three-phase research project was to develop new coating strategies through an increase in understanding of how coatings for outdoor bronze sculpture and ornamentation work and fail. The immediate objective of Phases II and III of the project was to determine the weathering performance of five medium to high performance coating ...

Infestation by the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), was found throughout the two ground floors of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Preservation 101 is an online course that will help you learn about the basics of preservation in the context of small and moderately-sized library or archival collections. This course was produced as one component of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded to the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC). The grant supported ...

This research addresses the continuing need for new coating strategies to protect outdoor bronzes from the effects of polluted environments.

The objective of this study was to develop a test method to measure the hardness of masonry mortars with a pendulum hammer.

A whewellite-rich rock crust covers vast areas of limestone inside dry rock shelters and under rock overhangs throughout the Lower Pecos Region in southwestern Texas (USA).

There are only a handful of laboratories specialized in, and dedicated to, the study and analysis of cultural property.

NAPAP researchers exposed limestone and marble briquettes to weathering for months to years at several different sites. They sampled the briquettes and analyzed multiple layers for anion content.

In the summer of 1998, the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, Nebraska hosted a seminar focusing on the restoration and conservation of three-dimensional and stained glass objects. Participants included conservators, professionals, and preservationists from all across the Midwest. During the five-day seminar, the Center provided lectures, educational materials and instruction, and hands-on learning ...

It is extremely difficult to determine how much of the deterioration observed on stones is due to “acid rain” since its action is not limited to one mechanism. Rather, it results from the interaction of various mechanisms, many of which also occur in natural weathering.

In 1998, NCPTT partially funded a research project that involved an investigation of rock paintings in the Lower Pecos River area of Texas.  Rock Art Research, the journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO), communicated results which were published by Elmo J. Mawk and ...

Sensitive building materials such as calcareous stone are subject to accelerated deterioration by several agents. These may be physical processes such as freeze-thaw cycles, chemical processes such as reaction with sulfur dioxide gas, or biological processes such as attack by microorganisms.

Museum conservators and the like are well acquainted with the fact that some types of museum exhibits are susceptible to damage caused by exposure to light.

The analyses reported here indicate that the IUAM paintings have not been damaged by reaction with DEAE.

The CCI work is being carried out in two phases, with Phase 1 to establish appropriate analytical procedures for determining the presence and effects of DEAE on paintings, and Phase 2 to analyze the effects of DEAE and conservation treatments on DEAE contaminated paintings.

We developed a plasma-chemical technique to remove carbon from rock paintings. This extraction is followed by accelerator mass spectrometric analysis of the 14C to yield direct estimates of the ages of rock paintings. We have demonstrated use of the technique on charcoal as well as iron and manganese pigmented paintings. Unfortunately, there are no rock paintings made ...

The conservation community has expressed general dissatisfaction and frustration in numerous forums over current protective coatings used in the preservation of outdoor bronzes.

Considerable interest, as well as concern, exists within the profession of art and artifacts Conservation regarding the potential improvements which may be brought about by the introduction of laser-based methods of cleaning.

Maintaining public records requires judicious management of resources. It compels records custodians to identify simple, practical, cost-effective approaches that can be incorporated into daily routines.

A study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of renovating and upgrading an original condition window to the extent that its thermal performance would be equivalent to a window using replacement sash or window inserts.

Simple book repair was defined as those repairs meeting the following criteria: the repair could be completed in a relatively short period of time, required a relatively low level of conservation skill and experience, and could be accomplished with available tools and supplies.

Visual inspection of the Chapel indicated that lateral movements, meteoric and ground water, and soluble salts are the main causes of deterioration of the Chapel’s facade and walls.

The AIC polled its membership in May 1996 via a mail-survey to provide an updated and refined list of the most critical needs for research and training in the field of materials conservation.

During rehabilitation of historic buildings, the question of how to treat the windows is inevitably raised. Within the decision-making process for deciding to replace or renovate an existing window, energy consideration should not be the primary criteria, but should not be ignored.

Numerous studies have shown that air pollutants can cause deterioration of sensitive materials. This problem is particularly important for buildings and monuments, where materials are chosen for structural support as well as for their aesthetic value.

The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) started in the early 1980s and has continued more or less to the present. At least parts of the program and resulting data have been inherited by the Materials Research Program of the recently established National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) of the National Park Service.

The web version of the Simple Book Repair Manual was created by members of Preservation Services, Dartmouth College Library.

Air pollution has been responsible for increasing the rate of deterioration of many historically and culturally valuable monuments.

NCPTT, in partnership with the Historic Natchez Foundation  will offer a cemetery monument conservation basics workshop May 11, 2013, in Natchez, Mississippi.  The training is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. The workshop registration is $25 per person, this price includes a box lunch. The lecture portion ...

Call for presentations and posters, International Cemetery Preservation Summit NCPTT is soliciting oral and poster presentations that focus on research and innovation in cemetery conservation and preservation for the NCPTT’s International Cemetery Preservation Summit to be held in Niagara Falls, NY, October 8-10, 2013. Topics for presentation may include recent developments in technologies, unique treatments, and creative ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Advances in Computational Photograph Techniques for Cultural, Historic, and Natural History Materials This talk presents advances in robust new imaging tools from the emerging science known as Computational Photography. The common feature of the computational photography imaging ...

On December 1, 2012 NCPTT’s materials conservator Jason Church taught a one day cemetery conservation workshop in Natchez, Mississippi. This workshop was the first of a series being developed by the  Historic Natchez Foundation with the  Copiah-Lincoln Community College.  Copiah-Lincoln Community College hopes this series of preservation related workshops will build interest in a developing ...

Safe Hoist Operation for Lifting Stone When a stone needs to be removed or set back in place, lifting is required.  A hoist or crane can be used whenever the stone cannot be moved manually.  So, it is important to keep safety in mind when operating a crane or hoist.  You should be familiar with the ...

Calculating the Weight of Stone This is a guide intended to help anyone get the approximate weight of a stone without having to use a scale.  The only required tools are a calculator, tape measure, pencil, and paper.  Using the above tools allows the user to safely calculate weight prior to lifting stone with a hoist ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in partnership with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and conservator Martin Burke announces a two day conference on the conservation of fountains. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri will host the conference which includes presented papers, poster presentations, and discussion sessions on July 10-11, ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) in the University of Delaware’s School of Public Policy and Administration are partnering to host a two-day hands-on workshop on the uses of polarized light microscopy for the study of stone and ceramic cultural materials.  The workshop ...

On September 20-21, 2012 NCPTT’s materials conservator Jason Church taught two cemetery monument conservation workshops as part of the Kentucky Heritage Council annual Historic Preservation Conference. Church’s contribution to the well attended and diverse annual conference was entitled “Our History Rests Here: Preservation and Restoration of Historic Cemeteries, Part 1 and Part 2″. The first day ...

NCPTT, in partnership with the Historic Natchez Foundation and Copiah-Lincoln Community College, will offer a cemetery monument conservation basics workshop December 1, 2012, in Natchez, Mississippi.  The training is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. The workshop registration is $25 per person, this price includes a ...

Have you ever wondered what an art conservation scientist does? Have you thought about how science can teach us about an historic object? Come join us this summer and be your own scientific sleuth to learn about the culture of early inhabitants of Natchitoches through the pottery shards they left behind. NCPTT is offering a ...

NCPTT wants to introduce you to the excitement of science and technology through NCPTT’s 2012 Robotics Camp! Get hands-on experience building and programming your own robot. Then have a chance to test your navigational skills against others in the camp. You’ll learn about soldering, programming, electronics, robot assembly, navigation using sensors, and more! NCPTT’s 2012 Robotics ...

NCPTT, in partnership with Monroe County History Center at Indiana University, conducted a workshop focused on the techniques and knowledge needed to preserve ornamental ironwork in an architectural setting. This workshop begin with an opening lecture session at 6:30 p.m. by NCPTT’s Materials Conservator Jason Church on Friday, October 14th at the History Center in Bloomington, Indiana. ...

NCPTT, in partnership with the University of Delaware, will conduct a two-day workshop focused on a highly successful PTT grant by Chandra Reedy on Thin-Section Petrography of Stone and Ceramic Cultural Materials. The April 2012 workshop is open to 20 conservation professionals and will be held at the research laboratories of the National Conservation Training ...

This webinar will cover the basics needed for Cemetery Documentation. The talk will run one hour of lecture with a following half hour for questions and answers. Topics covered in this talk will include an introduction to documentation surveys and forms followed by an overview of definitions general needed in cemetery documentation. Definitions covered are ...

Hola, en este video le estaremos enseñando los procedimientos básicos para limpiar lápidas de piedra. Hay dos cosas que se deben de recordar: lo primero es que siempre hay que asegurarse de la seguridad personal y lo segundo es no hacer daño a la lápida como tal.

NCPTT, in partnership with Monroe County History Center at Indiana University, will conduct a workshop focused on the techniques and knowledge needed to preserve ornamental ironwork in an architectural setting, October 7-8, 2011 in Bloomington, Ind..  The class will be split between classroom lectures and in the field hands-on activities. For more information contact Jason ...

In 2004, the Department of Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration turned to NCPTT when it wanted advice on chemical cleaners for their marble headstones. This began and partnership and extensive research on the subject of commercially available cleaners for removing biological growth and general soiling from marble headstones. This week, NCPTT’s Mary Striegel reported the results ...

May 18-19, 2011 Savannah, GA The purpose of this event is to educate people about the differences in cast and wrought iron and preservation/restoration methods for each type of material. This workshop will be useful to anyone who cares for historic buildings (that contain railings, balconies, or other decorative elements), parks, or cemeteries. $399 Registration $299 Student Registration – ...

Location: Sand Hill, TX Date: April 2011 Partner: Stephen F. Austin State University Description: This cemetery basics workshop is targeted to the parks seasonal interpretation staff, regular yearly staff, and family members of the cemeteries located at the park. This one to two day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master plans, simple resetting techniques, and ...

Location: Saint Augustine, FL Date: April 1-2, 2011 Partner: University of Florida This multiday cemetery workshop will focus on a variety of cemetery materials and conservation treatments. This includes proper cleaning and consolidation techniques for stone grave markers, lime washing of build features, and simple repair techniques for stone. A small class of 15-20 will be comprised ...

This Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics workshop is a partnership between Great Smokey Mountains National Park and NCPTT. It is targeted to the parks seasonal interpretation staff, regular yearly staff, and family members of the cemeteries located at the park. This one to two day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master plans, simple ...

NCPTT has partnered with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and Springdale Cemetery Association to offer Cemetery Monument Conservation Basics in Peoria, IL. This cemetery basics workshop is targeted to the nonprofessional, such as church sextons, genealogists, cemetery grounds workers, and family members. This one day workshop will focus on cemetery documentation, condition assessment, master ...

In this video we will discuss a traditional Louisiana construction method called Bousillage. Bousillage is a Louisiana French term for walls made of mud. The origins of the word comes from Bous which means mud. Louisiana’s bousillage techniques appear s to be a blending of French and Native American traditions. Both cultures employed similar mud walled ...

Many fallen or sunken grave markers are too large or weigh too much to be reset by hand. For these markers a mechanical hoisting or lifting system must be used. There are many types of lifting systems in use from very complex cranes and truck mounted hydraulic booms to less complex gantries and tripod hoists. ...

Have you ever wondered what kind of metal that object was made of?  Or perhaps you needed to read the inscription of a coin that was corroded.  Maybe you have a laboratory with a limited research budget and need to study a collection of firearms.  NCPTT is researching new applications for an old technology: Eddy ...

A live webcast of the Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit was streamed on October 19. 2009. View the webcast.

Schedule and abstracts for the Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit from October 19-21, 2009 in Nashville, Tennessee. Register before September 11, 2009 for $299 ($399 thereafter). Key sessions are expected to include Archeology, Mapping and Documentation, Landscapes, Engineering Challenges, Issues in National Cemeteries, and Materials Conservation.

We do not advocate the use of shaving cream for investigating inscriptions on stone. The shaving cream has natural emollients for softening the skin. These emollients have oils and moisture holding agents that can have detrimental effects on the stone.

NCPTT is soliciting oral and poster presentations that focus on research and innovation in cemetery conservation and preservation for the NCPTT’s Nationwide Cemetery Preservation Summit to be held in Nashville, Tenn., October 19-21, 2009.

This course emphasizes sound maintenance techniques for cemetery and commemorative monuments that are sustainable, cyclic, non-invasive, and do no harm. The course will address documentation, maintenance plans, stone deterioration, cleaning, and resetting headstones.

This course emphasizes sound maintenance technqiues for historic iron fences. These resources could be located around cemetery markers, commemorative monuments, or architectural features.

The topic is the use of eddy currents for identification of metals (ferrous and non-ferrous), measuring the thickness of corrosion, and the recovery of serial numbers and/or images beneath corrosion.

NCPTT researchers, in partnership with masonry experts from NPS Historic Preservation Training Center, recently completed a study to develop treatments for use on marble monuments in Historic Congressional Cemetery.

This six minute video explains how to prepare and apply limewash.

NCPTT’s held its sixth annual Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Connecticut. Twenty-six registrants participated in a variety of hands-on sessions.

NCPTT has received the PTT grant product “Wooden Artifacts in Cemeteries: A Reference Manual,” submitted by the Historic Preservation Commission; the City of Aspen, Colorado, and Anthony & Associates.

NCPTT and the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) are partnering with the Veterans Administration’s National Cemetery Administration to complete cleaning treatment studies on the U.S. Arsenal Monument in Historic Congressional Cemetery. Based on research and training by NCPTT’s Jason Church, HPTC staff will undertake intermittent misting cleaning of the Arsenal Monument during November. This ...

This report provides information and progress on the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for federally issued headstones.

A critical and long-standing challenge in the preservation field has been finding unmarked graves.

NCPTT and the City of New London will deliver the sixth annual New England Cemetery Monument Conservation workshop on October 7-9, 2008, in New London, Conn.

Stace Miller, a longtime undergraduate intern at NCPTT, received a B.S. in chemistry and an B.S. in Math from Northwestern State University of Louisiana on May 9.

NCPTT and the Department of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration has released the interim report entitled, Comparative Study of Commercially Available Cleaners for use on Federally-issued Headstones.

Jason Church and Stace Miller presented results of NCPTT research at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Conservation in Denver Colorado, April 21-24.

$695 per participant. Topics Will Include: Condition Assessments, Conservation Ethics, Protection, Cleaning, Stone Loss Repairs, Bases and Resetting, Adhesion & Reinforced Repair, Consolidation.

NCPTT has been granted a cultural diversity intern for summer 2008 through the NPS Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program.

A new Perkin Elmer Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectrometric microscope was recently installed in the NCPTT research labs.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

NCPTT recently provided technical assistance to the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport regarding concerns about the condition of several archeological copper objects associated with the Gahagan burials that were excavated in the 1930s.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

Development of a Rapid Indicator of Biodeterioration of Historic Stone. Ralph Mitchell, principal investigator, and Christopher J. McNamara, of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences worked to identify microbial species for possible use as a microbiological indicator for identification of stone deterioration.

NCPTT held the Southeast Cemetery Monument Conservation Workshop at St. Michaels Cemetery, Pensacola, Florida on October 23-25, 2007.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly repair an iron fence.

This project is about saving historic wooden artifacts in cemeteries. Cemeteries are important repositories of local and national history, valued not only for the stories they tell, but also for their emotional and civic connections.

Caleb Johnson recently joined NCPTT’s materials research program as a graduate assistant.

NCPTT’s Jason Church presented the results of recent research on the scaling and deterioration of granite monuments.

The Department of Veteran Affairs agreed to fund NCPTT’s two-year continuation of the comparative study of commercially available cleaners for use on federally issued headstones.

$695 per person. October 23-25, 2007.

Mary Striegel and Jason Church of NCPTT conducted a comprehensive condition assessment and documentation of the Macomb and the U.S. Arsenal Monuments in Washington, DC’s, historic Congressional Cemetery.

San Antonio, TX · June 16, 2007. 9:00AM to 12:00 PM.

NCPTT’s Mary Striegel and Jason Church completed a progress report, “Comparative Study of Commercially Available Cleaners for Use on Federally-Issued Headstones” for the Department of Veteran Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly clean a stone grave marker.

Mary Striegel and Jason Church conducted visits to the Antietam National Battlefield and the Harper’s Ferry Conservation Center immediately after the TELNPS course.

On Feb. 1, NCPTT offered technical advice to the Historic Preservation Training Center about the cleaning and repair of 165 cenotaphs located in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

The work, which is funded by the National Cemetery Administration, began in Oct. 2006 and is expected to continue into FY 2008.

The cemetery, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was officially opened 1847 and its fence and walls were added in 1905.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care” broadcast on January 30, 2007.

NCPTT was awarded the Harriette Merrifield Forbes Award for its Cemetery Preservation Initiative.

NCPTT graduate intern Caitlin O’Grady has begun a study to examine scale that has been widely found on granite headstones.

NCPTT is moving forward with the second phase of a two-year study to evaluate the effectiveness of commercial chemical cleaners for the removal of biological growth and dirt from federally issued headstones.

NCPTT worked in conjunction with the American Institute for Conservation to produce the workshop series, “After the Storm: Recovery of Wet Collections,” which was held in March.

NCPTT is expanding its training in Cemetery Monument Conservation to three levels in 2006: Basic, Introductory, and Advanced.

In the summer of 1998, the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha, Nebraska hosted a seminar focusing on the restoration and conservation of three-dimensional and stained glass objects. Participants included conservators, professionals, and preservationists from all across the Midwest. During the five-day seminar, the Center provided lectures, educational materials and instruction, and hands-on learning ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA 3D Scanning of Matisse, the Back I-IV: One Thing After Another Matisse created Back, his largest sculpture in 1908/1909. Matisse resculpted Back three times over the next twenty-one years (1913, 1917, 1930/31), each time beginning with a ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Advances in Computational Photograph Techniques for Cultural, Historic, and Natural History Materials This talk presents advances in robust new imaging tools from the emerging science known as Computational Photography. The common feature of the computational photography imaging ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Designing the LiDAR Mission for Industrial Heritage: Cooperation Across the Fields Heritage managers and digital documentarians may observe the same subject, but observe it through a contrasting set of filters. The focus of this paper is to ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA Why DIGITAL? Its only 1′s and 0′s We still seem to be fighting the war over the value of digital information some 30 years after its introduction to the public. Developments in technology have occurred so rapidly that skepticism ...

This presentation was presented as the keynote address for the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012, Presidio, San Francisco, CA.   Rocket Science and 3D Analyses in the Preservation of Artistic and Historic Works More than sixty years ago development began on the nuclear-propelled ORION Spaceship destined for a manned mission to the planet Saturn. This ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Monitoring Using Laser Scanning – Case Study of Watts Towers This paper will explore the use of laser scanning as a part of a controlled survey to measure movement of buildings and structures over time. In 2011 a ...

This lecture was presented at the 3D Digital Documentation Summit held July 10-12, 2012 at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA   Evolution in Project Workflow – Is High Definition Survey the Missing Link? There is a major shift occurring in the preservation and building industry today. It was only 30 years ago that architects and engineers where designing ...

Since raising the H.L. Hunley submarine (1863) from the seabed in 2000, the project has incorporated 3D technologies including laser scanning, patterned light scanning, Vulcan point system, and computer modeling. Archaeologists developed the use of 3D technologies primarily for site plan development and artifact documentation. As the project progressed, conservators found other applications for the ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Paradise Gardens; its Past and its Future Abstract Speakers Biography Jordan Poole,Executive Director Paradise Garden Foundation A Chattanooga County native Jordan ...

NCPTT, in partnership with Monroe County History Center at Indiana University, conducted a workshop focused on the techniques and knowledge needed to preserve ornamental ironwork in an architectural setting. This workshop begin with an opening lecture session at 6:30 p.m. by NCPTT’s Materials Conservator Jason Church on Friday, October 14th at the History Center in Bloomington, Indiana. ...

The Wooldridge Monuments are a group of eighteen life-sized sculptures located in Maplewood Cemetery, Mayfield, Kentucky. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, they commemorate the life and relatives of Henry G. Wooldridge.

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Planning to Stabilize, Document, Conserve and Interpret Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia Abstract This presentation will illustrate ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art Abstract The Orange Show Foundation Inc. recently received a grant from the ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Unicultural Ethnography: Preserving Outsider Art Through the Ethnography of Individual Outsider Artists Abstract Certain aspects of the artistic experience ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. God’s Architects; Documenting the Materials, Methods, and Self-Taught Builders of the South Abstract Scattered about remote back roads and ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Taking the Art to the Streets: How the Citizens of Los Angeles Saved Watts Towers Abstract When the assorted ...

These lectures were part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Dennis Montagna Creating a Conservation Plan for Vollis Simpson’s Whirligigs Abstract For the past thirty years, 92-year-old Vollis Simpson has ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Abstract Re-evaluation of 1984 Preservation Decisions for the African House Murals by Clementine Hunter In 1984 as an Associate ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts (The Watts Towers) Four Decades of Interventions and Still Searching for a ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.   What’s In and What’s Out Abstract James Dixon (1887- 1970) was a primitive landscape painter from Tory Island an ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Virtual Conservation of Folk and Outsider Art Environments Abstract The presentation will address the issue of conserving documents pertaining ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. A Creative Obsession: Materials and Techniques of the Self-Taught Artist James Castle Abstract Identifying the materials of works of ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Realms of the Unreal and the Henry Darger Archives Abstract The American Folk Art Museum maintains the single largest ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Magical Mosaics: Preserving Isaiah Zagar’s Philadelphia Art Environment Abstract One of the nation’s most amazing, yet least known, art ...

This lecture was part of the Divine Disorder Conference on the Conservation of Outsider Folk art that was organized and hosted by NCPTT. The conference was held February 15-16, 2012 on the campus of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Discriminating Palettes:   The Painting Materials of Clementine Hunter and Her Imitator Abstract The paintings of Clementine Hunter, an illiterate ...

United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Robert E. Lucky, Jr, 64, of New Orleans, was sentenced today to 25 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $326,893 in restitution for mail fraud in connection with selling fake paintings attributed to Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter. Lucky was also sentenced to three years’ ...

The talk presents a biographical sketch of the folk artist, Clementine Hunter, born in southern Natchitoches Parish in late 1887 and died January 1, 1988. Around 2000 a group of paintings appeared on the market supposedly by Hunter but later found to be painted by Beryl and William Toye. The lecture will include details of the ...

Hola, en este video le estaremos enseñando los procedimientos básicos para limpiar lápidas de piedra. Hay dos cosas que se deben de recordar: lo primero es que siempre hay que asegurarse de la seguridad personal y lo segundo es no hacer daño a la lápida como tal.

In this video we will discuss a traditional Louisiana construction method called Bousillage. Bousillage is a Louisiana French term for walls made of mud. The origins of the word comes from Bous which means mud. Louisiana’s bousillage techniques appear s to be a blending of French and Native American traditions. Both cultures employed similar mud walled ...

Many fallen or sunken grave markers are too large or weigh too much to be reset by hand. For these markers a mechanical hoisting or lifting system must be used. There are many types of lifting systems in use from very complex cranes and truck mounted hydraulic booms to less complex gantries and tripod hoists. ...

This six minute video explains how to prepare and apply limewash.

This video covers a workshop on the conservation and restoration of stained glass.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care.”

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly repair an iron fence.

Materials Conservator Jason Church demonstrates how to properly clean a stone grave marker.

Materials Research Chief Mary Striegel and Materials Conservator Jason Church conduct a TEL NPS course “Essentials in Cemetery Monument Care” broadcast on January 30, 2007.