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NEDCC Provides Conservation Treatment
for Massachusetts Treasures

              
A plain black van from the Massachusetts Archives is escorted to the front door of the Northeast Document Conservation Center by officers of the Massachusetts State Police Motorcycle Unit. Assistant Archivist Michael Comeau emerges from the van carrying a carefully wrapped package and walks into the building flanked by State Police officers. What is the occasion for this heightened security?
 
The Massachusetts Archives recently brought several of the state’s most prized documents to the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) for treatment in preparation for a new exhibit.  The Massachusetts Archives and the Commonwealth Museum are currently engaged in an initiative to redesign the exhibit space within the Archives facility at Columbia Point. The new exhibit, titled  Our Commonwealth: The Massachusetts Experiment in Democracy, will relate major historical themes to current issues in a dramatic, informative, and entertaining new venue that will trace the gradual extension of rights to all citizens and highlight the diversity of present day Massachusetts.

State police officers guarding the delivery of Massachusetts Archives Treasure Gallery documents to NEDCC.

Officers take a moment to admire the Winthrop Charter of Massachusetts after escorting the document safely to NEDCC

The focus of the new museum exhibit will be the “Treasure Gallery” which will put some of the nation’s most important and revered documents on display for the first time.  The five documents that will be displayed in the Treasures Gallery were brought to NEDCC for conservation treatment in preparation for the exhibit.

The Massachusetts Archives Treasure Gallery Documents: The 1629 Charter of Massachusetts Bay Also known as the Winthrop Charter, this manuscript was brought from England to the New World by John Winthrop on the ship Arabella in 1630. The beginnings of representative government in America can be traced to this manuscript.    The 1692 Charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay The American Revolution began in Massachusetts as colonists rebelled against violations of the provisions of this document. In his famous portrait by John Singleton Copley, Samuel Adams defiantly points to this manuscript. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1780 Authored by John Adams, this is the oldest written constitution still functioning as a structural foundation of government in the world. The beginnings of the American civic structure are put forth in this document, and it was perhaps the most important template for our Federal Constitution. The Bill of Rights One of the original 14 copies (one for each new state, one for Congress), this priceless manuscript is signed by John Adams. The copy kept by Congress is now on display in the rotunda of the National Archives. The Declaration of Independence One of the original 14 “authentic copies” authorized by Congress in 1777, it is the first document to publicly identify the signers of the Declaration. It was printed by Mary Katherine Goddard, later the first female postmaster in the United States, and is signed by John Hancock  and Charles Thompson.

 

Conservation treatment of the documents varied and included surface cleaning and removal of adhesive residue from old repairs, mending tears, flattening, and, for one document, removal from a chemically unstable cardboard mount, washing, and de-acidification. 

NEDCC Conservator Bucky Weaver removes an old repair from the 1692 Charter of the province of Massachusetts Bay

All the documents were encapsulated in polyester film after treatment to protect them from humidity fluctuations until they are encased in custom designed, climate-controlled, oxygen-free cases for exhibit. The encasements were manufactured by the Massachusetts Archives according to principles and techniques that were developed for the permanent display of the Charters of Freedom at the National Archives in Washington.

NEDCC conservator examines a loss in the 1629 Winthrop Charter of Massachusetts

 

Before the documents were encapsulated, high quality digital images were created in NEDCC’s Digital Lab for future use. Once the documents are encased, there will not be another opportunity to digitize them for perhaps 100 years.

Detail of the Massachusetts Archives copy of the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution

 

The documents were treated at NEDCC over a 2 month period before being returned to the Archives. The new exhibit featuring the Treasure Gallery is scheduled to be open for school groups in January 2009, with a grand opening planned for April 2009.

NEDCC conservator removes surface dirt from the Massachusetts copy of the Bill of Rights

The Northeast Document Conservation Center is one of the largest nonprofit, regional conservation centers in the United States, specializing in the preservation of paper-based materials. The Center has treated some of the country’s most significant paper and photographic objects and continues to be the premier center for handling difficult conservation challenges. Examples of projects undertaken at the Center include the conservation treatment of Lewis and Clark’s Elkskin Journal, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Babe Ruth’s personal scrapbook.

NEDCC is grateful for support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

 

Photographs: Julie Martin, Northeast Document Conservation Center