Prof leads efforts to save cultural heritage

Debra Hess Norris, Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts and chairperson of UD’s Department of Art Conservation and head of Heritage Preservation

3:54 p.m., Jan. 9, 2006--When the nation’s leading conservation advocacy organization Heritage Preservation released its survey, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections, at a December press conference at the New York Public Library, it was national news. An article appeared in The New York Times, and the Associated Press ran a story that was picked up by newspapers nationwide. National Public Radio also did an interview with the project director on “All Things Considered.”

UD has a strong link with Heritage Preservation as Debra Hess Norris, Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts and chairperson of the Department of Art Conservation, serves as its chairperson.

A national organization of institutions and individuals whose goal is the preservation of cultural objects, Heritage Preservation estimates that in the United Sates there are 4.8 billion artifacts, held by more than 30,000 institutions, which are visited 2.5 billion times a year.

The Heritage Health Index survey was developed five years ago in partnership with the federal Institute of Museum and Library Service, Norris said. It was sent out electronically to large, medium and small institutions, and was completed by 3,370 museums, archives, historical societies, libraries and scientific research organizations.

The data is compelling and a wake-up call that the nation’s cultural heritage is at risk, Norris said.

Among the Heritage Health Index findings were:

65 percent of collecting institutions reported their collections have been damaged due to improper storage;
80 percent reported they do not have an emergency plan for their collections and do not have paid staff dedicated to collections care;
26 percent have no environmental controls to protect their collections from the damaging effects of temperature, humidity and light;
190 million objects are in need of conservation treatment, including 4.7 million works of art, 13.5 million historic objects, 153 million photographs and countless other artifacts; and
70 percent do not have a current assessment of the condition of their collections.

Heritage Preservation concluded that institutions must give priority to providing safe conditions for the collections they hold in public trust. All collecting institutions must develop an emergency plan to protect their collections and assign collection care responsibilities to members of their staff.

Preservation funds should be secured from the federal government and other public and private sectors.

Remains of the Pleasant Reed House, destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, which housed the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, Miss. Photo by Betty Fiske, courtesy of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art.

The survey included case studies of some of problems that can arise in caring for collections, such as flooding, fire, insect infestation and poor environmental conditions.

For example, Hurricane Katrina severely damaged the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi, Miss. However, its collection of pottery by artist George Ohr was safely stored in a secure building, although a historic frame house was washed away and many artifacts sustained water and mold damage, which is now being addressed.

Apollo-era space suits that were disintegrating after several decades on Earth recently have been housed in a stable environment to protect them from further degradation.

Norris, whose specialty is photography conservation, said that the University of South Dakota stored part of its photographic collection next to photographic chemicals, which caused the photographs to fade and discolor. The photographs are now being stored properly and provide an important record of life in the mid-20th Century, she said.

The hides of elephants on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City have suffered damage from polluted air, dust and relatively high humidity conditions, and the museum is trying to raise funds to create stable conditions to protect them.

“There is an urgent need to care for collections, but progress has been made,” Norris said. “More attention is being paid to preservation, and as the report points out, it is everyone’s responsibility to support efforts to save and preserve our cultural heritage, which is irreplaceable.”

Article by Sue Moncure
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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