In 2019, I worked on an extensive project aptly named "Out of the Ashes Project," a collection of 50,000 corporate files burned in a 2003 fire on St. Luke's Historic Church & Museum property. These documents were then left in an attic for several years, before the grounds keeper stumbled upon them! So not only were they badly burned, but they had been exposed to Smithfield's moisture and humidity.
On my first day, my supervisor set a large box in front of me...and I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't this. A close glance at the box revealed paper so chard, one might mistake them for ash. The fragile documents were stuck to one another due to moisture damage and threatened to crumble at the slightest touch.
I was tasked with gently removing each piece of onion skin paper from it's partner, while preserving as much text as possible. Then I made a photocopy onto acid-free paper, placed the new copy into an acid-free sheet protector, and categorized the information in a binder by date. It is estimated that this entire process will take volunteers 1,527 hours to complete. Unfortunately, most original copies will not be preserved because they crumbled at the slightest touch.
I was tasked with gently removing each piece of onion skin paper from it's partner, while preserving as much text as possible. Then I made a photocopy onto acid-free paper, placed the new copy into an acid-free sheet protector, and categorized the information in a binder by date. It is estimated that this entire process will take volunteers 1,527 hours to complete. Unfortunately, most original copies will not be preserved because they crumbled at the slightest touch.
Archivists might remark that my workspace was very humble compared to many state-of-the-art archives seen in colleges and museums. I used a very simple office printer/copier to photocopy the documents. However, our goal was the same as richer institutions — which is to preserve history using current best practices.
“The information we have been gathering from the “Out of the Ashes” archives continues to shine a light on the intricacies of the creation of our organization in 1953 and the complex relationships between the 1950s Board of Directors.” Says Education Coordinator Rachel Popp,“This project will not only provide us with the clues we need to be better informed of our corporate history, but it also humanizes those involved in the creation of an organization, Historic St. Luke’s Restoration, but that is also still going strong after 65 years. We get to know, on a more personal level, the intelligent and passionate group of individuals who were inspired by and dedicated to St. Luke’s Church”
The information I gleaned from the boxes pertained to Historic St. Luke’s 1950’s Restoration. For example, the box I worked on expanded on the 1950’s corporate history; including information regarding the Hunstanton Hall organ, detailed financial records, and revealed relationships that aided in the Restoration.
