HOT SPRINGS — The church and school of St. John the Baptist in Hot Springs recently completed the celebration its centennial year. One of the activities was the opening of a time capsule that was put in the church’s cornerstone when the present building was completed in 1910.
Most of the items in the cornerstone were made of paper, which did not hold up well for the nearly 100 years they were sealed away. It was a great disappointment and a concern because a new time capsule will be installed in the parish’s meditation garden soon. The manufacturers of the new time capsule guaranteed the sealed box will preserve the enclosed items for as long as the seal is intact.
Parishioner Peggy Bodemann was in charge of collecting items for the new capsule, which will include copies of parish directories and school yearbooks, as well as documents pertaining to the history of the parish.
Pastor Father Erik Pohlmeier said he wanted to do something about the items that were discovered in the original time capsule so that their historical significance would not be lost. Jane Thompson, a conservator at the Arkansas History Commission, was consulted. She is involved in many projects pertaining to the preservation of items reflecting on the history of the state, but her special interest is in the conservation of paper documents, maps and photographs.
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In order to help churches and schools across Arkansas do a better job of preserving documents and letters that are interesting or historically important, Arkansas Catholic consulted with Thompson on what she recommends.
Thompson, who holds a master’s degree in library science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, worked as the librarian at the Arkansas History Commission before becoming a conservator. During the summer of 2008, she took classes at the Campbell Center in Mount Carroll, Ill., dealing with paper conservation. She has attended workshops and read extensively on her specialty.
“There is no academic training that overrules experience in the actual work setting,” she said. “Reading and staying in touch with others working in the field is quite important.”
Most families and churches have documents that they wish to preserve for various reasons. The problem with paper items is that paper needs to be kept out of the light, and it needs to be kept at a consistent temperature. Storing family keepsakes in a damp basement or in a hot attic is not recommended. Churches and institutions, which make time capsules, often store them in the ground outside or in a cornerstone of a building, which unfortunately submits the documents inside the capsule to the intense heat of Arkansas summers and the wet and cold winters.
“While manufacturers may make guarantees, in 100 years, who will be around to verify the guarantee?” Thompson asked.
The paper on which the document is printed is sometimes the problem, she said. Paper made prior to 1860 was made from a cotton or linen fiber. Such paper remains supple, with a white color.
“Sometimes (with paper manufactured prior to the 20th century) the best thing to do is to do nothing,” Thompson said. “If the documents have been put away in a box in a drawer or trunk somewhere inside the house, the damage may be minimal. We’ve all found papers and cards at home that were stuck in books or chests of drawers for 100 years and are in mint condition. It is so exciting when we find a trove of perfectly preserved paper from the past.”
“Techniques for conserving photographs and textiles will differ in the finer details, but the important similarity in conserving all of these items is to house them in a non-damaging manner in environmental conditions that do not promote deteriorations,” Thompson said. “A consistent temperature of 68-72 degrees and 45-50 percent level of relative humidity is optimal.”
Beginning in the 1880s, most paper was made from tree pulp which, over time, becomes acidic. Paper manufactured from the 1960s to 1980s was of poor quality for preservation and for the environment because it was manufactured from mostly wood pulp, Thompson said. Since that time, because of demand from consumers, the quality of paper has improved. When one is purchasing paper products for conservation look for the items that say “acid-free.” Conservators acknowledge that this is not damaging to the finished item.
For any document, photo or fabric that is to be preserved, whatever is done, must be reversible. At some point, the paper, photo or garment may need to be cleaned, retreated or a new technique may be tried. Never do anything permanent, such as laminating an original, Thompson said. A photocopy of the original may be made and laminated if it is going to be handled, studied or passed around at family reunions or classrooms.
