Ken Bancroft Public History

May 3, 2024

Preservation Month Display

May 3, 2024 Old Courthouse, Leesburg, Virginia

Challenges in Archival Conservation

1930’s Barrow Roller Laminating to protect paper from time.

Deed Book G, Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court, example of Barrow Laminate. The extreme conditions, however, accelerate the chemical breakdown of the natural materials and can often create a vinegar smell.

The solution to the degradation: delamination.

For the greater part of the 20th century, archival conservation was more destructive than protective. Fortunately there are processes to correct this, which are displayed as part of Preservation Month.