Browse funds
Douglas W. Squires '73 Library Preservation Fund
Established in 1998 by Douglas W. Squires '73, in honor of Vartan Gregorian, sixteenth president of Brown University, for his contributions to Brown and the New York Public Library, to conserve and preserve materials in the Lincoln Collections of the John Hay Library, utilizing the full range of currently available preservation techniques. As deemed appropriate by the University Librarian, income may also be combined with income from the Douglas W. Squires '73 Acquisition Fund and may be used to acquire materials for the Lincoln Collections in the John Hay Library as well as materials related to the Civil War and 19th century American history.
During fiscal year 2020, preservation funds enabled us to undertake the following projects:
A number of scrolled documents from the Library's East Asian collection received conservation treatment. Twenty-seven mid-20th century historical maps depicting China from 1368 - 1949 were sent out to be relaxed, allowing for unrolling of the tightly wound maps. A 19th century, hand-painted 96" long scroll featuring comparisons of the earliest Chinese and Egyptian writing was also conserved along with two 19th century, 122" long scrolls with images of ancient Chinese coins. After the conservation treatment, each of these items was also digitized to allow for wider access to the items and to preserve the contents in perpetuity.
Two audio reels - a set entitled, "American students returning from Cuba news conference, 1965" - from the Hall-Hoag Collection of Dissenting and Extremist Printed Propaganda were digitized for a researcher. Audio media is susceptible to deterioration, and digitization ensures longer life of these unique historical recordings.
A portrait entitled, "Man with Dog" was relocated from a private office to the Absolute Quiet Room in the Rockefeller Library, allowing for greater visibility of the Kees van Dongen painting. Moving the work from a private to a public area required greater protection, so the portrait was reinforced with new backing.
The Library was able to purchase data loggers to monitor the climate conditions of our collections spaces. The loggers record relative humidity and temperature in a web-based management and analysis system, providing staff with the information needed to ensure that the Library's collections live in optimal conditions.