By Devyn Cabral, Revolutionary War Museum Studies Intern
Editor’s Note: This summer, the Museum’s collections team attended a workshop at Dartmouth College to learn how to thaw and repair a series of 19th-century diaries that were water-damaged during the July 2023 flood. This workshop was hosted by VACDaRN (the Vermont Arts and Culture Disaster and Resilience Network) and Dartmouth College Libraries to prepare cultural heritage professionals to provide emergency response in the event of flooding that might damage historic collections. Our summer collections intern, Vermont State University Castleton student Devyn Cabral, shares more about their experience in the workshop here.
What happened to the diaries?
These diaries belonging to the Strafford Historical Society were stored in the Education Center basement of the Justin Morrell Homestead when the July 2023 flooding event struck. At this time, VACDaRN was contacted to help with the recovery and brought in. When recovery volunteers gained access to the building, they found the waterlogged diaries a few days later and VACDaRN (already on scene) contacted Deborah Howe, Conservator at Dartmouth College Libraries, to help. When Deborah and her team recovered the diaries from the basement, they were immediately put in a freezer to prevent mold and further deterioration and remained in the freezer until the workshop began. (Pro tip: you should also head for the freezer if any of your prized paper materials are waterlogged – they may be salvageable with the help of a paper conservator!)
What were the diaries about?
The recovered diaries told stories of people living in 19th-century New England. Called Standard Diaries, these books were mass produced by only a few companies and were sized to fit in a shirt or pants pocket, with space on each page to write a brief entry for two days. The beginning pages of each diary had something like a miniature almanac in them. These pages were filled with information that the writer may need to reference throughout their year, from eclipse dates to interest rates. There was also a section at the end to help keep track of finances.
It was fascinating to see what was written in each diary. By that, I mean it was delightfully ordinary. Most books that have survived the centuries are from people of great importance whose lives were overflowing with historical significance. These diaries, however, had a striking resemblance to the life of any person living today. The authors of these diaries wrote about cleaning the house, visiting family, and dreading their chemistry classes. Our team also enjoyed finding entries from historic days (on April 15, 1865, one author added “news came President Lincoln dead” to an otherwise ordinary entry). It’s also important to note that these Standard Diaries were designed to be affordable while made of materials with somewhat decent quality, so I was especially impressed with their good condition after the thawing and repair process.
Thaw and Repair
The first workshop session focused on thawing the books. It felt like holding a solid block of ice at this stage. The covers were frozen shut and the little text we could see was incredibly faint and mostly illegible. However, adding warmth by holding the books in our hands (or, if needed, running a hair dryer over them), allowed the pages to peel away from each other. As the pages thawed enough to allow the diaries to open, we put blotting paper inside to soak up some of the water. Fanning the books and placing them near a fan also helped to speed up the drying process. We tried to read the visible sections while waiting for the books to dry. Even pages written in pencil would eventually become legible once the page dried. By the end of the day, most of the books were dry enough to put under weights to prevent the pages from warping.
The second workshop session centered around mending the now-dried diaries. At this point, the books were fully legible, and the weights helped the pages lay flat. However, they all had sustained structural damage due to the flood. Some had torn pages, others had broken covers, and others were in pieces. Our job was to reassemble these diaries with a paste made of wheat starch. This would serve as an adhesive that could be easily and safely removed if further alterations were necessary. It felt daunting at first to figure out what pieces needed to be pasted together without hampering the functionality of the book. The repairs were like a puzzle – each section had a certain way to click into place. As different pieces were pasted back together, a piece of mylar and a sheet of blotting paper was placed between the pasted area and the rest of the book as a barrier, preventing any unwanted pieces from being sealed together. Adding heat sped up the process during this phase as well. The paste dried much faster when held between hands or under weights. By the end of the day, several rows of books were in good condition. The covers no longer peeled, the pages were securely attached to the binding, and it was as if no damage had come to them a year prior.
Learning how to repair 19th-century diaries was a fascinating experience. Attaching books that had fallen apart together again into one cohesive piece was an exciting experiment. Comparing the stories of our writers’ lives while reconstructing something they carried with them allowed them to come alive in conversation among the workshop participants. It was also empowering to be part of a group of people ready and trained to help arts and culture organizations respond to these (unfortunately, increasingly common) flooding events. Hopefully, these skills won’t be needed at the Museum or elsewhere– but it’s good to be prepared!
If your private collection, or arts or cultural organization, has been impacted by the recent flooding events, VACDaRN is available to help. More information is available on their website here: Vermont Arts & Culture Disaster and Resilience Network | VACDaRN.