Sometimes when our preservation technicians are working through World War II records, they come acro
Sometimes when our preservation technicians are working through World War II records, they come across newspaper clippings sent to the government from the families of the servicemen. Keeping track of loved ones through newspaper articles was a common practice, and while many of these clippings were kept in scrapbooks by the families, some were sent to the military and placed in the personnel files.One newspaper clipping found last week left quite a few of us feeling heartbroken. These twin brothers, James A. Norton and Edward Norton, were both bomber pilots that flew together on missions in Europe. While coming back from a bombing mission in Holland, the plane was presumably struck down, crashing into the North Sea. James A. Norton was killed and later found by German forces, but Edward Norton was never found. Included in the images is the newspaper clipping of the twins, as well as an excerpt from a letter from their father to General “Hap” Arnold.Unfortunately, newspapers of this era were made from lower quality materials which became acidic as it degraded over time. Newspaper produced in the early twentieth century was made from wood pulp, a cheaper alternative to making paper rather than from cotton rags as was previously done. The wood pulp also contained lignin, which was beneficial to the living tree, but would give off acid as it deteriorated. To prevent damage to other documents in the record, the technician will separate the clippings from other papers to prevent the migration of acid, which will cause damage to the paper the clippings touch. In this case, the newspaper clipping was placed in a polyester sleeve in which users can easily view or photo copy the clipping. In other instances, an archive may select to place the acidic clippings into an acid-free paper sleeve, or even to photocopy the article on acid free paper to create a more permanent reproduction of the original. -- source link
Tumblr Blog : preservearchives.tumblr.com
#preservation#conservation#wwii history