There is an article in the summer 2012 edition of the ADAH news abut restoring the Confederate battle flags. Because for years the Civil War battle flags were improperly stored or displayed, Bob Bradley, Chief Curator of Archives knew something must be done to save them.
Bob says: "Together, these agents of deterioration had done more damage to the flags than four years of war". The flag conservation project was begun in 1989 with a twofold aim. One to properly store and document the flags, and secondly to conserve them.
Amazingly, now, more than 20 years later, each of the 90 flags in housed in a climate-controlled room where they are stored in special cabinets. In addition, all of the flags have been documented. If you are interested, you can view the provenance of each of them on the Archives' web site. Eighteen have been conserved and two more are currently undergoing conservation.
As with our Gunboat Quilt, technological advances in textile conservation have increased greatly in recent years. So has the price tag; some of the flags cost more than $25,000. to restore. For more information, go to www.archives.alabama.gov/referenc/flags and read all about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment