Matheson History Museum to host presentation on preserving family heirlooms

Press release from the Matheson History Museum

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Matheson Board Member and Museum Collections Care Specialist Elise V. LeCompte will give a presentation on how to preserve your family heirlooms at the Matheson History Museum on Saturday, October 3, at 10 a.m. Participants are asked to bring an object (or photo of an object) that they wish to preserve.

Objects that we collect or pass down through the generations are special to us for various reasons–their relation to a special person, place, or time; the memories and history that they evoke; their beauty; their worth; and a whole host of other personal reasons specific to each one of us. We can’t stop time and the natural deterioration of these precious artifacts, but we can slow the pace of deterioration through proper care and protective measures. Preventive care of your treasures will save you the cost of conservation treatment or, worse, losing an object altogether.

The program will feature a presentation on the care and preservation of precious family heirlooms, including metal objects, ceramics and glass, artwork, textiles, books and paper, photographic material, and audiovisual material, by Elise V. LeCompte, a specialist in museum collections care. The processes and agents of deterioration that work to destroy our precious objects, and how to minimize them, will be described. Then, simple museum-quality techniques for storing and displaying your treasures will be discussed. These are techniques that anyone can carry out in order to preserve their heirlooms and treasures for years to come. Sample storage and display materials will be available for examination, and handouts listing museum-quality supplies and suppliers will be provided.

The presentation will be followed by a hands-on, group discussion of each participant’s object, based on the information provided in the presentation.

Registration: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/105241-preserving-your-family-heirlooms

Elise V. LeCompte

Elise V. LeCompte is an independent museum consultant. She was formerly registrar, coordinator for museum health and safety, and assistant department chair for the Florida Museum of Natural History for 41 years. She has served as collections manager, exhibit registrar, and conservation technician, and consults on collections management, curation, exhibit design, and artifact treatment for museums throughout the southeast. She has organized and presented at workshops and conference sessions on collections management, museum ethics, and administration for national, regional, and state organizations. Ms. LeCompte is a member of the American Alliance of Museums (MAP and accreditation peer reviewer), the Association of Registrars and Collections Management (former board secretary), the American Institute for Conservation, the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (chair, Travel Grant Committee), the Southeastern Museums Conference (former council member), and the Southeastern Registrars Association (former board member). Ms. LeCompte recently received the James R. Short award, SEMC’s most prestigious recognition of service to the museum profession in the Southeast. Ms. LeCompte holds an M.A. in archaeology and chemistry from the University of Florida and a B.A. in anthropology from the Johns Hopkins University.

This program is sponsored in part by Visit Gainesville/Alachua County, FL and the City of Gainesville.