A Voice from the Past

By Erin Doane, Curator 

Nearly everyone in the region was touched by the 1972 flood in one way or another.  The Chemung County Historical Society was no exception.  At the time, the historical society and its museum were located at 304 William Street.  In the historical society’s November 1972 newsletter, president Asaph B. Hall gave an account of the society’s response to the flooding and all the work that was done in its aftermath. 

Mr. Hall reported that during the flooding there was 11 inches of water on the first floor of the Center building and 5 feet in the Historian’s office.  In all, the building was inundated with 14 feet of water from the cellar floor up.  The 19^th Century House was also flooded with 7 feet of water.   The manuscript collection, school loan exhibits, bound volumes of newspapers, books, glass slides, recordings and other media, as well as the society’s office supplies and printed materials were all stored in the basement.  Everything was lost except for the manuscript collection, of which they hoped to salvage some 60%.

As soon as the flood waters receded, the manuscript collection was removed and placed in freezer storage right away.  This protected the manuscripts from further damage and allowed society staff and volunteers time to properly clean the items.  Mr. Hall reported a great outpouring of help from the immediate community and beyond.  A squad of workers from the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum of Rochester and its director came down to help.  They also provided a truck to deliver the manuscript collection to freezer storage.  Fairport Storage & Ice Corp. in Fairport, NY froze manuscripts at no charge as did the Department of Agronomy at Cornell University and the Seneca Foods Corp. of Dundee, NY.  Elmira College let them use the greenhouses and garages on the Arthur Hoffman estate at Strathmont for manuscript cleaning work.  A crew of volunteers including several high school students helped dry out, wash and clean manuscripts before they were sent through a thymol cabinet to remove mildew residue.  The manuscripts were catalogued and filed and index cards were made for each.  In all, Mr. Hall expected the cleanup of the manuscripts to take about a year to complete.

Many volunteers including society members and Youth Corps workers also came out to get the museum cleaned and repaired.  They worked to remove mud and debris from the basement of the building and cleaned out the 19^th Century House.  They cleaned artifacts and furniture, painted walls and cases, and remade school loan exhibits that were destroyed in the basement.  With all the help from the community and funding from several federal, state and local sources, the Chemung County Historical Society’s museum was able to reopen to the public in August 1972, just two months after the catastrophic flooding. 

Drowning Memories: Flood Damage to Family Papers

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

Floods and other water events can seriously damage paper based records.  Water, especially dirty water, can stain and soil documents.  Many inks are water soluble and can run or be completely washed away.  Coated papers, especially those used in early-20^th Century books and some photographs tend to stick together.  Mold growth is also a serious problem.

In museums, we have disaster plans that establish instructions for the care of collections before, during and after a disaster.  It includes plans for evacuating material to higher floors or from the building altogether in anticipation of a disaster, establishes disaster response teams in charge of specific areas and lists supplies and contractors needed to help out during the aftermath.  Obviously, most families do not have anything as detailed, but there are some important steps you can take to be prepared in case of a disaster.  Most people have vitally important personal documents in their homes including insurance paperwork, banking and investment paperwork and personal identification paperwork.  Know where these documents are in your house and make sure they are stored in such a way that they can easily be taken with you when fleeing your home. 

Once disaster has struck, your first step to saving your documents and photos from water damage is to assess, sort and prioritize the effected material.  Is any of it dry?  If so, remove it from the damp environment before mold growth begins.  Is there more to dry than you can easily deal with before mold sets in?  Place it in the freezer so you can dry things in manageable batches.  Is there anything really, really important that you want just the way it was before?  Freeze it and call a professional conservator. 

Once you’ve done your sorting and assessing, the real work begins.  Often in the case of floods, your papers and photos are left both wet and muddy.  Before you begin drying, try to remove the surface mud which can be a lot harder to get off when dry.  Paper towels are your friend, but remember to be both careful and gentle, especially with your photos.  It actually is possible to wipe away an image along with the mud.

Now for drying items.  The first thing you’re going to need is a large surface area where you can lay things out to dry.  Ideally, this should be somewhere indoors where you can control temperature and humidity and plug in a fan, but in many cases that will be impossible.  Shake, drip or blot as much excess water off as possible and then lay your papers and photos flat to dry.  If you need to, you can do some layering, just remember to put blotter paper or paper towels in between and have stacks of no more than five items.  If possible have a fan going to continuously circulate the air.  Just don’t aim the fan directly at your papers.  Having a dehumidifier may also help as well. 

Lastly, be aware that there is only so much you can do.  Accept that your coated paper books are pretty much soggy garbage without professional help and that you will never be able to remove mold once it starts.  Water causes paper to swell, so even after drying your water damaged papers will be warped and your photographs will curl inward. 

For more information about caring for your paper artifacts or finding a conservator near you, check out the Northeast Document Conservation Center.  For information about non-paper artifacts, check out "Salvaging Your History" by our curator Erin Doane. 

Salvaging Your History: Tips for Saving Water-Damaged Objects at Home

By Erin Doane, Curator

With enough money and resources, nearly anything damaged in a flood can be cleaned and restored.  But no one, not even museums, has unlimited funding.  That doesn’t mean that if your home is flooded that you have to throw everything away that you can’t afford to have professionally treated; nor would you want to.  We collect many things in our lives that have great sentimental and historical value.  Many of these things can be dried and saved by you at home without too much expense.

There are many good resources online for dealing with flood-damaged objects.  Heritage Preservation (HP) has posted tips online and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has consulted with the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) and the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property (NIC) for recommendations on water-damaged belongings.  My personal favorite resources come in the form of Conserve O Grams created by the National Park Service that offer advice on how to treat specific types of objects by material.

The following basic information is a combination of expert advice from these sources, some personal knowledge and a dose of common sense.  Every item is different so these general guidelines may not work for everything.  Thoughtful consideration should be done before treatment so more damage is not done to the object.

Furniture

You should try to dry out solid wood furniture within 24 hours.  Any longer and mold growth will begin and make it harder to save the piece.  Remove all the drawers and open up the doors of the piece of furniture.  Blot the water from all surfaces with clean cotton cloths or paper towels.  Do not rub because flood waters can contain dirt and mud that will scratch the surface. Allow the furniture to slowly air-dry indoors.  Rapid drying can cause warping and cracking. Remove moisture from the room with fans but don’t point fan airflow directly at the furniture.

It may be possible to salvage some upholstered furniture but a professional should be hired for the task.  Mold growth is hard to stop and contaminants are nearly impossible to eliminate at home so it is better to leave the care of your antique Belter armchair to a professional. 

Clothing and Textiles

Most personal textiles are everyday clothing and bedding that can simply be machine washed and dried if you decide to salvage them.  For heirloom items, though, like great Aunt Sara’s quilt or grandma’s wedding gown, careful treatment is needed.  Wet textiles can be very fragile and heavy so be cautious when moving them.  They should be dried within 48 hours, especially during warmer weather to prevent mold growth.  Anything that cannot be treated in that time frame can be frozen then thawed later in small batches when you have time to dry them.  Items with dyes that won’t run should be rinsed as soon as possible then laid flat to air-dry indoors.  Do not wring or twist the items.  Blot them with clean, lint free towels and keep the air circulating to help them dry.  Leather items should be treated within 24 hours.  They can be air-dried but require special care to keep them flexible so it is best to seek professional help.

Kitchen Wares

Most of our kitchens are filled with glass and ceramic cups and dishes, metal pots and pans and flatware and other utensils made of metal and plastic that can all be simply washed clean and left to air-dry.  Kitchen gadgets like blenders and coffee makers, once soaked in flood waters are usually not salvageable.

Electronics

Most electronics cannot survive a flood.  Unless it’s your great grandfather’s radio that he used at the Battle of the Bulge, let it go.

Other Decorative Items Around the House

Air-drying as soon as possible is recommended for most items you find on the shelves and tables  around the house.  Things like wicker baskets or items with shell or bone should be treated within 24 hours.  They should be wrapped in absorbent towels and air-dried with fans pushing the moist air out of the room.  Baskets, especially, should be handled with care because they will be very fragile.  On the other hand, ceramic statuary, other high-fired ceramics, and glass items are fairly stable even when soaking wet so they can be dried after more fragile items.  Terracotta items, however, are very fragile when wet and should be treated quickly and with care.  Bronze trophies, brass plaques, and the like can usually wait up to 48 hours to be dried unless they are corroded.  The longer they are wet the worse the corrosion will get.  If the item is mounted on wood, it should be dried sooner.  As with most other items, blot with absorbent towels and air-dry.

Photographs, Books and Documents

Paper-based items are a whole different subject.  Check out "Drowning Memories" by our archivist Rachel Dworkin for tips on how to treat those items.

Every object is different and will need to be considered individually but these tips and other available guidelines should help you salvage a family heirloom or two in case disaster strikes and you don’t have the resources for professional treatment.