Our new technician, Tedd Anderson, joined Conservation Services in March. He was hired to help with the Enabling Project, which means his days are spent mostly making custom enclosures. Tedd started in March and has already made almost 400 boxes! I’ve promised him some other work in support of the renovation project, too, just to mix things up a little.
I always ask our new staff to tell me about a favorite conservation project. Here’s Tedd’s favorite:
While working for the Northwestern University Library Conservation Lab I had the pleasure of working on many Chicago history related documents. One book that sticks in my mind doesn’t have to do so much with the treatment but what I found within the pages of the book.
I was rebinding a catalog of the 1893 Colombian Exposition (The Chicago World’s Fair) when I found a five leaf clover within the pages. I have never found a five leaf clover in my life, let alone within the pages of a book from the 19th century. It had obviously been there a very long time.
I’ve become very interested in the history of Chicago since then (this interest spurred on with a reading of Erik Larsen’s “Devil in the White City”) and like to imagine that this five leaf clover was found amongst the sprawling greens constructed for the Exposition in the Summer of 1893.
Tedd holds a BFA in Painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois). While at university, Tedd worked for the UI-UC conservation lab and he was a teaching assistant for book artist Bea Nettles. Tedd most recently worked at Northwestern University’s conservation lab in Chicago. We are so happy he has made his way south and east to join us here in Durham. Welcome to the team Tedd!