Proper care for collectibles to be focus of expert presentations Friday, Oct. 30 at the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library

aj_presentationsVisitors to the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library on Friday, Oct. 30, will have the opportunity to learn from two experts the proper care of collectibles and antiques.

The special presentations will be made throughout the day at the museum on the Tusculum College campus. The presentations are part of the museum’s efforts to commemorate National Archives Month.

During the morning, Myers Brown, curator of extension services at the Tennessee State Museum, will make two 30-minute presentations about the care of clothing, memorabilia and decorative arts. The presentations by Brown will be at 9:45 and 11:15 a.m.

Amy Collins, archivist at East Tennessee State University’s Archives of Appalachia, will give two 30-minute presentations during the afternoon about the care of paper, photographs and film. Collins’ first presentation will be 1:45 p.m. and her second will be at 3:15 p.m.

The presentations will alternate with 30-minute screenings of historic films of Tusculum College campus life in the 1920s-70s. The films were unreadable a year ago and represent an on-going process to migrate antiquated media onto new media. The first film, college scenes of 1930, will be shown at 9 a.m. and college scenes from 1940-42 will be shown at 10:30 a.m.

In the afternoon, a film featuring college scenes from 1940, 1948-1952 May Day activities and basketball from 1950 will be shown at 1 p.m., and at 2:30 p.m., the film will feature Tusculum College students/fire department in 1970, scenes from the play, “Blazing the Trail from 1969, and scenes from the Heritage Trust Christmas Tour of Homes in 1970.

The final film, to be shown at 4 pm., will feature campus scenes from 1929-30 and May Day activities in 1948 and 1951.
While at the museum, visitors can also view the exhibit, “Preserving Your Traditions,” which provides an overview of archives and shares information on how to care for personal collections. It features some of the treasures in the Tusculum College Archives.

The Tusculum College Archives are also available anytime as a research source for academic papers and projects. For more information about the Archives, call 423-636-7348 or e-mail kcuff@tusculum.edu. Walk-in researchers are welcome. The museum is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  It is recommended that anyone planning a visit call in advance.

Admission fee is $5 for the general public. Guests will receive a “getting started” archival kit and are encouraged to bring a personal artifact to receive preservation tips.