Mar 14, 2016 Long Term Conservation Project Comes to an End: Tribune Intermountain Wire

After 17 years of unfolding, unsticking and washing 140,000 newspaper clippings, the conservators in the Marriott Library’s Preservation Department have uncovered fascinating historical details of life at The University of Utah from 1915-1950.

Originally, the clippings were stored in scrapbooks under broad categories such as faculty, athletics, administration, and student activities. The clippings were tightly folded and adhered to both sides of the scrapbook page in layered rows and columns, resulting in 20 to 50 clippings per page side. A scrapbook would contain an average of 800 clippings per book.

Treatment in the Preservation Department began in 1999 when conservators tested and formulated a process that included dividing the pages into batches of roughly 200 clippings, surface cleaning the still folded articles, and then numbering each clipping and its corresponding tag so that the pairs could be rejoined later. Both the clippings and tags were then immersed in no less than three baths of hot, purified, and deionized water, followed by a de-acidification bath to clean, neutralize, and strengthen the paper while retaining all the printed information. Each scrapbook took two to three months to complete. While the work was repetitive and labor intensive, the team of conservators who worked over the years loved being part of the effort to bring this treasure trove of university history back to life.

Running throughout the articles are the social mores and sensibilities of the time periods in which they were written; the formality of student life and the casual fun in dances and club activities, the athletic accomplishments, the successes of students after graduating, and the tragedy of war, heroism and loss.

Students and researchers can now trace the rich and varied development of the flagship institution of higher learning in Utah as access to these newspaper clippings will be available through Special Collections.

Please visit the Special Collections Reading Room on Level 4 of the J. Marriott Library, Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.