Samuel H. Kress Fellowship in Objects Conservation, National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The National Museum of American History (NMAH) is pleased to offer a one-year Kress Conservation Fellowship in Objects Conservation beginning in the fall of 2018. The fellowship's focus will be to examine, research, document, treat, and rehouse, a select number of objects from the NMAH Early Sound Collection. The fellowship will afford the successful candidate the opportunity to expand their knowledge of a wide variety of materials and composite objects. The fellow will collaborate with the Collection Manager and Curator to develop new housing and storage solutions, and pursue materials analysis as needed with the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute. In addition, the Fellow will participate in the day-to-day operations of a busy conservation lab as it prepares a diverse range of objects for several upcoming exhibits. About the Collection The Early Sound Collection is made up of 400+ objects created between 1878 and 1898 by the laboratories of Thomas Edison, Emile Berliner, and Alexander Graham Bell. This unique collection contains the first experiments to record and play back sound and represent a pivotal moment in American technological innovation. The objects in the collection are mostly mixed media made of proprietary and ephemeral materials, examples include wax cylinders, wax on binder board, foil with plaster, wax composition on brass, electrotypes, gelatin emulsion on glass, and wood and metal recording equipment. In recent years, new technology called IRENE/3-D developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the Library of Congress (LOC) has allowed some of the sound objects from the NMAH collection to be scanned for digital audio recovery. Collaborations between the LOC and NMAH have yielded such discoveries as the only known audio of the voice of Alexander Graham Bell and the oldest known playable sound recording. There are still hundreds of other recordings at the NMAH that contain potentially rare and important sound. The fellow will have the opportunity to work with the collection's curator to bring sound objects from the collection to the LOC for audio recovery. Eligibility The successful candidate will be a graduate of a recognized training conservation program in the U.S. or Canada, or a U. S. citizen with a graduate degree in conservation from an overseas program. The candidate should have an interest in working with mixed media/composite materials. Please submit in a single PDF document the following application materials: a statement of interest, your CV with contact information for three professional or academic references, and three recent treatment reports or published papers. Reports should demonstrate the candidate's range and ability to approach and develop a treatment plan. This application package should be sent to Richard Barden, Manager of Preservation Services, via email at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. The deadline for application materials is Friday, May 4, 2018. This fellowship is supported by a grant from the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation, funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Richard Barden Manager of Preservation Services National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution 202.633.3638 Telephone [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
