The Preservation Housing Section of the Conservation Department produces custom designed boxes and enclosures for the Center's collections. Preservation Housing projects range from simple enclosures, such as polyester jackets and phase boxes for bound items, to complex structures for multi-dimensional artifacts. As with the selection of items for conservation treatment, most of the Center's collection housing projects are determined by Curatorial and Administrative staff through the Ransom Center's annual priority designation process.
Advanced workers engage in the construction of more complex housing structures.
The section works in tandem with personnel from the Stacks Maintenance Unit which also supports the Center's housing programs. During the past two decades, the impact of the preservation housing programs on the collections has been impressive, with large portions of major collections now re-housed in acid free archival boxes and enclosures. The head of this section is also responsible for the purchase and management of all preservation housing and conservation supplies used throughout the Ransom Center. Click Here to see some photos of our staff engaged in various Preservation priority projects.