Saving America's Treasures: The Dinwiddie Collection
Threats to the Collection
The Dinwiddie collection has been stored in archival housing over the years since its donation to the Society in 1881. But because most of its contents appeared in published form in the late nineteenth century, major conservation work was never undertaken by preceding generations of archivists and conservators. Time and use have further threatened and destabilized the collection, and as the years have passed, the extent and costliness of conservation care has prevented the Society from undertaking the treatments necessary to preserve this national treasure properly. A plan has now been developed, however, and with funding granted in 2005 from Save America's Treasures, along with some matching grants, that proper care can be provided.
 Condition of the letter books
In the mid-nineteenth century, Henry Stevens placed the George Washington letters in a highly acidic scrapbook and probably had at least some of the letter books rebound. Each of the letter book volumes consists of a varying number of pages; each is threatened in similar ways; but each also shows varying degrees of deterioration. Primary considerations are the long-term effects of iron-gall ink degradation on the mid-eighteenth-century rag-based, chain-laid paper; the offset of inks through and to adjacent pages; the brittleness of pages from a combination of natural aging and the effects of corrosive iron-gall ink, with consequent page disintegration and text loss; soiling from use and the accumulation of particulate matter; and the well-intentioned but damaging effects of non-professional preservation actions taken by previous generations of owners and custodians.
 Letter book bindings
The bindings of these volumes are made from poor quality materials that are so deteriorated as to be virtually non-functional. The bindings are, in fact, endangering rather than protecting the text blocks. In regard to the Washington letters and court martial record, the retained physical attachment to scrapbook sheets has produced expected damage to the original documents and remains the most severe threat to each item.
 Additional threats
In addition, some of the same conditions seen in the letter books, such as soiling, the effects of corrosive iron-gall ink, and cracking at stress lines, further endanger these documents. It is not unreasonable to say that the collection in its condition prior to the start of this project was virtually unusable by researchers.
Next: See Conserving the Papers
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