Centuries-old documents are in peril, archivists say
Method used to preserve papers is damaging them
Nearly a century ago, Virginia archivists launched an effort to preserve aging documents — some hundreds of years old — stored at local courthouses in Hampton Roads and beyond.
Despite those intentions, the method used to preserve the records could damage them in the long run.
Across the state, volumes of old court papers are preserved in an outdated lamination. Now, historians and clerks are working to save them.
The records were preserved using cellulose acetate, a technique that strengthens documents by sealing them between sheets of thermoplastic film.
“For the last five years, we have been visiting the circuit court clerk’s offices around the commonwealth and identified a number of volumes, and we have had been having conversations with the clerks making them aware that these are something that are in need of preservation,” said Greg Crawford, State Archivist and Director of Government Records Services at the Library of Virginia. “The lamination needs to be removed.”
Crawford said coastal areas of Virginia — such as Hampton Roads — tend to have more documents preserved this way because cities and other municipalities near the water tend to be older than inland locales.
“As part of the inventory report that we submitted, we identified over 1,500 volumes and the vast majority of those are found on the eastern side of the state,” Crawford added. “These are definitely the oldest in the commonwealth — the oldest court books, deed books.”
Of the bound documents, a large portion are wills and deeds for properties. Others, however, are court filings from centuries past. Crawford said this is one reason restoring them is so important. Much of the lamination happened between the 1930s and ‘90s, and Crawford added that in each book of documents, there can be anywhere from 600-700 pages — but there’s no definite page count for each volume.
When documents are preserved in cellulose acetate, the paper is more prone to yellowing, tearing, bubbling, discoloration, clouding and warping. A vinegar odor also often indicates the laminate film is degrading.
“I use the analogy of asbestos. At one time, it was thought to be the greatest thing. It will prevent fires and whatnot in buildings,” Crawford said. “But then the science caught up: ‘Oh, this is is killing us.’ We’re breathing it in, and it will give us cancer. So we got to get rid of the asbestos.”
Crawford said that no documents have been completely lost because they were preserved using cellulose acetate, but conserving them now will prevent further damage. This is a tedious process, he said, and will require experienced conservationists. A handful of conservation vendors have the staffing, but it is a laborious process. Because the lamination process evolved over the decades, historians re-preserving the documents must know when something was laminated, how it was done and what chemicals were used.
Library of Virginia staff has examined records of 112 of the 120 Virginia circuit courts with documents housed locally and at the Library of Virginia. A total of 1,502 cellulose acetate volumes were identified in 53 localities. Of the cellulose acetate volumes, 57% are housed in 11 localities. Nearly 10% of the total were identified in Richmond County. To restore the documents, it would likely take about a decade.
In December, a report was presented to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert and Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas estimating the cost of restoring documents across Virginia could be up to $20 million. The cost to repair and preserve a cellulose acetate volume depends upon the number of pages and the extent of deterioration. Also, the conservation process required to remove cellulose acetate affects the cost.
“The removal of cellulose acetate is meticulous and time consuming, taking anywhere between three months to a year to remove cellulose acetate from one volume,” the report states. “The process inherently requires the services of experienced and highly skilled conservators. Conservation vendors have few staff members capable of performing such work.”
According to the report, there are 80 volumes in Chesapeake/Norfolk County, 81 in Virginia Beach/Princess Anne County and 17 in Hampton/ Elizabeth City County.
“If not addressed now, records that managed to survive three centuries of wars, courthouse fires, and natural disasters, will not survive another three centuries,” the report continues.