[CPProt.net] USA: Saving water-damaged artifacts in Canton

[MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet]

Saving water-damaged artifacts in Canton
SMN

When it comes time to tell the story of record-high floodwaters that
devastated Canton in 2004, the town's museum will be able to add its own
page about water damage to the collection of historical items in the Visitor
Center.

Helping to assess damage is Patrick Willis, an intern from Western Carolina
University. Willis is continuing the work of a previous intern from Western,
Heather Cyre.

Cyre started an inventory of the museum's collection, computerized its
records for the first time, and helped improve the way exhibits are
displayed, said Father Tim McRee, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
and head of Canton's Historical Commission. In January, Willis began
cataloguing artifacts from an off-site storage area, checking for flood
damage to items in the lower level of the museum and creating designs for
new exhibits.

"We've got a good little local museum in Canton," said McRee, who worked as
a museum curator and historic site manager in Catawba County for years. "The
professional assistance provided by Western's interns is making it better.
We hope and pray this arrangement with Western will go on for years."

The interns' work at the Canton museum is mutually beneficial, McRee said,
because the students get to work on real projects, and the museum enjoys the
benefit of their expertise.

Willis, who lives just minutes from the museum, would agree. "I'm looking
forward to helping to better my town," he said. "I think a lot of people
overlook their local history and the importance of their local stories. You
feel closer to your neighbors when you understand you share this common
history."

Willis, a 1998 graduate of Riverside High in Durham and 2002 graduate of
Duke University, intends to continue working in museums after he completes
his master's degree at Western.

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