Heirlooms, Artifacts, and Family Treasures: A Preservation Emporium

• Event Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009
• Time: 12:00 pm–4:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Special Event

Organized by the Preservation Working Group of the University of Illinois, this informational event welcomes visitors to meet and talk with preservation specialists whose expertise ranges from antiquities to modern digital media. Have you ever wondered how to preserve that old film of family memories or take care of Grandma’s quilt? Bring your small, hand-held items to the Museum or come with images of larger items and have your preservation questions answered by the presenting experts.

KeyNote Address • 1 PM
“Historic Photography in the Age of Lincoln”
Mark Pohlad, Associate Professor, DePaul University, Chicago

This talk explores photographs of Abraham Lincoln as a way of discussing nineteenth-century photographs as physical objects. We will scrutinize the great man’s face, and see how his political career impacted his person. Along the way, we will pause to consider the history of early techniques and the quality and care of early photographs. We’ll find that examining photographs of the first extensively photographed president provides an intriguing way into an understanding of the medium that defines the modern era.

Early “operators” like Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and unknowns working in downstate “galleries,” took dozens of photographs of the western politician. Some were awkward, some were masterpieces. But all of them reveal Lincoln firmly in his historical moment and all provide clues into how they were made.

Lincoln’s appearance—his angular face and lanky body—are a great part of his mystique. And early photographs poignantly document both our greatest president while testifying to a medium struggling to be accurate and accessible. Altogether, caring for his memory and for early photos are worthwhile undertakings in this bicentennial year of Lincoln’s birth.