On Wednesday October 12, 2011 the White Gloves Gang once again visited the Fells Point Preservation Society (FPPS) at1726 Thames Street,Baltimore. No stranger to the FPPS, the Gang made its first visit back in 2005. For a moment now let us go back in time to when Destiny’s Child was still together, Batman Begins was playing at the box office and the FPPS had just called upon the White Gloves Gang to help them move their new collection. Some might …
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On the morning of October 12, eight volunteers arrived the Historical Society—and former almshouse—of Baltimore County to volunteer as part of the White Gloves Gang. Administrator Adam Youssi headed up the gang and started our day off with a tour of the 19th century building. It was fascinating to see the former quarters of the inmates, and the furniture and other items in the collection, but the greatest surprise of our tour was an intact nuclear fallout shelter in the …
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As the conference wound down on Wednesday, the White Gloves Gang was gearing up for their big day. Comprised of registrars, collections managers, museum studies students, and art shippers, the White Gloves Gang gets its name from the distinguished (okay, distinguishing!) cotton garment routinely worn when handling art and artifacts. Each year the White Gloves Gang brings its skills—organizing, processing, handling, housing—along with free archival supplies such as acid free folders, document boxes, textile boxes, tissue paper, and mylar (provided …
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From the bizarre (e.g., a radioactive machine used to determine fit of a shoe on a customer’s foot) to the seemingly mundane (e.g., rubber-covered power cords), there are potential safety concerns with all kinds of museum collections. In this morning’s packed-to-capacity session, three experienced museum professionals shared tips on how to identify and address such safety issues in your own collections. Michael Leister, director of the Air Mobility Command Museum, cautioned: “There is such a thing as bad publicity!” Anna Dhody, curator …
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