Grant Received To Develop Technological Preservation Techniques At Historic Blenheim

Press release from the City of Fairfax:

08/07/2020 9:00 AM

The City of Fairfax, Va., has been selected to receive $19,976 in grant funding from the National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. In a highly competitive field of 28 exciting projects vying for the funding to develop or adapt techniques to preserve historical sites and cultural heritage, only 11 projects in nine states were selected.

The City’s approved project will occur at Historic Blenheim, a popular tourist destination located at 3610 Old Lee Highway in Fairfax, and listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. The c.1859 brick farmhouse offers a unique concentration of legible graffiti inscribed on the walls of the upper three floors of the house by Union soldiers during the Civil War. The house also has water, earthquake, and other structural damage and repairs to investigate.

Historic Blenheim will serve as the model for the application of digital, noninvasive methods for revealing, conserving, and preserving historic information on walls that have been impacted by a range of environmental and manmade complications. Research will capitalize on the variety of applied materials to the walls to evaluate new methods for analyzing historic, structural, and decorative materials found in interior spaces across the country that face similar preservation risks.

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training awarded $202,660 in grants this year and, since 1994, the center has awarded more than $11 million to fund science and technology-based preservation projects.

“Historic preservation depends on advancements in science and technology,” said David Vela, deputy director of the National Park Service, exercising the authority of the director. “These grants will help educational institutions, states, local governments, and non-profit organizations foster innovative research and training projects that preserve aspects of our history.”

Mike Toth, president and chief technology officer for R.B. Toth Associates, will lead the imaging and digitization project at Historic Blenheim. Toth has 25 years of experience and has completed projects for major cultural institutions around the world. The project at Historic Blenheim will build on research he began there last year. Toth uses a specialized camera and LED lights to capture images in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light spectra. The outcomes from this multispectral imaging research will help preservation specialists identify optimum conservation treatments and means of limiting environmental degradation without damaging historic and culturally significant walls and objects.

The one-year project at Historic Blenheim will not only research optimum technology but also the image and metadata management needed for effective analysis and documentation of structural interiors. The published results will support preservation of historical structures by providing the preservation community with new methodologies for materials research and analysis.

“Historic Resources is very excited about the possibilities this grant offers and the opportunity to engage new technology for preserving history,” said Susan Inskeep Gray, historic resources director for the City of Fairfax.

In addition to Toth, the project team includes technical experts who have worked on historically significant sites throughout the world.

• Andrea Loewenwarter, historic resources specialist and site manager of Historic Blenheim, has more than 25 years of museum experience and has led the deciphering, research, and interpretation of the Blenheim graffiti since 1998.
• Dr. William Christens-Barry, chief scientist of Equipoise Imaging, LLC, pioneered the use of narrowband illumination for spectral imaging of manuscripts.
• Mary Jablonski, president and founder of Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc., is an international authority on architectural paint research and finishes.
• Stephanie Hoagland, a principal at Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc., has more than 18 years of experience in architectural preservation.

Visit Historic Blenheim’s website to learn more about the site’s history and its intriguing graffiti.

Mike Toth explains multispectral imaging in this video about the project.

This press release was produced by the City of Fairfax. The views expressed here are the author’s own.