Misson: Preservation at the Rosedale Library

One of the things I love most about teaching in Washington, DC is that we have so many incredible opportunities for hands-on experiences. Last Friday, I went with our fifth grade to the Rosedale Neighborhood Library to participate in Mission: Preservation, a program put on by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, opening in 2015.

Mission: Preservation is a really cool program that puts objects and artifacts into the students' hands to teach them how to preserve pieces of their own family history. We arrived a bit early, so we had the chance to browse for books and sign up for library cards.

We learned about the different types of artifacts that museums have, and also about the different types of damage those artifacts can sustain.

This artifact is a great example of light damage.
It has been faded by the sun.

Finally, we put on gloves to protect the artifacts from the oils in our skin, and we were ready to handle the artifacts!

Examining a silver teapot.

This wallet had pest damage.

Once the students assessed the damage to the artifact, they
recorded the type of damage and the condition of the artifact.

Old photographs can be damaged by placing them in photo
albums. We learned that you should always make a copy,
and put the copy in the album.

We couldn't resist taking a few more
minutes to read in the library.