Historic photos brought back to life
A collection of 20th-century military images housed by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is in a restoration process thanks to the careful work of Collections Manager Kira Lyle.
The HCA has a large collection of World War I and World War II photos with edges that have curled over time, and Lyle is working to re-flatten those photos to their original shape through a process called rehydration.
“It sounds very technical, but almost anybody can do it at home with their own photos,” she said. “The solution is to add moisture back in.”
It’s not uncommon for old photos to curl at the edges when fibers of the paper dry out, particularly if the photos are not stored flat. Rehydrating the photos allows the fibers to loosen so the paper can “relax” and return to a flatter shape.
“If photos are curled and dried out, they’re more liable to become more and more damaged — they can even crack and rip at certain points,” Lyle explained. “If anyone has ever taken out their old family photos and they’re stuck together, that’s an example of photos reacting to too much humidity.”
As part of a rehousing project of photos, Lyle is carefully placing the curled photographs on top of racks (like those used to cool cookies) sitting in the bottom of a storage bin with an extremely thin layer of water in the bottom. The photographs should not touch the water at all — there should only be a trace of water to cover the bottom and create a humidifier-like atmosphere when the bin is sealed.
Over time, those photos will just flatten on their own. Lyle periodically checks on them, because too much moisture can cause its own host of issues.
She then uses a wax paper-like product called glassine, which is used to protect documents and art, between each photo to pick up any moisture from the water. Next, she weighs the photos down for a few days to ensure the flattening lasts. If needed, she will repeat the process.
“Once they’re rehydrated, they stay nice and flat,” she said. “It’s very satisfying with big ship plans or architectural drawings.”
Lyle said she uses room-temperature water, but cool water is also fine. She advises not to use hot water as that could cause steam that would interfere with the rehydrating process.
The photos, which were donated several decades ago, feature uniformed military members, barracks and other buildings, and other everyday scenes from WWI and WWII.
“Photos are memories,” said Lyle. “Historic collections are all about things from the past, but the field of studying history is really future-minded because we’re thinking about what people in the future will need to know about the past. Photos are an invaluable way of seeing the past literally, and can offer insight into what certain individuals chose to capture about their lives and how they did it.”
Each image is also being cataloged in a searchable digital database as a part of the rehousing and rehydration project. For more information on this collection or other similar projects, contact Lyle at kira.lyle@delaware.gov.