Brooklyn Museum and Smithsonian Present “Save Our African American Treasures”
Saturday, July 20, 2013 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Brooklyn Museum Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion and Lobby 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Free and open to the public
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Brooklyn Museum will co-host “Save Our African American Treasures: A National Collections Initiative of Discovery and Preservation,” a daylong program to help New York-area residents identify and preserve items of historical and cultural significance.
Participants are invited to bring up to three personal items for a 15-minute, professional consultation with experts on how to care for them. The specialists will serve as reviewers, not appraisers, and will not determine an item’s monetary value. Objects such as books, photographs, ceramics, metalwork and textiles no larger than a shopping bag (furniture, carpets, firearms and paintings are excluded) can be reviewed.
“We are extremely proud to bring ‘Save Our African American Treasures’ to New York City and of our partnership with the Brooklyn Museum,” said Lonnie Bunch, director of the Smithsonian museum. “Whether it’s Weeksville, Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers or the Harlem Renaissance, New York City has been steeped in African American history from before the Emancipation. We encourage people to become aware of what they have, to protect it and to preserve it so the story of the African diaspora in this country can be told.”
The “Treasures” program also includes the following activities throughout the day:
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- Gallery Tour: Kevin Stayton, the Brooklyn Museum’s chief curator, will offer a tour of selected galleries in the building.
- Preservation Presentations: learn how to preserve clothing and textiles, family photographs and papers. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions.
- Hands-on Preservation: participants will learn how to properly store letters, pack garments and prepare photographs for preservation storage and presentation.
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For more Treasures event information, visit nmaahc.si.edu/Programs/NYTreasures, email treasures@si.edu or call (877) 733-9599.
“Save Our African American Treasures” is made possible with support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.