Blueprint Special Aids Conservation

| September 25, 2008 September 25, 2008 |

Dan Ruggiero from Rutgers Oral History Archives emailed this comment:

I just wanted to take a moment and let you know how helpful this segment was.

Just a few days ago I was contacted by someone with a record from World War II. It was a recording of "Your man in the Service" series. The recording had her fathers voice on it.

The record was recently damaged during a move and the owner wanted to have it conserved or repaired.

Having seen your show I was able to direct her towards the Library of Congress's Audio/ Visual Conservation department. They have since been in communication.

Thank you for airing such interesting and relevant subject matter. Please keep up the good work.

Reporting an Error

| September 18, 2008 September 18, 2008 |

James Downard alerted us to errors in BluePrint Special:

This may already have been spotted by others, but if not: the military archivist who showed the original blueprint edition got a few details wrong regarding the composers' subsequent works. Loesser did not write Richard Adler & David Ross' "Damn Yankees", nor did the brilliant Alex North pen Malcolm Arnold's music for "Bridge on the River Kwai".

Shipwreck Cannons update

| September 10, 2008 September 10, 2008 |

Bill Goddard wrote in for additional information on the Shipwreck Cannons story. The History Detectives contacted Chris Havel in Salem, Oregon, Communications officer for the Office of the Director, Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept. Here's his reply:

1. What additional study has been done? When will they
remove the 'concretions' to see what is really under there?

No additional work has been done on the cannon, but we are nearly ready to send them to a professional conservator to have the concretions removed. Several firms will likely bid on the work (bids close in mid-September, and we'll work with a local team of historians to select the contractor). Only a few organizations have the right kind of marine archaeology expertise. The conservation process itself can take years. As we are doing now, the conservator will start by soaking the artifacts in tubs of fresh water to draw the ocean salt out. When salt, iron and oxygen mix, the iron corrodes very quickly (which is why these are still intact, even after all that time buried on the ocean shore ... not much oxygen beneath 10-20 feet of sand and salt water!)

After the sodium levels drop, the concretions will be carefully removed. It's delicate work; the conservator must be careful to preserve surface details, such as foundry marks, that could reveal much of the cannons' history. After the concretions are removed, the metal is typically coated to protect it from further corrosion.

The work is being funded by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and donations gathered the the Oregon State Parks Trust. We at the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department protect the state's natural wonders and historic places, and serve more than 40 million visitors from every corner of the globe every year. Hundreds dropped by Nehalem Bay State Park to see the cannon this summer; we'll miss the cannon while they take their own vacation to "have some work done."

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History Detectives story inspires song

| September 3, 2008 September 3, 2008 |

I make a living playing Irish, Scottish and Folk festivals - and selling records. A few years back I was inspired by one of your stories about James Hamlin, a runaway slave who worked on-board the Charles W Morgan. In those days you did not provide quick access to the details on-line, as you do today - but I followed up with some additional reading on the subject. I didn't remember the young man's name, so I read the shiplists of period voyages and selected a name that sounded close, and one that I liked. I retold your tale in a song I call "The Ballad of Thomas Higgins" using an old Irish melody. Audiences love the song, and I always credit your program for introducing me to the subject. You can get a quick listen to the song here at my record company's Myspace Jukebox:
[ http://www.myspace.com/bostonroadrecords ]

I still watch the show as often as possible. All the best - Jed Marum

Dear Jed,
Thank you for contacting us and for sharing your song.
Best wishes from the History Detectives.