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FAQ’S
The question at hand
Q. Will the Battle Flag
project include restoration of the flags?
The goal of the project is to ensure long-term preservation
of the physical and chemical condition and research potential of the collection.
Restoration is a treatment procedure(s) intended to visually return cultural
property to a known state, often through the addition of non-original
material. Restoration does not support the project goals.
Q. What does collections care involve?
For this project, the following principles of collection
care are utilized: 1) Use reversible procedures and stable, non-reactive
materials; 2) Each staff person and volunteer must have an appreciation
and respect for the significance of the flags and their role in military
history; 3) Document all activities that affect the collection; 4) Provide
overall support for each flag taking the weight off of the flag itself;
and 5) Retain the association of objects to their documentation.
Q. Who has responsibility for the flags?
Until April 2001, responsibility for the care of the capitol
flag collection was never assigned, leaving the flags neglected and deteriorating.
Now the flags are assigned to the Iowa State Historical Society Museum,
Des Moines.
Q. What will happen to the collection after
the project is done?
Part of the project recommendation to the Governor and the 78th General
Assembly included additional funding for the State Historical Society
of Iowa, Des Moines, for the administration and maintenance of the flag
collection. The amount included $50,000 for staff and $50,000 for operations
annually. Additional staff will be required to maintain an exhibition
of limited number of flags per year, on a rotating basis (every 3 to 6
months) after rehabilitation of the existing capitol cases and the creation
of a new flag exhibit hall at the Museum. The flags will be available
to researchers and available to the public through the web site.
Q. What is Stabilization?
Treatment procedures intended to preserve the original
integrity of cultural property while minimizing or reducing the rate of
deterioration.
Q. How will the flags be prepared for exhibition?
Further stabilization and mounting for display will be
necessary. The recommended technique is a pressure mounting system that
will support the flags between an archival, soft-padded panel and a protective
plexiglas glazing. This type of system will require minimum intervention
into the historic fabric of the flag yet enable the flags to have full
support while on vertical display.
Q. When did efforts begin to protect Iowa's
battle flag collection?
In 1998, a grass roots committee made up of members of
the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, various veterans' organizations,
and interested citizens was formed. The Iowa Battle Flag Preservation
Committee was instrumental in gaining legislative support to fund a study.
In 1999, efforts began to stabilize the Battle Flag collection of the
State of Iowa. The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs was appropriated
funds to conduct a study to stabilize the flag collection. The study was
conducted between the State Historical Society and Conservator Fonda G.
Thomsen of the Textile Preservation Associates, Inc. The purpose of the
study was to evaluate the present condition of the flag collection and
provide long-term preservation recommendations for the collection. In
2000, funding from the Iowa General Assembly was appropriated to begin
stabilization of 85 flags in the collection of the State Historical Society
of Iowa.
Q. What materials are the flags made from?
Are they machine or hand sewn?
Materials of construction tend to be wool, wild silk,
cultivated silk, flax, hemp and cotton. Decorations can be constructed
of the above materials or painted. Pendant ornaments are formed from wood
forms wrapped in one or more of the above fibers.
