Opening the Pocket Doors: A Peek Inside the Vault

This week’s photo of the week takes us on a journey into the depths of the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) building. In the cellar, nestled opposite the crawl space and underneath the stairs, is where one would find the LIHS vault. The safe door, pictured here, was installed after the introduction of the elevator in 1937. The room was lit by a single lighting fixture in the center of the ceiling and lined with free-standing metal shelves along the north, east, and west walls (Historic Structure Report, 1993). Wondering what treasures lie behind this sturdy confine?

Well, you may be a bit disappointed. By 1993 the vault was used as a storage area for paper supplies and maintenance items. While it seems excessive to keep your toilet paper locked up like Fort Knox, this wasn’t always the case. The vault had a different purpose for most of its existence, and its contents were slightly more interesting.

The LIHS vault previously held some of the Society's most valuable collections, including rare books, letters from notable figures, and the institutional archive. Inventories taken over the years, such as the one featured here, detail the material stored in this space. According to the list from 1980, someone looking through the vault would expect to find items such as reward posters for the capture of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, a Spanish manuscript signed by Philip II, and a dagger believed to belong to Peter Stuyvesant. However, one valuable collection that lived in the vault for years is missing from this list – The George Washington Letters.

The George Washington letters were written by Washington, during his presidency, to his Mount Vernon overseer, William Pearce. These letters were said to reveal Washington’s “deep interest in the enrichment and preservation of…Mount Vernon; his knowledge of agriculture, and the manner in which he spent his leisure time” (Home Reporter And Sunset News). According to Malcolm MacKay, Treasurer of the LIHS in the mid-1970s, the letters were historically significant but had “nothing to do with local history” (Brooklyn Heights Press). In addition to being out of scope, the letters were valued between $250K and $500K, which led the Board of Directors to consider selling the collection. By 1976, LIHS had been running at a deficit for at least ten years, so the projected profit of the sale was a major factor in determining what to do with the collection. As a result, in February 1976 the letters were auctioned off and sold to Sol Feinstone, a retired investor from Pennsylvania, for $250,000. Despite former LIHS President William Fisher’s disappointment in the selling price, he stated that the proceeds would “assure the society’s survival for another 100 years” (Daily News).

Given the price tag of the letters and the perceived value of the other items, I wanted to learn about the environmental conditions inside the vault. According to a 1973 report by the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), the temperature in the vault during the survey was 82°F, with a relative humidity of 36 percent. The recommendations for temperature and relative humidity have varied over the years and involve several factors: the preservation needs of different formats, human comfort, and financial limitations, to name a few. Recognizing this, the NEDCC recommends a “stable temperature no higher than 70°F and a stable relative humidity between a minimum of 30% and a maximum of 50%.” The ideal physical environment includes controlled temperature and relative humidity, clean air with good circulation, freedom from pests, and controlled light sources (Ritzenthaler, 110). The vault doesn’t appear to have had many of these measures, making it a less-than-suitable environment for archival material. However, due to limited resources and the complexities of built structures, archivists, librarians, and museum professionals often have to do their best with what they have.

Today, the vault no longer exists. The cellar was renovated in 1999-2002 and now contains accessible restrooms, furniture storage, and the classrooms used by our education team. Our collections are currently stored off-site and in several different areas of our landmark building, none of which include the basement. And, just in case you were wondering, our toilet paper is stored with other hygiene products and cleaning supplies in the attic, but that space is a story for another time.

Sources:

• “2.1 Temperature, Relative Humidity, Light, and Air Quality: Basic Guidelines for Preservation.” Northeast Document Conservation Center, 1999. 
  • Note: These recommendations are currently “under review.”
• Historic Structure Report, 1993; Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC.288
• Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn. Preserving Archives & Manuscripts. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2010. 
• Scrapbook, 1970-1976; Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC.288
  • “Historical Society Offers Documents.” Home Reporter And Sunset News. February 20, 1976. 
  • Sentilles, Ann. “Washington’s Letters Set For Auction.” Brooklyn Heights Press, February 19, 1976.
  • “Washington’s Papers Bring 250G.” Daily News, February 25, 1976.

The Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Archive Project is generously funded by the Leon Levy Foundation. 

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.