Rescuing Liberian history: preserving the personal papers of William V S Tubman, Liberia's longest serving President

Dr Verlon Stone, Indiana University
2005 award - major research project
£ 48,810 for 16 months.

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In the abandoned library of an unoccupied mansion in Liberia, the personal papers of William V. S. Tubman, Liberia's longest serving President, have been found in a deteriorating condition. During Liberia's most recent civil war in 2003, rebel soldiers had rummaged through the file cabinets in search of valuables, tossing folders and papers onto the floor, leaving them damp and insect-infested in Liberia's tropical climate. Immediate conservation and preservation measures are needed for the papers, followed by restoration of organization to the collection and then microfilming for long-term preservation of the papers' content.

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A report prepared in the late 1980s of this material by a consultant for the Tubman family reported that the materials showed the nearly complete integration between Tubman's personal and political lives during his presidency from 1944 until his death in 1971. The bulk of the collection clusters at the beginning (1944-1950) and end (1961-1971) of his administration. Of the collection's importance, it was stated that given Tubman's stature as an African head of state during the de-colonization era, these papers will be of particular value for the study of the Organization of African Unity's early years, as well as for the study of West African diplomacy.

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The project proposes to pack and ship the documents to Indiana University where they will be deep frozen to stop mold growth and exterminate insects and then placed in a freeze-drying facility for several months. The facilities to undertake this are not available in Liberia. Damaged documents will be restored wherever possible - if not possible then imaging staff will capture and preserve their content.

Once organised by professional archivists, the entire collection will be microfilmed and the original papers will be shipped back to Liberia to a safe archive.

The costs of shipping the papers to Indiana University and the deep-freeze and freeze-drying, document conservation and restoration processes are not funded by this grant.

The proposal has the full support of the Tubman family and of the Liberian government.

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