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Subject: Sheldon Keck

Sheldon Keck

From: Elizabeth C. Welsh <aaphw>
Date: Monday, June 28, 1993
I received the following press release, dated June 24, 1993, from the
offices of the AIC. The press release did not indicate Mr. Keck's age,
nor was the cause and date of his death reported. The entire text of the
press release follows:

                             *     *     *

The AIC regrets to announce the death of its first president, Sheldon
Waugh Keck.

After graduating from Harvard in 1932, Mr. Keck apprenticed at the Fogg
Art Museum. From 1934-1961 he was at the Brooklyn Museum where he
established the first museum laboratory in greater New York for the
scientific examination and treatment of works of art. His laboratory
attained international renown. He was conservation consultant for the
Museum of Modern Art, the S. R. Guggenheim Museum, the Phillips
Collection, Colonial Williamsburg, the St. Louis City Art Museum and
many other national institutions.

In 1961 Mr. Keck left the Brooklyn Museum to assume directorship of the
Conservation Center, NYU Institute of Fine Arts, the first American
graduate training program of its kind, for which he was greatly
responsible. In 1966, he and his wife, Caroline, as UNESCO experts,
established the Latin American Center for Conservation of Cultural
Property in Mexico City. From 1969-1981 the Kecks ran the Cooperstown
Conservation training program which they inaugurated under the auspices
of the State University College at Oneonta and the New York State
Historical Association graduate educational offerings.

In addition to being the first president of AIC, Mr. Keck was a
Fulbright Fellow in 1959, a Guggenheim Fellow in 1960, a former trustee
of the Brooklyn Museum, Mystic Seaport, Williamstown Conservation
Center, a member of the Cooperstown Art Association, the Century
Association of New York, and the Rembrandt Club of Brooklyn. In 1975 he
and his wife received the New York State Award for their contributions
to art preservation; in 1976 they received Honorary Degrees from
Hamilton College; and in 1984, the Katherine Coffey Award for
distinguished accomplishments in the museum profession.

Mr. Keck is survived by his wife, Caroline; two sons, Albert Keck of
Cooperstown and Lawrence Keck of Annandale, Virginia; and two
grandchildren.

Those who wish, may make contributions in Mr. Keck's memory to the
Educational Development Fund of the Foundation of the American Institute
for Conservation and Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC), to support the
professional development and ongoing research of conservation
professionals of AIC. Contact: FAIC, 1717 K Street NW - Suite 301,
Washington, DC 20006.

                                  ***
                   Conservation DistList Instance 7:8
                  Distributed: Tuesday, June 29, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-8-001
                                  ***
Received on Monday, 28 June, 1993

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