Subject: Sheldon Keck
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