[padg] RE: Ellen McCrady

["Schnare, Robert, CIV, NAVWARCOL" <schnarer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ellen:  She was a major contributor to the literature of preservation
and binding. Her newsletter, the Abbey Newsletter, was always a good
read.  I knew her for a number of years and she was very helpful when I
was compiling my bibliography of preservation literature. She was the
"grand dame" of preservation in her own way.

Bob Schnare.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa [mailto:e.cunnk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 1:53 PM
To: padg@xxxxxxx
Subject: [padg] Ellen McCrady

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It is with sadness that I send news of Ellen McCrady's passing.

Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa


McCrady, Ellen Ruth

Age 81, died March 5, 2008. She was born in 1926 to Archie and Gladys
(Burnett) McCrady. She graduated from the University of Michigan and
later did graduate work in library science and book preservation at
Michigan and Columbia Universities. Ellen had an adventurous spirit, and
long wanted to explore the Mississippi River. In 1951, she recruited
companions to help construct a raft from oil drums and scrap lumber, and
they floated down the river from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. For several
years, she operated the Academy Book Bindery in Dexter and Ann Arbor,
binding journals and restoring old books. When research made it clear
that a large portion of the paper produced after the beginning of the
19th century was deteriorating at an alarming rate because of the acid
residue from the manufacturing process, she launched a crusade to
persuade paper manufacturers to change their practices so as to leave an
alkaline buffer in the paper. She invented and distributed widely a
simple device which enabled librarians and archivists to test the paper
in their collections and identify the ones which urgently needed
remedial action. She also wrote and published the "Alkaline Paper
Advocate" (1984-1997), a publication designed for users and makers of
alkaline paper. And, late in her life, she became active in the fight
against toxic mold and produced a newsletter entitled the Mold Reporter.
She worked for the UM library bindery and later at the National
Archives, the Library of Congress, and Brigham Young University. From
1975 until 2004, she published the Abbey Newsletter, which reached a
circulation of 1,000 and circulated in over 40 countries. It was
recognized as an important venue for sharing research about book and
paper conservation. According to Carl Mendoza, Vice President of Crocker
Technical Papers, Fitchburg,
Massachusetts: "Ellen had a profound effect on our path and how we chose
to do business. Her role as the Guardian Angel with a Martin Luther-like
approach inspired us to take notice. Her theses affected the world of
conservation and preservation more than most might know. The research
she inspired has had its effect on all forms of conservation and
preservation from documents housed in archival libraries to X-ray film,
textiles, microchips, automotive machinery, and aircraft components." In
2002, she received the Banks/Harris award from the American Library
Association for "significant contributions to the library and archives
preservation field."
She is survived by her sister, Carol Rees (Gerald Rees); nephews David
Rees, James Rees (Sarah Casello), and Jonathan Rees (Oakley Hoerth); and
a dear friend, Jocelyn Vinograd, of Austin, Texas. Memorial
contributions may be sent to Arbor Hospice or to NAMI Washtenaw, 1100 N.
Main Street, Ann Arbor.
--
Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa
Director
The Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record School of
Information The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D7000
Austin TX 78712-0390
Phone: 512.471.8287
FAX: 512.471.8285
E-mail: e.cunnk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx