North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of

THE 1974 Conservation Seminar on Glass and Library
Materials AT THE CORNING MUSEUM OF
GLASS IN CORNING, NEW YORK:
ANNOUNCEMENT, LECTURERS, PARTICIPANTS
On June 23, 1972, the Chemung River, swollen by persistent rains from
Hurricane Agnes, broke through containing dikes and flooded surrounding
communities, including the city of Corning, New York. The floodwaters
inundated the Corning Museum of Glass, damaging one of the
world's finest collections of glass and the most comprehensive body of literature
on that subject. Although only three percent of the glass objects
were broken, more than half of the museum's library holdings were lost
or seriously damaged. Helping in the rescue operation that was established
were conservators and other staff from various museums, including
the New York State Historical Association and the Winterthur
Museum. Some of the damaged objects eventually became conservation
treatment projects for students in the conservation programs. Dr. Robert
H. Brill, research scientist for the Corning Museum of Glass, was
appointed museum director for the three years needed to complete the
flood recovery effort.
Before joining the Corning Museum as the administrator of scientific
research, Dr. Brill served for six years as associate professor of chemistry
at Upsala College. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from
Rutgers University, has contributed more than 140 scholarly papers, and
is a member of numerous scientific and archaeological organizations.
Dr. Brill is completing a multivolume work, Chemical Analyses of Early
Glasses, that will present the cumulative results of his glass studies over
many years. His research, for which he has received nearly a dozen professional
awards, is on subjects related to ancient glass, lead isotope studies,
and early glass technology and conservation. In 1977 he directed a
field expedition to Herat, Afghanistan, where he filmed his remarkable
documentary, The Glassmakers of Herat, recording glassmaking in a oneroom
factory that was still hand-producing glass by traditional methods.
Upon completion of the recovery effort, Dr. Brill, returned to his glass
studies in his present capacity as the museum's research scientist. The
recovery effort provided useful experiences that Dr. Brill, as a former professor,
wanted to share with conservation students through a seminar at
the museum. He invited students and faculty of the conservation programs
to a five-day conservation seminar on glass and library materials.
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