North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of

The Fogg's formal apprenticeship program began in 1972 and in the
eight years of its existence awarded certificates to eleven graduates.
Elizabeth Jones, Marjorie Cohn, and Arthur Beale were responsible for
formalizing the apprenticeships. In a memo dated December 10, 1971, to
Daniel Robbins, then director of the Fogg, Miss Jones initially argued
against undertaking a large-scale conservation training program for several
reasons. First, she was concerned about job placement, noting that
"unless the economy takes an enormous leap forward, there will be severe
competition for jobs. . .." Second, she felt it was inappropriate to undertake
an extensive program of professional training until a "research laboratory"
was in working order. Saving her strongest argument for last, she
proposed the following:
. . . We can make our greatest contribution in the unique function
we have here teaching our own students of Fine Arts about
the history of materials and techniques and about conservation,
and in continuing our collaboration with the curators, faculty,
and students in investigating problems in art history and in
archaeology. We should like to extend these aspects of our work
in a more substantial and organized format.
The first prerequisite for the preservation of a work of art is an
intelligent understanding of the physical nature of its materials
and handling during its previous existence. The time, energy, and
money spent in training your professionals in conservation will
be wasted if the next generation of museum men, archaeologists
and art historians, trustees and collectors (who will be hiring the
professionals) are left in a state of ignorance.
In the end, a small formal program was initiated, and in February of
1972 two proposals went to the NEA to "expand and regularize our contribution
to the training of professional "conservators" and "to increase a
research facility." By the fall of 1972, a basic curriculum for the apprenticeship
program had been developed and was being put into practice.
Throughout the year, much was discussed and written about the role of
science in the Fogg's training efforts, which was simply stated in an early
document: "Our expanded program of training new conservators brings
an obligation to provide a solid ground in the aspects of modern science
which relate to the problems of the conservation of works of art."
Although the Fogg did receive NEA support that year for the conservation
training program, it was not initially successful with the funds for the
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