Hi all, I hope I am posting to the right place. I'm looking for help in figuring out how to best preserve some of my wife's grandfather's illustrations from WWII. He was a Bataan Death March survivor, survived 2 prison ships, and apparently even spent some time in zero ward at cabanatuan. His diary indicates that his artistic talents won him favor with many of the guards, and that they would give him easier work assignments or extra food for drawing their portraits. Anyway, the illustrations are all on the back of his internment papers, red Cross letters, or Japanese rice paper, and I was hoping this community might be able to help me develop a plan to present to the family on how to best preserve these illustrations. Right now they are in a safety deposit box. I've brought up the idea of loaning them out to a museum, but they are worried about them being buried in some archive basement somewhere. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You might get the best answer for this by calling or writing to a museum or historical society in your area. Such institutions specialize in preserving artifacts of all sorts, especially documents. A historical society or military museum might also be interested in exhibiting the documents on loan.
In the meantime, keep them flat, dry, and away from direct sunlight, and make sure insects can't get to them. Try not to handle them too much, and when you do handle them, make sure your hands are clean and dry, and if possible, wear a pair of gloves. You don't want to transfer skin oils to them, you see.
Source: I worked as an engineer for a major printer and copy company and did some work with fine art prints on occasion.
Also, I know I'd love to see the drawings and documents myself. Any chance you'd photograph them and post them to, say, /r/HistoryPorn or /r/pics?
I think /u/hatheaded has a great answer. In addition, I can understand your families concerns about being put into storage in an archive. That being said, in an archive they are also available to researchers and the public, in addition to being preserved. Depending on their historic significance, (which seems incredible, I love how the art is interweaved directly with his letters and paperwork), they might be put on track for high quality digitization as well.
That being said, I'd advise getting some acid-free paper to lay between the pieces, to keep as little acid transfer as possible. Look for the term "archival" or "acid free". You can pick some of this up easily, even at Staples or other office supply stores. I'd recommend going to an archive or museum that could examine what you have and give you some specialized recommendations though. Most collections people would (time permitting) be more than happy to help you.
Thanks for sharing!!
Also "in an archive" doesn't mean "buried forever". Their existence would be known and they'd be cataloged and probably published in reproduction. If anything probably many more people would see these letters and learn about them.
Get some acid free folders. Yeah could also use linen or bond paper. Use gloves for the photographs but not for the paper materials. If any are damaged, contract a paper conservator.
If he was Infantry, you could try the Infantry museum in Columbus, Georgia if you'd like to donate.