From the University of Otago Centre for the Book:
Dr. Fenella France, Chief, Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress, will offer a public lecture on “What Covers (and Protects) our Past.” Dr. France was formerly Lead Scientist in Preservation Research and is an expert on textiles. In 2010 France made a major discovery concerning the Library’s draft copy of the Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson’s handwriting with edits by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Using hyperspectral imaging equipment to distinguish discrete layers of ink using various spectra of light France revealed that Jefferson in the draft declaration initially wrote the word “subjects,” then carefully rewrote over it to make that word “citizens.” She is an alumna of the University of Otago.
Her talk will take place in Commerce 2.03 at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, 8 May 2013. All most welcome.
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If you’re interested in how an Otago textile researcher got to the Library of Congress via the star-spangled banner, there’s a profile in a recent University of Otago Magazine.