How should you handle fragile family records without causing damage? What’s the safest way to store heirloom documents and photographs? Which archival supplies are truly worth using?

Join us for an informative session designed for genealogists and family historians, where you’ll learn practical, easy-to-follow tips for handling, storing, and preserving books, photographs, and paper documents. Discover how to protect the original records that support your research—and ensure your family’s history survives for generations to come.

Our speaker, Lesa Dowd, is a book and paper conservator, design binder, and educator with more than 25 years of experience preserving the physical record of history. Her career has included conservation and leadership roles at Northwestern University, the Chicago Public Library, and, most recently, as Director of Conservation Services at the Newberry Library.

In 2022, Lesa stepped away from institutional library work to found Bookish Farmgirl, LLC (bookishfarmgirl.com), where she continues her conservation and bookbinding practice while sharing her expertise through teaching and outreach. When she’s not caring for rare books and fragile documents, she can often be found tending her vegetable and flower gardens—bringing the same patience and attention to detail to the soil as she does to the page.

The Webinar will be recorded and available on the CGS website in the members only section for 30 days.

Registration is required via the Chicago Genealogical Society website under Events. Registration will close 1 hour prior to the event. The meet-up will take place virtually via ZOOM. All people registered will receive an email the morning of the event with log-in instructions and a link. This information is not to be shared.

Note: This webinar is FREE for CGS members. Non-Members can register for the event for $10. No refunds. 

Picture with permission Library of Congress, National Archives preservation of documents, November 22, 1939.