Restorations underway for trunk belonging to Manasseh Cutler
Pictured is the Cutler trunk, made by āthe father of 51ĀŅĀ×ā in 1788 in preparation for his first journey from Massachusetts to the wilderness of the Northwest where he and fellow members of the Ohio Company founded the first university west of the Allegheny Mountains. Photo by Kate Munsch/51ĀŅĀ× Libraries
When renovations to 51ĀŅĀ×ās iconic Cutler Hall were completed in 1947, the University marked the occasion with a two-day rededication event celebrating the legacy of the building, and the man for whom the building is named, and welcoming home a piece of treasured OHIO history. More than 50 years later, that object of history is undergoing a renovation of its own.
OHIOās University Libraries has been awarded a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant through the State Library of Ohio to restore a trunk belonging to Manasseh Cutler, āthe father of 51ĀŅĀ×.ā
The deerskin-covered trunk has been in 51ĀŅĀ×ās possession since October 1947 when Gen. Charles Gates Dawes, the great-great-grandson of Cutler and a former U.S. vice president, gifted the family heirloom to the University during the Cutler Hall rededication. More than 20 of Cutlerās descendants attended the ceremony. (To see video of the Athens Campus in 1947, including footage from the Cutler Hall rededication, click here.)
According to the , Cutler made the ātraveling trunkā in 1788 in preparation for his first journey from Massachusetts to the wilderness of the Northwest Territory where he and fellow members of the Ohio Company founded 51ĀŅĀ×.
The trunk has been in the care of 51ĀŅĀ×ās , housed inside Alden Library.
āWhen I take people on tours of the archives, and they see (the Cutler trunk) sitting on one of the shelves, they always ask what it is,ā William Kimok, University archivist and records manager, said. āEveryone seems very interested in the chest.ā
Dating back to the founding not only of 51ĀŅĀ× but of the United States, the trunk is showing its age, and preserving it had become a priority for the caretakers of OHIOās history at University Libraries.
āThe trunk has been something that has been on my radar for several years,ā said Miriam Nelson, head of preservation and digital initiatives at University Libraries.
Nelson, Kimok and colleagues at OHIOās Alden Library were attending a seminar this past summer, during which they learned about the LSTA grant to restore historic items.
āI sort of cornered my colleagues in the hallway afterward. I said, āThe trunk!ā and they were thinking the same thing. Everyoneās minds were set on this one item to be restored,ā Kimok said.
The Intermuseum Conservation Association (ICA), a non-profit regional art conservation center in Cleveland, is in the process of restoring the Cutler trunk, cleaning decades of dirt from the itemās interior and exterior, fixing tears in it, and treating the deerskin cover.
According to Claire Curran, assistant objects conservator at the ICA, when the restoration is complete, the trunk āwill be much more stable, and there will be a visible difference.ā
Kimok and his colleagues look forward to bringing this OHIO artifact back to 51ĀŅĀ× once again and unveiling it to the community.
āItās important, not just because itās old, but it represents our founder, Manasseh Cutler,ā Kimok said. āIt represents tradition at 51ĀŅĀ×.ā