Earlier this month, the National Park Service had a major victory in a place you’ve probably never heard of and didn’t know was in danger. The focus of this good news is a humble warehouse on the outskirts of Charles Town, West Virginia, that houses millions of rare artifacts and employs a dream team of specialized staff devoted to restoring and conserving America’s history.

In March, the Department of Government Efficiency made plans to cancel the lease on this Park Service facility, throwing the future of these rare objects into question. Though the collections can stay in their specialized facility, for now, we investigate the highly skilled conservators, archivists and technicians who keep the country’s most precious papers and keepsakes from falling apart, and we delve into why “we need to be able to treat our history with the respect that it deserves, because that's how you honor the people who lived it.”

This episode, host Jennifer Errick speaks with Director Brendan Bray, Supervisory Conservator and Manager Theresa Voellinger, Textile Conservator Anne Ennes, Book and Paper Conservator Allison Holcomb, Inorganics Conservator Nicole Peters, Taxidermist and Organics Conservator Fran Ritchie, Archivist Nancy Russell, Collections Manager and Museum Specialist Kyle Bryner, and NPCA Senior Director for Cultural Resources Alan Spears.

The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Episode 44, The Sum of Its Parts, was produced by Jennifer Errick, with help from Todd Christopher, Bev Stanton and Linda Coutant.

Original theme music by Chad Fischer.

Special thanks to all the National Park Service staff in Charles Town and Harpers Ferry who took time to talk with me and answer questions about their work.

Learn more about the National Park Service’s museum collections and read their Conserve O Grams at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/museums/conserve-o-grams.htm

Learn more about this podcast and listen to the rest of our stories at thesecretlivesofparks.org

For more than a century, the National Parks Conservation Association has been protecting and enhancing America’s national parks for present and future generations.

And we’re proud of it, too.

You can join the fight to preserve our national parks. Learn more and join us at npca.org