Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler
{{short description|American archivist}}
File:Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler (28418431130).jpg
Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler is an American archivist who has served as the Chief of the Conservation Laboratory at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) since 1985.
Education
Ritzenthaler received her undergraduate degree in English from Wayne State University. She also attended Wayne State for her Master's in Library Science, with a concentration in archives administration.{{cite news |title=Preserving Your Family Records|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2014/handouts/session-2-ritzenthaler-biograpy.pdf |publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration|date=2014}}
Career
Ritzenthaler has served as the Chief of the Conservation Laboratory at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) since 1985.{{Cite web|last1=Blue|first1=Victoria|url=https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2016/06/30/the-last-hands-to-touch-the-declaration-of-independence/|title=The Last Hands to Touch the Declaration of Independence|date=June 30, 2016|website=National Archives|publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}{{cite news |title=Preserving Your Family Records: Conversation and Questions |url=https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2015/handouts/session-2-ritzenthaler-presentation.pdf |publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration|date=2015}} She worked for the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and the University of Illinois-Chicago. She has written extensively, as well as lectured throughout the United States, on archives preservation. Many of her lectures focused on techniques to preserve family photos, recipes, books and other papers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2015/handouts/session-2-ritzenthaler-presentation.pdf|title=Preserving Your Family Records: Conversation and Questions Brochure|last=Ritzenhaler|first=Mary Lynn|date=|website=National Archives|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} Her most well-known works are Preserving Archives and Manuscripts and Photographs: Archival Care and Management, both of which were published through the Society of American Archivists. From 1999-2003, Ritzenthaler led the conservation team that treated and re-encased the Charters of Freedom (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights). She was the last person to touch the Declaration of Independence before it was re-cased.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} She retired from the National Archives in 2016 after serving over 30 years in archives preservation and conservation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoSpXTTTWmY|title=The Declaration of Independence: A Conversation with a Conservator|last=|first=|date=|website=YouTube|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}
Publications
- Preserving Archives and Manuscripts (2010)
- Photographs : Archival Care and Management (2006)
- Archives and Manuscripts : Administration of Photo Collections (1984)
- Archives and Manuscripts : Conservation (1983)
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American women archivists
Category:Wayne State University alumni