Carolyn Price Horton

Carolyn Price Horton (July 13, 1909 – October 21, 2001) also known as Carol Price Rugh, was an American bookbinder and conservator-restorer of books. She may have been the first conservator of an American library while working at the American Philosophical Society from 1935 to 1939. She was the first book conservator at Yale University Library and opened her own book restoration business, Carolyn Horton and Associates.

Horton and volunteers known as "Mud Angels" helped museums and libraries in Florence, Italy, to recover books and manuscripts damaged by the 1966 flood of the Arno river. Horton developed novel emergency conservation techniques which she also applied in the 1972 flood of the Corning Glass Museum in Corning, New York.

Horton is considered a pioneer of modern book and paper conservation. Her book Cleaning and Preserving Bindings and Related Materials was first published by the American Library Association in 1967 and republished in 1969. It has been described as "a landmark book describing the proper basic care to conserve books and library materials."

Horton joined the Guild of Bookworkers (GBW) on August 9, 1954, served as the Supply Chairman of the Guild from 1959–1972, and was named a most senior Honorary Member in 1992. She joined the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) in the 1970s and was named an Honorary Member of the AIC as of 1982. She retired in 1984.

Early life and education Carolyn Price first became interested in bookbinding when her high school English teacher in Easton, Pennsylvania recommended she bind a book she had authored.

Career American Philosophical Society Known as Carol Price Rugh (C.P. Rugh) following her first marriage, she became the first on-site conservator for the American Philosophical Society (APS) in Philadelphia in 1935. The collections she worked on included papers from Benjamin Franklin and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Yale University Library In 1939, she and her second husband, Donald Horton, moved from Philadelphia to New Haven, Connecticut where she become Yale University's first book conservator.

Carolyn Horton and Associates Between 1943 and 1958, the Hortons moved to New York (1943), Washington, D.C., Chicago (1947), and back to New York (1958). In 1962, she and her staff undertook cleaning of the 37,000 volume collection of the Grolier Club.

"Based on a solid understanding of materials and techniques, the careful and individualized treatment of items became the hallmark of her work. She often commented that treating an old book was like dancing: you had to follow the lead of your partner."

1966 flood of the Arno

On the night of November 4, 1966, and on into the next day, the Arno river flooded its banks, leaving the Renaissance city of Florence, Italy, its churches, museums and libraries, and its artistic and historical treasures, in up to 22 feet of mud and water. In response to damage caused by the flooding, thousands of volunteers known as the "gli angeli del fango" or "Mud Angels" converged on Florence to help rescue it from the wreckage and mud. Many of them were young people from all over the world. The impromptu response has been described as "an expression of the internationalist instincts, transnational travel and generational solidarity that had developed out of the new-found postwar mobility of the youth of western Europe."

Horton was one of many trained conservators worldwide who responded to the crisis. She made three trips to Florence in connection with the Committee to Rescue Italian Art (CRIA). Her return there was "anxiously requested" by Peter Waters, who was working at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale (BNC). She and other American conservators were given the task of helping smaller libraries: fifteen in Florence and one in Venice. Horton would spend years working with them to address the ongoing challenge of preserving their damaged collections. The initial goal was to stabilize the sodden, mud-soaked books and papers before they disintegrated further. By writing it, Horton helped to "document and standardize book conservation treatments and procedures". Horton's work continues to inform disaster preparedness and crisis response planning and responses to events such as the Prague Library floods in 2002 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Following the flood, Horning worked closely with librarian Virginia Wright and museum director Paul Perrot at the Corning Museum of Glass to restore the library's collection. Horton advised library staff on freezing techniques to prevent further deterioration of the books until they could be individually conserved.

Personal life Carolyn Price was married twice. She met her second husband Donald Horton at a party for returning veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade hosted by Barrows Dunham whom she met while attending a lecture he gave at Temple University. The two married within a year of meeting each other and had two children.

During the Cold War she led a campaign in Chicago's Belmont Harbor area to prevent the federal government from installing Nike anti-aircraft missiles in the residential area she lived in at the time. After the federal government abandoned the property and removed the missiles the buildings were occupied by the Chicago Indian Village. In her 60s she became an avid hiker and would visit Glacier National Park (U.S.) on a yearly basis.

She retired in 1984, due to failing eyesight caused by macular degeneration, and in 1985 she and her husband moved to the Quaker retirement community of Medford Leas, in Medford, New Jersey. She died there on October 21, 2001 and her body was donated to science.

Recognition 1992, Honorary Member, Guild of Bookworkers 1982, Honorary Fellow, American Institute for Conservation (AIC) After 1984, the Carolyn Horton Scholarship Fund was established by the AIC to support continuing education for book or paper conservators.

Selected publications