James Ballard, a world-renowned oceanographer located the RMS Titanic in 1985 off the coast
of Nova Scotia. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, 109 years ago. Ballard used the Argo, a
submersible sled equipped with a remote-controlled camera to transmit live images of the
wreck to his computer. The Argo was also able to retrieve belongings of the passengers and
crew. Items collected included postcards, books, ticket stubs, photographs, and a young
passenger’s suitcase. The young passenger missed boarding another ship headed for the U.S.
and ended up on the Titanic that cold night, which unfortunately sealed his fate in the dark
waters off Nova Scotia.
In 2002 Document Reprocessors was contacted by Eastern Michigan University to help with
preserving over 800 artifacts retrieved from the RMS Titanic. The artifacts were carefully
prepared, then dried and preserved in Document Reprocessors’ cryogenic vacuum freeze-
drying chambers. These chambers dry the material in a more controlled, slower-paced
environment using an ultra-sensitive, deep-vacuum system. Eric Lundquist founded Document
Reprocessors in 1979, and in 1991 he patented this “Thermaline” drying process. This process
is still in use today and has been used for more than 30 years to dry and preserve damaged
material.
The Titanic’s artifacts were successfully dried and preserved, and then returned to the RMS
Corporation. Many of the artifacts are currently on display in a rotating Titanic Exhibit.
This just one of the many restoration jobs Document Reprocessors has completed over the
years. Document Reprocessors is a member of ARMA and resides on the GSA Schedule of
approved vendors.
Document Reprocessors is here to assist your organization with restoring and preserving your
flood and/or fire damaged material.
“If It’s Wet, We’ll Dry It” CALL 800-4-DRYING NATIONWIDE 24/7
