Earlier this month, a team from The Metropolitan Museum of Art arrived at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College to mark a rare and powerful moment of institutional collaboration.
Elena Carrara, Ph.D., associate research curator at The Met, called it an “extraordinary” moment. “We feel the responsibility of sharing our resources. Only by involving our partners in the process can we achieve great things. This is one of those amazing opportunities.”
The partnership centers on historical textiles held in the Center’s collections, many of which may carry invisible risks left behind by outdated preservation methods. In the past, museums often treated textiles with toxic heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury. These metals can pose serious health risks to anyone who hopes to handle them.
That’s where science steps in.
Amy Cao, collections manager and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act specialist at FLC, carefully arranges historic textiles for analysis using a technique called X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). XRF is a nondestructive method that detects the presence of elements, especially heavier ones like metals, without damaging the textiles. This process is crucial to understanding not only how the pieces were made, but also how they've been handled overtime and how they should be handled in the future.
“One of the things we’re looking for today is heavy metals, such as arsenic, that we know can be harmful and may have been used in past museum practices,” Cao explained. “A lot of these textiles were once preserved with compounds that are toxic.”
Yet the scientific value extends beyond safety. By scanning different parts of a textile, researchers can uncover details about its creation. “We’re looking at how different dyes were used,” said Cao. “The types of mordants—metal salts—help us understand how the weavers achieved certain colors.”
The detective work continues with The Met’s Hitomi Fuji, a research associate with the museum’s Scientific Research Partnership Program. Fuji uses chromatography and spectroscopy to identify both organic and inorganic compounds in the textiles. Her analysis reveals not just what materials are present, but how they were used to shape the look, feel, and purpose of each object.
Yisrael “Izzy” Lamb, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at FLC, offered the media team a crash course in the technology, having just learned the principles himself from The Met’s Alicia McGeachy, Ph.D., earlier that day. XRF “guns” may look like sci-fi props, but they work by firing X-rays into the surface of an object. The results reveal a map of heavier elements embedded in the textiles.
“You’ll see a lot of sulfur in wool textiles,” Lamb said. “That’s because wool, like our hair, contains sulfur bonds. You might also see iron in the brown areas of a weave, because iron salts were often used to bind natural dyes to protein fibers.”
Behind the equipment and data points, there is a deeper current at work. The Met’s presence at 麻豆免费高清无砖码区is a recognition that local institutions like the Center of Southwest Studies are essential stewards of history. It is also a step toward more ethical, inclusive museum practices that honor the voices and traditions behind the collections.
“This kind of work shows that science can serve community,” said one participant. “It can help us preserve what matters and make sure it’s safe to share.”
Looking around the Center’s exhibit gallery, we find ourselves surrounded by colorful blankets and dresses skillfully woven generations ago—juxtaposed with laptop screens updating second-by-second with new XRF spectra. Weavers, scientists, and conservators huddle around the computers and tables pointing towards portions of each piece, excited to see what secrets, and what familiarities, lie in the weave and the weft.