[NHCOLL-L:4597] Fwd: [aic-board] FW: Toby Raphael - sad news

[CAHawks at aol.com]

I think many SPNHC members may have known Toby Raphael, who was a wonderful 
 conservator and a an even more wonderful friend. 
 
Cathy
 
Catharine Hawks
Conservator
2419 Barbour Road
Falls Church  VA 22043-3026 USA
t/f 703.876.9272
mobile 703.200.4370  

 
 
West  Virginia
Retired  National Park Service senior conservator Toby Raphael  dies
By  RICHARD F. BELISLE
NOVEMBER 5, 2009
_richardb at herald-mail.com_ (mailto:richardb at herald-mail.com)  
SHEPHERDSTOWN,  W.Va. — A jacket owned by Red Cloud. A dress worn by the 
Sioux war chief’s  wife. Bear skin and lion skin rugs owned by Theodore 
Roosevelt. George  Washington’s tent. John Brown’s Bible. Leather steamer trunks 
of immigrants  passing through Ellis Island. Even advice on how to 
illuminate the Mona  Lisa. 
All  of these, plus countless more artifacts — most in the care of America’
s  national parks and museums as well as those of nations across the world —
 have  felt the hands and expertise of Toby Raphael, retired National Park 
Service  senior conservator who died Wednesday at his home in  
Shepherdstown. 
Raphael’s  death at age 58 left his family and friends in shock. Survivors 
include his  wife, Hali Taylor, head librarian at Shepherdstown Public 
Library, and sons,  Jonathan, 23, of Boston and Seth, 26, of Monterey,  Calif. 
He  was born in Hollywood in 1951, and graduated with double bachelor’s 
degrees in  visual arts and Latin American studies from the University of 
California-San  Diego in 1973, and a master’s degree in museum studies from 
George Washington  University in 1977. 
Until  earlier this year, Raphael worked as a museum specialist at the 
National  Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. From 1978 to 2007, 
he held  positions from museum specialist to senior conservator at the 
National Park  Service’s Harpers Ferry Center in Charles Town, W.Va., work that 
had him  crisscrossing the country from national park to national park 
throughout his  NPS career conserving historic artifacts. 
“I  saw what Toby was doing and tried to follow in his footsteps,” said 
Susan Page  of Takoma Park, Md., a senior paper conservator at The National 
Archives. “He  had a good formula for success. Toby set the standard for 
conservation of  museum objects.” 
Considered  by some experts to be the foremost leather conservator, Raphael 
wrote  “Exhibition Conservation Guidelines,” a guidebook for use in the 
field “that  affected conservation around the world,” said Theresa 
Voellinger, also an NPS  paper conservator and colleague of Raphael’s. “It’s the 
first book of its kind  to put organization on how we think about exhibits as a 
preservation  method.” 
Voellinger  said Raphael traveled extensively in Central and South America 
as well, often  at his own expense, to help Spanish-speaking conservators 
and historians  working in small museums and institutions to protect and 
preserve their  culture. He was fluent in Spanish. 
“He  taught me a lot about hands-on conservation and how to work with 
leather,”  said Barbara Cumberland, an NPS objects conservator. “It was a 
privilege  working with Toby all those years.” 
Raphael’s  specialty was Native American artifacts. He was also known for 
his finely  worked leather purses. 
On  the personal side, Raphael enjoyed the companionship of a host of 
friends,  social and professional. His son Seth spoke of his father’s penchant 
for  always stepping up to help those in society’s lower stratum — the poor, 
the  working class. 
“I’ve  never met anybody with a deeper interest in people,” said Bruce 
Dahlin of  Shepherdstown, a longtime family friend. 
“Toby  was a magnet in drawing people out, caring and passionate about what 
he  believed in. If you weren’t in his camp, he let you have it,” said 
Debi Taylor  of San Diego, Raphael’s sister-in-law. “He inspired us to live a 
dream, to ask  about life, and encouraged us to see and access more of it. 
He inspired so  many people.” 
Raphael’s  death “was a real shocker,” Al Levitan, another NPS colleague 
and longtime  friend, said in a telephone interview Thursday while on a trip 
with his wife,  Jane, in Alabama. “It’s strange being away from the 
community at a time like  this or to talk about Toby in the past tense. Toby left a 
legacy in his  community and in the conservation world. He was a mentor to 
many. He will be  missed by a wide range of people.” 
Even  recently, Raphael was volunteering with the Hispanic Outreach 
Services  sponsored by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Martinsburg, W.Va., said  
Elizabeth McGowen of Shepherdstown, a fellow volunteer. 
“Toby  was my newest best friend,” McGowen said. “He was the sweetest, 
most generous  person, a treasure, a pillar in the Shepherdstown  community.” 
Services  will be Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Presbyterian Meeting Hall, and 
followed by a  pot luck reception at the Raphael Taylor home on Billmyer  
Road. 
In  lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Joseph’s Catholic 
Church  Hispanic outreach service program. 
 (http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=media&media_id=42358)  
|  
Toby  Raphael


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