Theresa J. Smith, M.A.

Education

Certificate in Paper Conservation, Straus Center for Conservation, Harvard University

M.A., C.A.S.: State University of New York College at Buffalo

B.A., Art History and Studio Art: Oberlin College

Theresa J. Smith is Associate Professor of Paper Conservation and Coordinator of the Library and Archives Conservation Education (LACE) Program. Theresa received an M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Study in Art Conservation with a specialization in paper conservation from SUNY Buffalo State. From 2007-2016, she was Paper Conservator for Special Collections at Harvard Library’s Weissman Preservation Center where she was active in teaching emergency preparedness and response. Theresa has also worked at the Straus Center for Conservation at Harvard Art Museum, Kupferstichkabinett-Berlin, Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, University of Chicago Library, and with conservators in private practice in Germany and the U.S.

Theresa is on the editorial board of Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material and is a Professional Associate in the American Institute for Conservation. She enjoys engaging in collaborative research projects with graduate students, faculty colleagues, and professionals in other disciplines. Her current research interests include aqueous paper conservation treatments, the infrared luminescence of paper, technical studies of works on paper, and 16th-century moveable anatomical prints.

Selected Publications
Philine Venus, Ute Henniges, Irene Brückle, Crystal Maitland, Theresa J. Smith, Maeve Moriarty, Kamila Bladek, Diogenes Vedoy, Antje Potthast. 2025. “Testing Ammonium Citrates for Enhanced Washing of Paper”. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 64 (2025): 176-195. doi:10.1080/01971360.2025.2464337. 

Bac-Vu Do, Theresa J. Smith, Fiona T. Beckett, Emily Hamilton, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Aaron Shugar, and Victor J. Chen. 2024. "Sắc Phong: A Preliminary Investigation of Vietnamese Imperial Proclamations", 2024. Book and Paper Group Annual 43 (2024): 1-11. 

Jenni Krchak, Theresa J. Smith, Aaron Shugar and Rebecca Ploeger. 2024. "Analysis and Assessment of the Degradative Properties of Strawboard as a Secondary Support". Book and Paper Group Annual 43 (2024): 98-107. 

Theresa J. Smith. 2020. "Technical Studies of Works of Art on Paper: What IR Luminescence Can Reveal", AIC Book and Paper Group, Art on Paper Discussion Group 2020: Imaging in Practice: Techniques for the Examination of Works of Art on Paper. Owen, Linda, and Rebecca Pollack, Discussion Group Co-Chairs. Book and Paper Group Annual 39 (2020): 176‐179.

Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Theresa J. Smith. 2020. “Documentation of Salted Paper Prints with a Modified Digital Camera”. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 59, 3-4 (2020): 271-285. Special Issue on Salted Paper Prints. doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2019.1643527  

Theresa J. Smith. 2019. "Current Status and Future Directions for Library and Archive Conservation Education in the United States". Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material 40, 3-4 (2019): 331-335.  doi.org/10.1515/res-2019-0025 

Debora D. Mayer, Hope Mayo, Theresa J. Smith, Erin Mysak, Katherine Eremin. 2018. "Technical Examination of the Emerson-White Book of Hours: Observations on Pigment Preferences and Media Application in a Flemish Manuscript". Heritage Science 6 (2018): 48. Springer Open, UK.  doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0211-4 

Theresa J. Smith, Thea Burns. 2017.“Cut and Tape: Marguerite Yourcenar's Emendations to a Typescript of L'Oeuvre au noir”. Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material 38, 1 (March 2017): 87-105.     doi.org/10.1515/res-2016-0006

Theresa J. Smith, Irene Brückle, Fabienne Meyer. 2016. “Large Custom Mount for a Drawing on Tracing Paper”. Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material 37, 3/4 (December 2016): 209-220.   doi.org/10.1515/res-2016-0020 

Irene Brückle, Theresa J. Smith. 2014. “The Evidence of the Forged Paper” in: Galileo’s O, Vol. III, A Galileo Forgery, Ed. Horst Bredekamp, DeGruyter, Berlin, 2014, 35-60. 

Theresa J. Smith. 2013. “Moveable Anatomies and Print Shop Practice in Sixteenth-Century Strasbourg”, in: TheRenaissance Workshop: The Materials and Techniques of Renaissance Art, Eds. David Saunders, Marika Spring, and Andrew Meek, London: Archetype Publications, 2013, 121-129. 

Theresa J. Smith. 2012. “An Evaluation of Historical Bleaching with Chlorine Dioxide Gas, Sodium Hypochlorite, and Chloramine-T at the Fogg Art Museum”. Restaurator: International Journal for the Preservation of Library and Archival Material 33, 3/4 (2012): 249-273. doi.org/10.1515/res-2012-0012

Chapters in Galileo’s O, Vol. I, Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius: A Comparison of the First Print (New York) with Other Paradigmatic Copies, Ed. Horst Bredekamp, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 2010. Co-authors Irene Brückle, et al.

• “The Signature and Moon Outline Inks”, 39-40. 
• “Bistre in the Drawing Process”, first author, 41-45. 
• “The Black Deposit”, 46-48. 
• “Printing the Etchings”, first author, 105-109. 
• “The Paper”, 127-142. 
• “Watermark Distribution in Selected Copies”, 149-151. 

Theresa J. Smith, Daniel Zolli. “Making Prints”, in: Paper Worlds: Printing Knowledge in Early Modern Europe (exhibition catalog), May 4 – August 27, 2010. Cambridge: Center for Historic Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, 2010, 1-7.

Catherine Stephens, Paul Whitmore, Hannah Morris, Theresa Smith. 2009. “Assessing the Risks of Alkaline Damage During Deacidification Treatments of Oxidized Paper”. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 48, 3 (2009): 235-249. doi.org/10.1179/019713612804514251

Michael Roth, Irene Brückle, Theresa Smith. 2008. “Zu den Zeichnungen Matthias Grünewalds” [On the Drawings of Matthias Grünewald], in: La technique picturale de Grünewald et de ses contemporains [The Pictorial Technique of Grünewald and His Peers], Eds. Pantxika Béguerie-De Paepe and Michel Menu, Paris: Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, 2008, 101-108. 

Theresa Smith. 2008. “Historical Bleaching of Ingres Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum”. AICBook and Paper Group Annual 27 (2008): 89-96.

Theresa Smith. 2007. “The Unique Story of Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett”. AIC Book and Paper Group Annual 26 (2007): 99-103. 

Theresa Smith. 2007. “Historical Paper Restoration: Washing with Boiling Water followed by Sun Bleaching”. AIC Book and Paper Group Annual 26 (2007): 167-170. 

Theresa Smith. 2007. “Bleaching and Color Reversion in Ingres Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum”. Association of North American Graduate Programs in Conservation 33rd Annual Student Conference Papers, 2007. http://resources.conservation-us.org/anagpic-student-papers/anagpic-200….

Selected Presentations
Crystal Maitland, Theresa J. Smith. “The effects of ammonium citrate on calcium and iron levels in a 19th-century rag ledger paper”, Art on Paper Discussion Group – Citrates in Paper Conservation, American Institute for Conservation 53rd Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, May 31, 2025.

Sophie Church, Theresa J. Smith. “Developing Conservator: My Journey in Darkroom Photography”. Photographic Materials Group Session, American Institute for Conservation 53rd Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, May 29, 2025.

Emily White, Crystal Maitland, Theresa J. Smith, Diogenes Vedoy, Gwenanne Edwards, Camielle Fitzmaurice, Grace Walters. “Clarifying Calcium: A Systematic Literature Review of Calcium in Aqueous Paper Conservation”, Poster Session of 48th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Conservation, Victoria, British Columbia, June 1, 2023.

Crystal Maitland, Emily White, Theresa J. Smith, Diogenes Vedoy, Adele Barbara, Gwenanne Edwards, Camielle Fitzmaurice, Grace Walters. “Systematically Reviewing Aqueous Paper Conservation Literature: A Framework”. 48th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Conservation, Victoria, British Columbia, May 31, 2023.

Meredith French, Theresa J. Smith, Aaron Shugar, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Rebecca Ploeger. "Paper, Metal, and Liquid: Bronzing Degradation in a Nineteenth-Century Lithograph". Book and Paper Group Session, American Institute for Conservation 51st Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, FL, May 20, 2023.

Ute Henniges, Theresa J. Smith, Antje Potthast, Crystal Maitland, Irene Brückle, Philine Venus. “Ammonium Citrate as a Washing Additive for Paper”. Book and Paper Group Session, American Institute for Conservation 51st Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, FL, May 18, 2023.

Lorna Brundrett, Rebecca Ploeger, Aaron Shugar, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Emily Hamilton, Theresa J. Smith. “19th-Century Medical Saddlebag: An Analysis of the Medicinal Contents”. Technart 2023: Non-destructive and Microanalytical Techniques in Art and Cultural Heritage, Lisbon, Portugal, May 10, 2023.

Christine Manwiller, Theresa J. Smith, Jonathan Thornton. "Shifu: The Ancient Craft of Handmade Paper Thread and Its Application in the Treatment of a Hupa Indian Basketry Hat". American Institute for Conservation/Society for the Preservation of Natural History Joint Virtual Annual Meeting, June 21, 2021.

Liatte Dottan, Fran Richie, Emily Hamilton, Theresa J. Smith, Rebecca Ploeger, Glennis Rayermann, Gabriel Dunn. “Arsenic and Old Feathers: A Survey of Detection, Mitigation and Treatment Approaches for Pesticide-Affected Objects”. Collections Care Network Hazardous Materials Session, American Institute for Conservation/Society for the Preservation of Natural History Joint Virtual Annual Meeting, June 2, 2021.

Grace Walters, Theresa J. Smith, Jiuan Jiuan Chen. "Tidelines: Too Hot to Handle? Thermal Observations of the Wet/Dry Interface". American Institute for Conservation/Society for the Preservation of Natural History Joint Virtual Annual Meeting, May 24, 2021.

Theresa J. Smith. "Renaissance Anatomical Broadsides and the Material Transmission of Knowledge", poster presented at the 20th Annual Faculty & Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum, SUNY Buffalo State, November 14, 2019.

Carolyn Burns, Theresa J. Smith, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Rebecca Ploeger, Aaron Shugar. "The Conservator in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Color Matching and Digital Fills for a Matte Screenprint". Book and Paper Group Session, American Institute for Conservation 47th Annual Meeting, Uncasville, CT, May 15, 2019.

Carolyn Burns, Theresa J. Smith, Aaron Shugar, Rebecca Ploeger, Jiuan Jiuan Chen. "Characterization of Four Modern Papers". Poster Session, American Institute for Conservation 47th Annual Meeting, Uncasville, CT, May 13-17, 2019.

Clara Huisman, Theresa J. Smith, Gary L. Frost, Jiuan Jiuan Chen, Aaron Shugar. "Antiphonary Refrain: A Responsory of Bibliography, Conservation, and Digital Scholarship". Poster Session, American Institute for Conservation 47th Annual Meeting, Uncasville, CT, May 13-17, 2019.

Courtney Helion, Theresa J. Smith, Jiuan Jiuan Chen. "Out of the Attic and Onto the Wall: Treating a 20th-Century Suffrage Poster". Western Association for Art Conservation 2018 Annual Meeting, Ghost Ranch, NM, September 26-29, 2018.