CRL History

The Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) was founded in 1978 by Dr. Donny Hamilton.  Since its founding, the CRL has been a component of the Nautical Archaeology Program in the Texas A&M Department of Anthropology and is one of the main research laboratories of the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation.

The CRL began in an old recreation hall on Riverside Campus (formerly the Bryan Army Air Field during WWII, the Bryan Air Force Base during the Korean War, and now called RELLIS Campus); this hall was divided into offices, photography and X-ray rooms, as well as laboratory and teaching space. In 1990, the CRL split into two locations: a teaching laboratory housed in the Anthropology Building on the main university campus, and a projects facility housed in the former base’s fire house.

The excavation of La Belle brought major changes since such a big project required both additional space and permanent staff. At the projects facility, a cement tank large enough to hold the hull of La Belle was constructed, and artifacts were stored and conserved in and around the building. Nautical Archaeology Program graduates Jim Jobling and Helen Dewolf were hired as CRL Lab Manager and Chief Conservator. Just a few years later, in conjunction with the Dow Corning Corporation, Dr. Hamilton and Dr. C. Wayne Smith filed five patents involving the the silicone oil process for the conservation of organic material. Together, Hamilton, Jobling, Dewolf, and Smith built the CRL into the world-class facility that it is today, capable of conducting large-scale, multi-year projects such as Port Royal, La Belle, USS Westfield, and CSS Georgia.

The CRL of today occupies the main campus teaching lab and an entire block on RELLIS Campus. Through these two facilities, we have educated hundreds of students in the conservation and preservation of archaeological material. Many of these students have benefited from the hands-on experience of helping conserve artifacts from the over 200 projects the CRL has taken part in since 1978; some of our favorite projects are included on this site, with additional information on the Publications page.

Institutional CV