Two women are using 21st century technology to save a tent made in Philadelphia in 1775 and used by George Washington throughout the American Revolution. A team of experts led by Professor Elizabeth Louden of Texas Tech University�s College of Architecture used a Cyrax 2500 3-D laser scanner to create a �Point Cloud� image of the tent George Washington slept in during the Revolution. The technology is the same that has been used to document the Statue of Liberty, as a precaution against catastrophic events or terrorist attacks. In the case of Washington�s tent, time is the enemy. The National Park Service and the National Center for the American Revolution are in a race to preserve Washington�s tent from the ravages of time. A $286,000 grant has been obtained from Save America�s Treasures; half of what will be required to conserve and eventually put the tent back on display in the new National Center for the American Revolution slated to open in 2006 at Valley Forge. The laser mapping was the first step in that process. The �Point Cloud� images created in September, 2003 are the first measured drawings ever made of the tent, documenting every detail of its construction. This new technology creates a virtual, exact image using laser measuring and mapping to produce a three-dimensional image, bringing the object to life in a way that a simple two-dimensional drawing cannot. It has the further benefit of being non-invasive, enabling creation of the drawings without touching the tent. �It�s the equivalent of outlining a house with Christmas lights,� said Zee Ann Mason, senior vice president of the National Center. �You don't see the object they define but they provide you with a measure of that object.� Following the mapping, textile conservator Loreen Finkelstein took over, directing curators wearing white cotton gloves as they carefully dismantled the tent, and transported it to the laboratory in Williamsburg, Virginia which she built specifically for this conservation project. Ms. Finkelstein is director and owner of The Textile and Costume Conservancy in Williamsburg, Virginia. She has worked on several other Save America�s Treasures projects, including Dolley Madison�s gowns and turbans and George Washington�s campaign headquarters tent at Yorktown. Her efforts will include reversing damage done by conservation efforts around the time of the Bicentennial, which are now outdated.

Conservation of the tent is the first step towards displaying it in the new National Center of the American Revolution, scheduled to open at Valley Forge National Historical Park in 2006. BACKGROUND: General Washington's Sleeping Tent General Washington's Sleeping Tent, or "Marquee" is one of the most remarkable surviving artifacts of the American Revolution. It is in dire need of repair. "Save America's Treasures" has provided $286,000 as a matching grant for the conservation and display of this important American icon. An invoice from the Library of Congress indicates Plunket Fleeson of Philadelphia made the tent for General Washington in 1775. Delivered in May 1776, the tent was used in the field by Washington throughout the Revolution. It was within its walls of linen and wool that Washington met with such men as the Comte de Rochambeau, Alexander Hamilton, and the Marquis de Lafayette Their discussions led to the events which secured independence for the United States and dramatically changed the course of world history. Except for the tents of Napoleon, Washington's tents are the only known survivors of their kind from the 18th century. The Sleeping Tent was first displayed in the Valley Forge Historical Society Museum in 1909 when it was acquired from Washington family descendents. In 1977 the tent underwent conservation work and was installed in a climate-controlled facility in the Visitor Center at Valley Forge National Historical Park. Over the past quarter-century, the climate control system in the enclosure has aged; in addition, inadequate supports and some of the now outdated 1977 conservation techniques caused additional stresses and deterioration

Once conserved, the Sleeping Marquee will be the centerpiece of exhibitions at the American Revolution Center at Valley Forge, scheduled to open in 2006, the first museum in the world to tell the entire story of the American Revolution.

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Media Contact: Linda Riley +1 610-834-7990 riley@valleyforge.org