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[ARSCLIST] Fwd: Fw: Heritage Hotline: Response to Katrina
This just in on the AMIA List for those who are involved or want to be.
From: "Jane E. Klinger" <JKlinger@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [AMIA-L] Fw: Heritage Hotline: Response to Katrina
Just thought you all might like to see this report.
----- Forwarded by Jane Klinger/USHMM on 09/06/2005 10:27 AM -----
Heritage Preservationâ??s Heritage Emergency National Task Force, a coalition
co-sponsored with FEMA, organized a conference call on Thursday, September
1 to discuss cultural heritage issues resulting from Hurricane Katrina.
Participants in the call included 35 representatives of 21 different
federal agencies and national organizations.
Participants made it clear that help will be on the way to save the rich
history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast from the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina. But first, the situation must be stabilized and more
information must be gathered.
John Ketchum, FEMAâ??s historic preservation officer, said that the
challenges in New Orleans will require an unprecedented effort in community
preservation and restoration. Since no one can enter the affected areas at
present, Ketchum urged cultural organizations to use this time to
coordinate the delivery of expertise and resources.
Various organizations are posting reports on their Web sites from their
members in Louisiana and Mississippi. Since many means of communication
are down, gathering accurate information is a challenge. The effort will
continue through the weeks ahead. Anyone with confirmed information about
the status of cultural institutions and historic sites in the damaged areas
should contact taskforce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Highly skilled conservators and collections professionals are eager to go
to affected areas to help rescue precious collections in flooded and
damaged museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies. Pam West,
director of the National Park Serviceâ??s Museum Resource Center, will likely
be one of the first to arrive. Her teamâ??s first priority for National Park
Service sites will be damage assessment. She will keep the Heritage
Emergency National Task Force apprised of her work and observations.
A brand new guide to disaster assistance, Before and After Disasters:
Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions, is available on-line as a PDF at
www.heritagepreservation.org/PDFs/Disaster.pdf. A print version will be
available later in September. It was developed by Heritage Preservation in
partnership with FEMA and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Reports about broad-based efforts to help preserve cultural and historic
resources damaged by Hurricane Katrina and practical information on
emergency response will be maintained at www.heritageemergency.org, along
with links to related Web sites. Task Force members will continue to
confer throughout the crisis via weekly conference calls.
Lucy Kurtz
Heritage Preservation
1012 14th Street, NW Ste. 1200
Washington, DC 20005
202-233-0800 (f) 202-233-0807
Richard L. Hess email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vignettes
Media web: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm