Repository Information
Information about repositories in the areas affected by the
hurricane.
| Lorraine A. Stuart | Below is a message from Steve Shulman of the American Association of State and Local History giving FEMA's application deadline, September 30th, & contact information for cultural institutions in the affected states.
Friends:
Please pass this along to any nonprofit organization that may have been affected by Hurricane Katrina:
As of noon today, Thursday, September 29, 2005, the deadline for submitting a Request for Public Assistance to FEMA is tomorrow.
Though there is a lot to read and review, the most important thing for affected organizations to do is to submit an RPA form
(see below in BOLD or download the attached file) before the deadline.
Please encourage all nonprofit organizations to submit the form so that they can obtain an ID number. They can amend their request and
provide the additional materials later, or they can chose not to follow through with their request once they receive their ID number.
The important thing to remember is that once they have an ID number, they have more options. FEMA and the State use the information
submitted on the RPA to determine if an applicant is eligible for public assistance. The RPA, which includes instructions for completion,
must be submitted to the State Public Assistance Officer within 30 days of the date of declaration or designation of an area. The form may
be submitted at the applicant’s briefing, by mail, by fax, or electronically. Once submitted, the RPA becomes part of a case management file.
The completed form can be submitted to the state FEMA Joint Field Office in which the organization is located. They are:
Alabama
FEMA Joint Field Office
Ron Sherman
1555 Eastern Blvd.
Montgomery, AL 36117
334-270-7700
Louisiana
FEMA Joint Field Office William Lokey
1500 Main St
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
225-242-6000
Mississippi
FEMA Joint Field Office
William Carwile
1410 Riverside Dr.
Jackson, MS 39202
703-669-7413
Steve Shulman
American Association of State and Local History (AASLH)
Hurricane Katrina Recovery
Project Director
| | 2005-09-29 18:15:12 |
| Lisa Meisch | | Robert Schaadt,director of the Sam Houston Regional Library, rode out Hurricane Rita in Liberty and reports that the Center and the historic buildings are okay. All staff members are fine also. However, it could be two weeks before power is restored in Liberty. | | 2005-09-25 11:50:21 |
| Lawrence Gushee | | Having recently done research in the sacramental records of the Archdiocese of N.O. kept in the very solid looking building on Walmsley, I would be interested to know whether there are any problems with the collection. | | 2005-09-24 14:10:28 |
| Ann Wakefield | The following site contains information on the status of Louisiana cultural institutions.
http://www.louisianahp.org/rescue/InstitutionsListView.asp | | 2005-09-21 15:41:29 |
| Brenda Gunn | Posting for Alan Z. Aiches, Historic Preservation Specilists FEMA
FEMA is covering 100% of the cost of debris removal [Category A] and emergency measures [Category B], including rental and purchase of
equipment, work performed on contract, work performed on an hourly basis, and stabilization of collections. You must document all your expenses forthese reimbursements, maintain accurate records and photograph the damage
[i.e., flooded basements, etc.].
Familiarize yourselves with two policies related to Public Assistance titled Private Nonprofit Museum Eligibility and Collections and Individual
Objects. They are available on many websites including FEMA's, AAM, Heritage Preservation, the affected state museum associations, ALA, and
others. We want to emphasize the criticality of any facility being eligible for FEMA assistance. For example, if it's a cultural institution not open to the general public, we won't be able to provide any assistance.
Then, download, fill out, and send the Request for Public Assistance along with any required attachments [tax exempt certificate, organization charter or bylaws], as stated at the bottom of the form. And if you're a nonprofit, also send a copy of the PNP Questionnaire. We recommend that you refer to FEMA's Environmental and Historic Preservation website where you can download the Public Assistance Policy Digest, especially because it also addresses eligibility issues.
It is our intention to provide assistance at the earliest possible time, but you should proceed with these measures to protect and stabilize your
collections and structures as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL ME at the numbers below. If you have trouble downloading the documents, I will email them to you.
Thanks.
Alan Z Aiches
Historic Preservation Specialist
Museums and Library Collections Liaison
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Joint Field Office - 1603-DR-LA
1500 Main Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
225.376.5146 - direct line
202.365.1697 - mobile
alan.aiches@dhs.gov | | 2005-09-20 11:00:05 |
| Lorraine A. Stuart | I received the following information from the American Association for State and Local History today.
We’re very busy trying to get our first team on the road on Tuesday with a second on Thursday. AIC is coordinating the conservators for us. Yes, we’d love supplies but just know these first teams are charged with performing initial assessments. Follow-on teams will be created to target the correct response to specific institutions based upon those assessments. That’s where the supplies will be crucial. SEMC is coordinating that portion of the response. I know that SAA is also supporting our efforts and Southwest Archivists are deeply involved.
Steve Shulman
AASLH Hurricane Katrina Recovery
Project Director
| | 2005-09-16 16:59:59 |
| Irene Wainwright/Wayne Everard | | News from New Orleans Public Library continues to be encouraging. A small team of staff went back into the Main Library yesterday (9/14) and found that the basement remains dry (no flooding from internal sources, sewer backup, etc.) The Central Business District will open back to business owners on Saturday 9/17 and presumably access to the area will then be much simpler. Power is also coming on quickly in the CBD, and we are hoping that we will be able to power up our own A/C very soon. Another group of staff will be going in early next week to survey our branches and (if power is on downtown) to try to get the servers up and running. Meanwhile, courtesy of the State Library of Louisiana, we have mounted an interim version of NUTRIAS, our webpage(http://nutrias.org), with a link back to the "old NUTRIAS" as a reminder of what we're building back to. News of our progress toward recovery will be added to the website NUTRIAS as waranted. Thank you all. | | 2005-09-15 18:40:24 |
| Susan Tucker | from Tulane President Cowen's note of 9-14:
The university has hired a professional firm that specializes in the restoration and rehabilitation of facilities, including our collections and archives. The firm already has provided more than 400 people to work on our campuses, and their reports are especially encouraging. They report damage that is less than initially anticipated. They have assessed the damage to our buildings, have begun to repair windows, clear away downed foliage and place tarpaulins over any missing roofing tiles.
| | 2005-09-15 13:58:53 |
| Vorhoff Library and Newcomb Archives | The Vorhoff Library and Newcomb Archives has some flooding. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the bulk of the collections are undamaged. Standing water in the reading room, however, will mean mold is setting in, and for this I [Susan Tucker] have great concern for the book collections and the few archival collections located in this area. The University is working on campus-wide efforts to assess damage and establish responses.
posted for Susan Tucker by Brenda Gunn | | 2005-09-15 08:22:39 |
| Notarial Archives | 9/14/05 update
Good news and bad news.
Bad news: More records in the basement are wet than originally thought. The water seeped in from the first floor.
Good news: Power is back on in the "old Amoco" building.
Ann Wakefield | | 2005-09-14 09:28:23 |
| Historic New Orleans Collection | Members of the staff of The Historic New Orleans Collection were able to enter the French Quarter this week with a State Police escort. Our
buildings and collections are high and dry. Much of the material was moved to a generous and accommodating institution in another part of
the state. Because the presence of armed forces is now pervasive, we feel that the museum is extremely secure. We hope to be back in operation as soon as city services have been restored.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all of our fellow citizens affected by Katrina and our offers of assistance go out to all of our colleagues, friends, and neighbors..
Priscilla Lawrence
Executive Director
The Historic New Orleans Collection"
posted by Brenda Gunn at the request of Steve Sweet, webmaster of the HNOC. | | 2005-09-13 13:20:24 |
| Notarial Archives | Here's an update on the situation at Notarial Archives:
Of the approximately 50,000 volumes that were located in the basement, about 2,000 were wet. The wet volumes are in freezer trailers to be sent to a freeze dry chamber in Chicago for cleaning and drying. The rest are in climate controlled trailers awaiting a destination. After much discussion with the Amoco building owners and management company, clearance was given on Saturday, Sept. 10, to climate control the research center on the third floor. Today, Monday, Sept. 12, air conditioning is being positioned and the windows are getting boarded up.
Ann Wakefield | | 2005-09-12 14:02:06 |
| Tara Laver | Not sure of the best place to post this on the blog, so please excuse cross-postings.
The National Park services and the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) are partnering to provide a free half-day workshop on Wet Collection
Salvage. It will be lecture and handouts. It will be focused on decision-making and resources. This workshop focuses on the initial response to a wet disaster.
* Safety issues
* Information sources
* Mold outbreak response
* Recovery materials and techniques
* Salvage techniques for water damaged collections such as books, manuscripts, photographic materials, natural history materials, and objects.
Date, Time, and Location:
Thursday, September 15, 2005
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Historic Natchez Foundation
208 S. Commerce
Natchez, MS
Registration in advance is not necessary. Register onsite at 9:30 AM. The program will begin at 10:00 AM and conclude at 3:00 PM, with an hour break for lunch. Click here for directions, ttp://www.solinet.net/workshops/site_details.cfm?doc_id=3787. For more information or help with accommodations, please contact Mimi Miller at (601) 442-2500. | | 2005-09-12 14:00:45 |
| Lindsey Megrue | | PBS's American Experience had proposed doing a historical documentary on New Orleans as part of their city series before the hurricane. The need for such a film now - one that would preserve the city's rich history - seems more important then ever. I believe PBS will be pushing the film forward as a priority, but there is great concern about gathering archival materials in time. I am currently working as a researcher for a production company who may help make the film. I would love to talk with anyone from the various archives in the city about the condition of their collection and the possibility of gaining access. I can be reached at megrue@insigniafilms.com | | 2005-09-12 09:40:02 |
| Wayne Everard | | New Orleans Public Library is very grateful to Charlie Battery, First Battalion, 171st Field Artillery, 45th Field Artillery Brigade, Oklahoma Army National Guard for their assistance in securing and patrolling the building. Soldiers from the unit have added padlocks to the Library's back door and reinforced the plywood barriers that staff put up on broken windows in the building. Charlie Battery will be checking on the building when they can over the coming days/weeks. | | 2005-09-11 11:06:20 |
| The Historic New Orleans Collection | I've learned from Alfred Lemmon that senior staff, escorted by the State Police, have been able to check on THNOC. They were able to move some priority collections off site as a precaution, but generally all is well. Alfred told me that the buildings survived Katrina "beautifully" and even said that they were staying cool.
Hurray on the news about NOPL!!
--Stasia Wolfe Griffin (stasia.wolfe@gmail.com) | | 2005-09-10 00:22:26 |
| Brenda Gunn | | The National Endowment for the Humanities will make available at least $1 million for emergency grants to libraries, museums, colleges, universities, and other cultural and historical institutions in Gulf Coast areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. For additional information, see the NEH website at the following: www.neh.gov | | 2005-09-09 22:59:09 |
| Irene Wainwright | A couple of corrections to the message below that was relayed to Rebecca Hamilton. We found no evidence that anyone had broken into the Main Library and sheltered there during or after the storm. The back door was open, but we believe it was the police or the Natl. Guard who went in to check the building. One of our branch run vans was vandalized behind the building and we believe another step van has been stolen, but there was no
damage inside the building to suggest that people had gotten in. Also, we do not believe that it will be necessary for Munters to remove documents from the building. We hope that they will be able to stabilize the climate inside and things can remain in place for now. We hope to post some photos shortly of the area. Thank you all for your concern. | | 2005-09-09 11:04:54 |
| Wayne Everard/Irene Wainwright | | News from New Orleans Public Library. Wayne Everard and Irene Wainwright, along with another NOPL staffer, were able to get to the building yesterday. We are very pleased (and utterly astonished) to report that the news is good. There was NO WATER in our basement archives, with the exception of a small puddle near the sump pumps that we believe may have been sewerage backup rather than flood water. The archives and the first basement above it, were DRY. The library building itself suffered minor damage to one area -- our first floor computer lab -- where two windows blew in. The damage, however, appears to have been confined to that one room. There were also a few other leaks in the building, but, again, extremely minor, considering. We will send a fuller report (and we also have photographs of the area around the building, about 4 blocks from the Dome) soon. Thank everyone for their thoughts and concern. The NOPL system has taken a blow (about half of our branches are probably under water) but the fact that the Main Library has come through relatively unscathed is good fortune beyond our wildest dreams, given the earlier reports that we were receiving. | | 2005-09-09 09:19:42 |
| N. Rouayroux | Found on ALA web site (Hurricane Katrina news) : http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/hurricanekatrinanews/katrinanews.htm
New Orleans Public Library, September 8:
Louisiana State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton writes: “The New Orleans City Archives at the Main Library are not underwater and are dry. The camera took pictures at a weird angle and made it look to staff like it was underwater but they are not. A company called Munter’s has been hired by the library to remove them and get them out of New Orleans. They are safe. Someone broke some windows and was living in the library but they did not hurt anything. I am in tears I am so happy. NOPL’s Geri Harris thought all was lost and we are all relieved to know that so much of Louisiana’s history has been spared.” | | 2005-09-08 22:19:18 |
| Notarial Archives | Munters pumped water out of the main office of the Notarial Archives, located in the basement of the Civil District Courthouse, today. The plans are to remove all records from the courthouse location tomorrow.
Our administration is still working under the assumption that we will get access to the "old Amoco" building that houses the research center to allow Munters to secure the window areas and to pump in air conditioning. Considering the age of the records, their minimal or no damage so far from the storm, and the relative costs involved, it was decided to attempt environmental stabilization rather than removal. The hang-up now is with the building management, which is presenting some obstacles to this plan. We believe that the head of our agency -- Custodian of Notarial Records -- will be able to overcome these obstacles.
Ann Wakefield | | 2005-09-08 18:56:55 |
| Bernard Forrester | | Does anyone know what happened at Tulane to the Jazz archive and Armistad | | 2005-09-08 12:16:59 |
| Lindsey | | Does anyone have information on the Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC)? | | 2005-09-08 10:28:55 |
| Lynn Zook | | Any word on the Confederate Museum in New Orleans? | | 2005-09-07 15:03:35 |
| Leslie Johnston | This AAM site includes updates on the status of a number of museums:
http://www.aam-us.org/aamlatest/news/HurricaneFirstReports.cfm
Someone asked about the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, MS. This is what the AAM site has to say:
Walter Anderson Museum, Ocean Springs, MS (as of 9-5). On 9-2 Julia Weaver, alderman at large for the city of Ocean Springs, reported that the museum seems to have weathered the storm without significant damage. On 9-5 the Clarion-Ledger provided an extensive report, noting that Shearwater Pottery, the original studio of artist Walter Anderson, was reported damaged and its showroom mostly gone. Other family members' homes were lost or damaged. The water reached 6 feet in the still-intact art storage building where many works were kept. The family has been removing the works, trying to dry them out and save them. Family members are sifting through debris for intact pots and other valuables. It confirmed that the Walter Anderson Museum of Art didn't appear to be compromised. On 9-5 conservator David Goist reported on a phone call with Dennis Walker, registrar of the museum. The museum building and collection are okay. The Anderson family collection was submerged and in need of immediate help. | | 2005-09-07 13:58:55 |
| Lorraine A. Stuart | | Any news of how the Vital Records Registry for the State of Louisiana fared? When I worked there, many years ago, it was housed in the basement of the State building between the New Orleans Public Library and City Hall. | | 2005-09-07 11:15:04 |
| Notarial Archives | Howard Margot said his waders came in handy yesterday when he and Deputy Custodian Jerry Mouton accompanied the Munters representative to assess the damage at the Notarial Archives. They all took turns using the waders. They found about 6 inches of water in the courthouse basement and began pumping it out. All records on the bottom shelves were wet about 1/2 inch up. The decision was made to remove all notarial records from the basement and to treat them as needed.
There are Special Forces military personnel guarding the courthouse.
I have conflicting reports about how the recon team gained access to the "old Amoco" building, where the research center is located on the third floor. One person said they could walk through the blown-out bank on the first floor. Another person said they walked around the back. The emergency lights were still on in the stairwells and they made it to the third floor and into the front door of the research center. There was a blown-out window in all areas except the plat cabinet room. The carpet is damp but not soggy. The compact shelving and metal doors on the window sides of the stacks appeared to have done their job of protecting the volumes and boxes from incoming water. The moisture meter (I'm sure there's a more technical term for this) showed that the folders in boxes had wicked the moisture away from the pages. Most materials were in the acceptable range. The pages and the watercolors in Mylar sleeves appeared to be OK, too.
There was standing water on some floor areas, and there was a hole in the ceiling that apparently dumped water onto the conservation area. Desk areas with computers, paper work, etc., need to be triaged to see what can be salvaged. The photography/scanning room was in bad shape, Howard said.
The most cost-effective thing we can do to stabilize the research center is to block up the broken windows and pump air conditioning in. It is still uncertain whether this can be accomplished. When the recon team left yesterday, a crew was boarding up the first floor windows. They said they were not from building management. We are trying to contact the management company in Dallas to gain access.
Ann Wakefield
| | 2005-09-07 10:26:06 |
| Notarial Archives | Initial reports from the rescue operation today at the Notarial Archives are that the Research Center on the third floor sustained no damage, and we should be getting air conditioning in there soon. The record filing office in the basement took a few feet of water, and the records on the bottom shelves are wet. All books are to be removed from the basement. If I get a more comprehensive report, I'll post an update.
Ann Wakefield
| | 2005-09-06 18:46:14 |
| Everette Larson | From the Tuesday, September 06, 2005 version of:
Print Edition... a weblog of the Times-Picayune at :
City's historical documents in peril
Salvage specialists were turned away
By Greg Thomas
Real estate writer
Specialists working for the New Orleans Notorial Archives have been stymied in trying to enter the city and rescue some of the most historic documents in the city's history, from original land grants to slave sale records and title records.
Federal troops have refused to let them through checkpoints into the city.
The Notorial Archives hired Munters Corp., a Swedish document-salvage firm that freezes and then freeze-dries records to slowly remove moisture from them. But Munters' refrigerated trucks were turned away by uniformed troops as they tried to enter the city, said Stephen Bruno, custodian of the archives.
The trucks were headed to the Civil District Courthouse on Poydras Street, where many of the city's real estate documents are housed, and to the Amoco building at 1340 Poydras St., which houses historic documents such as a letter from Jean Lafitte to Washington demanding for his expenditures during the Battle of New Orleans.
Eddy Pokluda, head of national sales for Munters in Dallas, said the company tried to get one person in to make an assessment of the damage but was turned away, even though days earlier they had arranged with New Orleans Police Department to have an escort into the city.
"I don't think people realize the importance of these records. It's imperative we get in there and see if these can be saved,'' Pokluda said.
"These records are a historic treasure trove (that) would go to the Vatican or Smithsonian and be under armed guards and in vaults," Bruno said. "This is extremely frustrating.''
"Of course, the most important thing is the people and the bodies, but now we're really considered about the records,'' he said.
Most governments have digitized their real estate records, and Bruno was just about to hire a firm to transfer many of the documents in the archive to the computer.
But at the Notorial Archives, most abstractors still do hand searches of the 12 million stored documents.
"We're still in the horse-and-buggy days," Bruno said.
Bruno was quick to point out that homeowners shouldn't worry about others making claim to their properties. Further, "there won't be any (real estate) transactions until this problem is solved. Sure, a lot of people are going to want to sell and a lot of speculators are going to want to buy." But without access to the records by abstractors, "It isn't going to happen,'' Bruno said.
| | 2005-09-06 13:02:28 |
| Sarah Canby Jackson | | The Harris County Archives has available space in Houston for collections. Please contact me at 713-368-7640 or sarah_jackson@fpm.co.harris.tx.us | | 2005-09-06 12:37:07 |
| Carol Mead | | Does anyone know anything about the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs? I'm wondering if anything survived. | | 2005-09-06 11:14:29 |
| Susan Tucker | Many of you may have seen this, but in case you didn't I am pasting it in here.
September 4, 2005
Toll Is Also Exacted on Gulf Region's Historical and Cultural Treasures
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
The hurricane and the flood that followed took their toll on the cultural riches of New Orleans and the cities in its orbit.
Museum directors were still struggling to gain a clear picture of the extent of losses, but some collections seem to have been spared, including the core holdings of the New Orleans Museum of Art, one of the most important in the Deep South.
The Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University, which has the world's largest jazz oral history collection, appeared to be safe, said the curator, Bruce Raeburn. Preservation Hall, the 255-year-old French Quarter building that serves as a jazz shrine and performance site, appears to be undamaged. But the roof of the Old U.S. Mint in the French Quarter was damaged, raising concern for the state of its jazz collection, which includes musical instruments, film, posters and photographs.
Seven staff members of the New Orleans Museum of Art, including security guards and engineers, stayed behind Tuesday to protect the collection and were presumably there through the week, said E. John Bullard, the museum's director.
The Times-Picayune newspaper reported that about 30 relatives of museum staff members had sought refuge in the building, which is on high ground at the edge of City Park. It said the staff members refused to leave the building untended when urged to leave by officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who arrived there Wednesday.
Mr. Bullard, who was vacationing in Maine, said Friday that he had heard nothing more.
"The ones who stayed are really the heroes for the museum," he said.
The museum, which has about 40,000 objects in its collection, has a prominent group of Miró works and other paintings, 16,000 pieces of glass, and major photography holdings. It has an important African collection, and about 100 of the best pieces from it are on tour right now.
Mr. Bullard, who has been director of the museum since 1973, feared for an outdoor sculpture garden established two years ago containing 55 works, including pieces by Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois and Claes Oldenburg. Oak trees towered above.
A 45-foot-tall steel tube and cable sculpture by Kenneth Snelson, "Virlane Tower," valued at more than $500,000, was smashed, The Times-Picayune said. The other major concern was basement storage spaces. There was only enough fuel for the emergency generators, which operate sump pumps and climate control systems, to last until the middle of last week.
If water invades and the pumps fail, it could threaten thousands of photographs and prints. Mr. Bullard said the museum's insurers had dispatched private security guards from Florida in two campers to protect the artwork and seek out fuel to keep the generators going. The next task would be to transport important artworks out of the city when roads were passable.
"This is a transforming event in a city's life," he said. "Even though New Orleans has been around for 200 years, I wonder whether it can survive."
The failure of climate control systems in other surviving museums poses a danger, said Ed Able, president of the American Association of Museums in Washington. He said 126 institutions - art museums, zoos, aquariums and others - lay within the affected zone.
"All in all, we've got definite collection damage across the affected areas," he said. Added to that were fears that dozens of historic houses - blips on the nation's cultural radar but important parts of the gulf region's identity - had been smashed into oblivion.
Beauvoir, the home of Jefferson Davis in Biloxi, Miss., suffered serious harm, Mr. Able said. Completed in 1851, the site included the Davis presidential library.
The Dantzler House historic mansion in Biloxi was destroyed.
The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, a partly built complex of five buildings designed by Frank Gehry, also in Biloxi, was heavily damaged when a floating casino was deposited in its midst. The African-American arts gallery at the complex was demolished, according to Mr. Gehry's office. At least two other exhibit centers appeared to have been spared.
Ground was broken for the $30 million museum in 2003, and it was expected to open next year. One building was to be dedicated to the works of George Ohr (1857-1918), a major American ceramicist known as the Mad Potter of Biloxi.
The fate of Ohr's work, much of which was located in the Biloxi Library and Cultural Center, was not known for certain, although the museum's executive director, Marjie Gowdy, said, "We believe the pottery is intact." She posted the comment on the Web site of The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi. (In Ohr's lifetime, a fire destroyed his studio and much of his work up to then.)
Historic buildings in the French Quarter in New Orleans - the Cabildo, the Presbytere and the Old U.S. Mint - sustained some damage, according to the Association of Art Museums, which has set up a Web page on the effects of Katrina (aam-us.org/aamlatest/news/Hurricane FirstReports.cfm).
The buildings are operated by the Louisiana State Museum. Their collections of archives, books and documents "are in better shape than feared," the association said.
Water poured through a blown-off section of roof at the Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History in Jackson and left hundreds of pieces soggy, ruining some, the association's Web site said.
Like utility company teams from elsewhere volunteering their services, conservation experts, through the Southeastern Regional Conservation Association, have offered help in restoring damaged artworks. The Southeastern Museums Conference in Atlanta is helping organize relief for beleaguered museums.
The 1921 Orpheum Theater, a former vaudeville hall where the Marx Brothers, Burns and Allen and other acts played, probably suffered water damage. It is the home of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra's treasurer and timpanist, Jim Atwood, said he saw television video of the area around it showing high waters.
He said his two sets of timpani, valued at a total of $40,000, were in the basement and probably severely damaged. One set was one of six made by a prominent maker in Dresden, Germany, that closed down about a decade after the end of World War II. The orchestra library of scores and parts was stored on the sixth floor of another building, and is presumably safe, he said.
The flood was a second recent blow to the orchestra, which was reconstituted by the musicians in 1991 after the New Orleans Symphony declared bankruptcy. "We're hoping against hope we can keep it afloat after this," said Mr. Atwood, who was speaking from his cabin in Livermore, Colo.
He said the prospects for the orchestra's players would be particularly tough if it failed. "To have a job as a professional musician, a full-time job, is a very precious things these days," he said. "I just hate the thought of all my colleagues having their jobs slip through their fingers."
Efforts were under way to find temporary work for the Louisiana Philharmonic musicians as substitutes and extra players in orchestras around the country.
The cultural losses produced anguish among the city's musicians and artists and hope that they will be restored. "Great cities are defined by great art," Mr. Atwood said.
James W. Bailey, an art photographer who grew up in Mississippi and lived in New Orleans for 20 years, said he had taken thousands of pictures of the city.
"In my life in Mississippi, I dreamed about being an artist," Mr. Bailey said. "It wasn't until I moved to New Orleans that I became one."
He described the city's spirit as "absolutely mystical and magical and profoundly spiritual," a spirit that gave rise to an artistic legacy that spread through the world.
"The fact that we are on the verge of losing this is hard to believe," he said. "It has not sunk in that there is the possibility in the next few days that the city of New Orleans is going to be shut down, turned off and turned into a ghost land."
| | 2005-09-05 10:17:02 |
| Trish Nugent | RE: Notarial Archives
I saw an AP photograph of the first few floors of the corner of the Amaco building that houses the research center - specifically the side facing Loyola (where the conservation area is) It did not appear that the windows were blown out - although it seemed that one or two may have been. If anyone wants to see it I can try to email it to them. | | 2005-09-04 17:58:55 |
| Mark Cave | | The exhibits at HNOC were taken down the Sat. prior to the storm, and removed to a higher floor. | | 2005-09-02 21:07:03 |
| András Riedlmayer (Harvard Univ.) | Below are two items about the fate of archives and records in New Orleans. They demonstrate once again how vitally important records can be to people's lives and to the prospects of restoring a functioning society. I hope there is still a chance of salvaging some of this material before it is irretrievably lost.
__________________________________________________________
-1.-
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076389
New Orleans Times-Picayune
Breaking News weblog
September 2, 2005
Storm ruins legal documents
By Greg Thomas
Real Estate writer
Thousands of lawyers in the metropolitan area have lost their files, their clients and their offices, but one of the biggest legal ramifications of Hurricane Katrina's flooding waters is the probable loss of real estate records dating back to the early 1800s.
The records, which include titles, mortgages, conveyances and liens, were stored in the now-flooded basement of City Hall on Poydras Street.
In 2002, employees of Register of Conveyances Gasper Schiro began the tedious process of hand entering the records into computers, a $700,000 process that could have been contracted out and accomplished quickly
but was instead done slowly by his staff to save money.
It's unclear how much of the information has been digitized and or if the computerized information is stored safely.
If either the original records or the digitalization process is lost, it will be a major mess, said Southern University Law Center Professor Winston Riddick, who teaches real estate law. While it will be a tedious process to fix, and it can be fixed, it will be a major headache that could potentially take years.
The records involved date back to 1827, with the earliest recorded by hand in Spanish and French.
According to the American Center of Real Estate Lawyers, or ACREL, the potential loss of the records could be devastating to the local real estate industry.
The process of restoring the information could be incredibly tedious and create havoc for homeowners who will be filing insurance claims, said Professor Riddick. While he expects insurance companies to honor claims by owners who have copies of their insurance policies, the potential for delays and other hassles is very real.
New Orleans local real estate attorney Marx Sterbcow of Marx Sterbcow Law Group said Friday the loss of the records, stored in the musty, moldy basement of City Hall, may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to storm-related problems for Louisiana attorneys, citing a memo e-mailed to Louisiana lawyers by Southern University Law Professor Michelle Ghetti.
"Many ACREL members have been in touch with us to express concerns for colleagues in the region. Members have been generous with offers of office space housing and other support," Ghetti said.
Real estate records aren't the only ones affected. Ghetti estimates that as many as 6,000, or two-thirds of the state's attorneys, have lost offices, files and other documents critical to civil and criminal legal cases.
Several court buildings were flooded by Hurricane Katrina, including the basement in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court building.
For City Hall records, Sterbcow said "it's the mortgages that's going to be ugly. To put it mildly, how are you going to be able to prove if you own a piece of property if your records are gone? How are you going to be able to prove you have a mortgage, or one is paid off?"
Records for the 24th Judicial District in Jefferson Parish are probably in much better shape than the records in Orleans Parish, Sterbcow said.
"Jefferson Parish sounds like they're going to be ok for mortgages and conveyances," he said.
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-2.-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1561312,00.html
The Guardian (London)
Friday September 2, 2005
Stranded
For 12 years the Justice Center in New Orleans campaigned
for poor inmates facing the death penalty. Now it has been
completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Clive Stafford Smith, the human rights lawyer who founded it, says hope is also lost for scores of its clients
I have spent much of the last three days sifting through photographs on the internet of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, looking for clues as to what has happened to the Justice Center at 636 Baronne Street,
New Orleans. This was the home of the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center (LCAC), the charity I founded in 1993, and that I left behind, thriving, when I returned to England almost a year to the day before Katrina struck. The LCAC, which provided legal representation to poor people facing
the death penalty, was the last hope for scores of people facing the death penalty in the Deep South, including Britons such as Nicky Ingram, Krishna Maharaj, Kenny Richey and Jackie Elliot.
The building was universally known as 636, even though that sounded less like a law office than a nightclub. It was an extraordinary place to work. We started hunting for somewhere to buy when our rented space banned dogs from coming to work. We bought 636 for a song before property values in the neighbourhood soared.
It was renovated by a team of former prisoners, all glad to be part of an effort to aid those they had left behind. Harry Lucas was their leader. Lucas lived in the heart of the Ninth Ward, the poorest part of New Orleans which was built in the dangerous, low-lying areas that have been heaviest hit by the flooding. These were the folk with no means to flee the city. I wonder where he is now. Maybe on a rooftop. I know he has a ladder to get there; he borrowed mine some time in 1999 and I never saw it again.
Yesterday, when I saw the pictures of the Orleans Parish prisoners huddled on a ramp of the interstate, turbid water at one end, and torpid guards with shotguns at the other, it made me angry. The government said everyone had to leave the city, yet the prisoners, the one group who could have been moved without the right to protest, were left behind. They are likely to stay in prison much longer now, with 636 most probably under water.
The building was an amazing place to work, full of dogs, children and lawyers, and the potted plants that always died exactly one week after the site visit of the funder they had been purchased to impress. The halls rang with the accents of English volunteers adrift in a city of southern drawl. No 636 somehow ran itself, with an eclectic staff
of anti-death penalty zealots with one or two level heads to balance the others out.
There was a running battle over the washing up, as the dishes accumulated Withnail-style in the sink. But if the state was trying to kill someone, even these partisan lines dissolved, and anyone in the building would stay photocopying until 4am without having to be asked.
No 636 was an incubator of dreams, acronyms and abbreviations of civil-rights offices that gave prisoners hope. We began with the LCAC. Then the Capital Appeals Project (CAP) became the first resort of those sentenced to death. A Fighting Chance (AFC) was a team of young and
intrepid investigators who give capital lawyers the facts that they need to defend their cases. Finally, Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) became the closest thing that Louisiana and Mississippi had to a Criminal Cases Review Commission, with its six staff seeking out the wrongful convictions in a prison population the size of Britain's.
These offices promised many of the South's most vulnerable prisoners the first light of dawn.
It makes me sad to use the past tense, but these brilliant people with their huge hearts are now scattered all over the US, finding refuge with friends and family, clutching what they could save. Some took pets, others case files, others only had time to take a car and drive. All of the staff, I am thankful to say, are safe, even though Kim evacuated to Mobile, Alabama driving further into danger rather than away from it. I heard that Richard managed to take the back-up tapes for the server. David is in Los Angeles, but his beagle is in Houston. Emily and Keely are in Jackson, Mississippi, looking for a plug for their portable printer, so they can send letters to their clients with assurances that their legal team is still alive. But who will carry the letters?
Life as I knew it New Orleans has been smudged out by Katrina. There are many needy causes in the city now, but 636 will find it harder to rebuild than most. President Bush is unlikely to put it at the top of his list for reconstruction. It will be weeks before the true damage is known. We don't know what we will find when we are allowed back there. The ground floor of 636 was the storage area: boxes and boxes of papers, some kept as memorials for the dead, but most a potential life raft for the living. In 2003, it took one single document identifying the true killer to rescue Dan Bright after nine years' wrongful conviction. The DNA test results that freed Ryan Matthews from death row are
probably disintegrating into mulch, along with his chances of receiving compensation.
In the depths of 636 there are probably a million pages of ink that we gathered over 20 years, now swimming off the page. Whose hopes are dissolving in these flood waters? When will the tide recede? And where will the building's inhabitants find the strength to face the wreckage of so many years of their work, the despoilment of their clients' best hopes?
For now, all I can do is keep trawling those tragic photographs for clues.
_________
* Clive Stafford Smith is now the legal director of Reprieve
(www.reprieve.org.uk), a UK charity fighting for the lives of people facing the death penalty. Reprieve is taking up a special collection to help the offices of 636 Baronne Street get back on their feet. If you would like to help, please call 020-7353 4640, or send your cheque made out to Reprieve, marked "The 636 Fund", to Reprieve, PO Box 52742, London EC4P 4WS, or email: info@reprieve.org.uk
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| | 2005-09-02 20:06:00 |
| | Does anyone have word about the Historic New Orleans Collection on 533 Royal (where SSA had there get together during the SAA meeting two weeks ago?) Was the Battle of New Orleans exhibit removed in time--is the building damaged? | | 2005-09-02 15:13:34 |
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