Hello list,
The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and
the University of New Orleans have recently redesigned and relaunched
the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (HDMB), an online project that
seeks to collect and preserve stories and images related to the
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:
http://hurricanearchive.org/
Please take some time to browse the archive, and contribute your own
story, image, or other file. And please let others know about HDMB
and encourage them to share their stories.
I've pasted the official press release below (instead of attaching a
file), but if anyone would like a Word file or PDF file of the
release, you can contact me off-list at [log in to unmask] Also, for
more information, feel free to contact Dr. T. Mills Kelly
([log in to unmask]) or Sheila Brennan ([log in to unmask]).
Best,
Jeremy
--
Jeremy Boggs
Web/Multimedia Associate
Center for History and New Media
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MSN 1E7
Fairfax, VA 22030
[log in to unmask]
703.993.9278
http://chnm.gmu.edu
--
PRESS RELEASE
Hurricane Archive Collects over 5000 Online Stories and Images
NEW ORLEANS, August 15, 2006-Courtney Giarrusso and her family
followed a Crescent City tradition and decided to ride out Hurricane
Katrina on the top floors of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown New
Orleans. Little did they know that the levee flooding would trap them
in the hotel and later destroy their Lakeview home, which was
designed to accommodate Courtney’s needs as a quadriplegic. Since
she returned to New Orleans in December, Courtney has encountered
many more challenges, including finding a permanent health care
attendant and finishing college.
Giarrusso’s accounts are just one example of the compelling stories
and images collected in the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (HDMB)
http://www.hurricanearchive.org from those who lived through the
hurricanes. (Read Courtney’s stories: http://www.hurricanearchive.org/
object/41 http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/2287.) Created by
the University of New Orleans and the Center for History and New
Media at George Mason University, with funding from the Alfred P.
Sloan Foundation, and in partnership with the Smithsonian
Institution’s National Museum of American History, HDMB stands as a
formidable digital archive with over 5,000 entries. Each object gives
readers unmatched perspective into the lives of those who survived,
evacuated from, responded to, and began to rebuild after Katrina and
Rita. HDMB offers Katrina and Rita survivors a permanent place to
leave their memories so that historians will use their stories when
writing about these storms in the future.
HDMB is a digital archive that seeks contributions from anyone and is
available for everyone to read or browse. First-hand accounts, on-
scene images, blog postings, podcasts, and videos are some of the
materials being collected. Digital technology offers people the
opportunity to record experiences in the moment, but many of those
digital recordings are quickly discarded. For example, one
contributor photographed a heart-wrenching moment at a Red Cross
Shelter in Citronelle, Alabama, when an elderly couple returned from
their damaged home with the only belongings they could salvage: a
small box of jewelry and a few photos (http://
www.hurricanearchive.org/object/2166). Hurricanearchive.org seeks to
save those moments, so they are not permanently lost.
For those without Internet access, they may phone 504-208-3883 to
record a story on voicemail. New Orleans musician Delfeayo Marsalis
welcomes contributors in the recorded announcement.
In addition to individuals’ experiences, HDMB features special
collections from institutions, such as the Smithsonian Institution’s
National Museum of American History. Contributing over 900
photographs taken along the Gulf Coast in September and October 2005,
the National Museum of American History shared its collection
exclusively with HDMB. Currently, those images are available to the
general public only through www.hurricanearchive.org. Working with
various partners, such as the Louisiana State Museum, the National
Hansen’s Disease Museum, the 102nd Military History Detachment from
the Kansas Army National Guard, and the Katrina’s Kids Project, HDMB
is documenting institutional, military, and non-profit responses to
Katrina and Rita.
Hurricanearchive.org continues to collect all experiences related to
the storms, whether one was directly affected or volunteered from
hundreds of miles away. It builds on prior work to collect and
preserve history online, especially through CHNM’s ECHO (http://
echo.gmu.edu) science and technology history project and the
September 11 Digital Archive (http://www.911digitalarchive.org),
which gathered more than 150,000 digital objects related to the
attacks. The Library of Congress permanently houses those materials.
Both projects are part of a growing practice of using the Internet to
preserve the past through “digital memory banks.”
About CHNM
CHNM maintains a wide range of online history projects directed at
diverse topics and audiences, making them available at no cost
through its website. CHNM combines cutting edge digital media with
the latest and best historical scholarship to promote an inclusive
and democratic understanding of the past as well as a broad
historical literacy. Since 1994, the Center for History and New Media
at George Mason University (http://chnm.gmu.edu) has used digital
media and computer technology to democratize history to incorporate
multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular
participation in presenting and preserving the past.
About University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans (UNO) is Louisiana's premier urban
university. Facing massive challenges following Hurricane Katrina,
UNO resumed its Fall 2005 semester in early October with a
combination of on-line and on-site courses offered on satellite
campuses. UNO was the only New Orleans university to reopen in 2005.
Building upon its rich academic research tradition, UNO sponsors a
group of projects to identify, record, and alleviate the effects of
Katrina on the citizens of Louisiana. An important goal of the
university is to provide appropriate physical and electronic venues
for storing and disseminating the collected data as the Gulf Coast
rebuilds.
# # #
Highlights from the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank
Stories:
“Had the levees not breached I would still have my deceased son's
books. Photos and family heirlooms are now gone. Grief and anger are
not new to me, but this was so completely unnecessary.” http://
www.hurricanearchive.org/object/2369
“One type of disaster (flooding) and two very very different results:
a fast surge of water in Pass Christian wreaked absolute havoc.
Walls broken, furniture moved (there are lots of dings and scuffs and
marks in the ceiling where as best we can guess, the floating
refrigerator was banging), windows gone.
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/36
“I volunteered to serve in New Orleans as a Chaplain for the United
States Public Health Service…I spent my days in New Orleans driving
into some of the worst hit areas overseeing the recovery of the
people who lost their lives during the storm and flooding.”
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/2326
Images:
Homeowners discover the rubble left where their home stood in Pass
Christian, MS:
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/70
Interior of a mold-infested and damaged home in New Orleans:
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/2260
A photograph that survived flooding in New Orleans gives one family a
lasting memory of their son who died in 2002:
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/1853
A New Orleanian cleans out her refrigerator after a 2-month absence:
http://www.hurricanearchive.org/object/192
No homes remain in Holly Beach, LA following Hurricane Rita: http://
www.hurricanearchive.org/object/1842
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
