Museums and Hurricane Katrina

Throw this entry on the blog pile of Hurricane Katrina entries. I can't say that I'm close to anyone that was in Katrina's path. The closest I have is a friend who's parents live in Mobile and they made it through with little more than a lawn full of garbage.

Most of the attention is being paid to the human toll but a fair amount is also directed to the cultural loss. All the discussion of cultural loss that I've heard relates to New Orleans and its incredibly rich music community (Alex Chilton has been found!). But I haven't heard a lot on the loss of museum's and historic sites.

The American Association of Museums has a good page that has periodic updates on museums and historic sites in the Gulf region. Probably the most notable damage is the major damage to Beauvoir, the house of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. But lots of other museums are hurting too and they play a large part in the tourist economy of the South. Reading through the updates I see that some places, such as the New Orleans Museum of Art, have staff that has stayed behind, despite the danger, to protect these cultural and artistic treasures. My gut reaction is that they are doing something heroic, but my training in disaster planning and management for museums says that their staying serves little purpose. Their lives are worth more than Da Da sculpture or a Confederate cannon.

Ms. stu and I intend to give money to an agency that will go to alleviate the human tragedy, but were also going to direct money to National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund. To the handful of people that trip over this blog on their way somewhere else: please consider this worthy choice as you decide how you can help in the recovery efforts for this disaster.