I just heard that Harvard is offering 50 tuition-free studentships for the
fall to the students in the closed universities:
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/home/administration/kirby/ltr_katrina_09022005.pd
f
Kris
K. Kris Hirst
Guide for Archaeology @ About.com
[log in to unmask] &
http://www.wasteflake.com
Quote of the Week: Tolerance for ambiguity [in American archaeology] is as
essential as the Marshalltown trowel. - Alice Beck Kehoe
More quotes at:
http://archaeology.about.com/od/quotations/
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of HISTARCH
automatic digest system
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 2:01 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: HISTARCH Digest - 1 Sep 2005 to 2 Sep 2005 (#2005-210)
There are 26 messages totalling 1664 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans] (5)
2. Hurricane damage (8)
3. Freezing v. Freeze-drying
4. Hurricane damage and response
5. "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans thread (2)
6. Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen) (7)
7. Response to Jill Yakubik--Home Available
8. More on Katrina
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 08:32:32 -0400
From: "Edward W. Tennant" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New
Orleans]
This was forwarded from another list (see below).
I looked at these posts this morning (Friday) and the "find" picture was
removed by AFP.
However, if you look at this link you can see the "another black man
'looting'" and the "find" picture side-by-side (with some interesting
comments):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/triciawang/38922728/
-Ed Tennant
-----Original Message-----
From: H-NET Discussion List for African American Studies
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alkalimat, Abdul
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 12:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans
From: doreen hopkins [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Black male "looting":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10908301723
text: "A looter carries a bucket of beer out of a grocery store in New
Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, as floodwaters continue to rise in New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave
Martin)"
Another Black male "looting":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530
text: "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a
grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters
continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage
when it...."
Other people "find":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/photos_ts_afp/050830071810_shxwaoma_photo
1
text: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and
soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the
area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)"
'Looting' Vs. 'Finding': Hurricane Katrina Exposes Racial Bias
By Carmen Cusido
---------------------------------
C 2005 DiversityInc.com
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click here.
September 01, 2005
Hurricane Katrina washed away more than homes and buildings; it also exposed
race and class inequities and media bias toward blacks. After the hurricane,
news reports showed many New Orleans residents going into closed stores and
running away with food, clothes, appliances and guns.
Here's the million-dollar question: Are white people "finding" something to
eat while black people are "looting" for lunch in New Orleans and other
flooded areas? Yes, if you look at the mainstream media. Then again, the
majority of low-income people in New Orleans are black and many are
starving.
For the world to see, there were too many images, but two stand out-one shot
by an AFP/Getty Images photographer and another by The Associated Press
(AP)-and each had a different caption when published on Yahoo.com. In the AP
photograph, the photo shows a black person with some food. The caption below
the picture says he's just finished "looting" a grocery store. The other
photo showed two white people with the caption describing how they were
"finding" bread and soda from a grocery store, BoingBoing.Net reports. In
both pictures, the subjects are swimming, holding food, with no stores in
sight.
The difference in words may be indicative of racial bias in the mainstream
media. Christina Pazzanese wrote in a Poynter.org forum for the
media-studies organization that in the national "crisis-mode" coverage of
the aftermath of Katrina, there have been a number of professional
challenges for everyone in the media around racial and economic sensitivity.
"I am curious how one photographer knew the food was looted by one but not
the other ... Should editors in a rush to publish poignant or startling
images relax their standards or allow personal or regional biases to creep
into captions and stories?" Pazzanese asks. We all should be asking that
question too.
Yes, most of those left behind in that flooded city are poor, black people.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that New Orleans is 67.3 percent black and
28.1 percent white. Columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson on BlackNews.com said
the looting, though deplorable, put an ugly face on the millions of
Americans who grow poorer and more desperate. While criminal gangs, who
always take advantage of chaos and misery to snatch and grab whatever they
can, did much of the looting, many desperately poor, mostly black residents,
saw a chance to take items and food they can't afford. New Orleans, Ofari
Hutchinson writes, has one of the highest poverty rates of any of America's
big cities, and many people live in the most dilapidated, deteriorated
housing in the nation.
Many are criticizing the decision to have troops focus on capturing looters
instead of helping to rescue thousands of refugees who soon will die of
hunger and thirst. The looters may as well take advantage of the food that
would rot anyway, they say, as people who are starving and left with no
other option but to take the food.
Dante Lee of BlackNews.com comments, "As for the stealing of TVs and DVD
players, I would agree that this is inexcusable. However, food and drinks
are critical to their survival. But these aren't the only necessities in
life - What about baby diapers, toilet tissue, shoes, dry clothes? People
have to do what they can to survive."
After the rainstorm comes, the "human storm" hurricanes leave behind, writes
columnist David Brooks in The New York Times. Books referred to the human
storm as the recriminations, the political conflict and the battle over
compensation.
The floods wash away the surface of society (registration required) and
expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the patterns of
corruption and the inequalities.
In 1900, another great storm hit the United States, killing more than 6,000
people in Galveston, Texas. The storm exposed racial animosities, and there
were (false) stories of blacks of cutting off the fingers of corpses to
steal wedding rings. The devastation ended Galveston's chance to beat out
Houston as Texas's leading port.
Then in 1927, the Mississippi flood rumbled down on New Orleans. During that
time. blacks were rounded up into work camps and held by armed guards. The
racist violence that followed the floods helped persuade many blacks to move
north, Brooks writes.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 06:14:18 -0700
From: Dane Magoon <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Hey All:
Too bad the people recovery and food/medical delivery
efforts don't match the organization of the NPS
artifact and document recovery teams, as detailed in
the Washington Post article forwarded by Vergil Noble.
I simply don't think it is appropriate for any
recovery efforts to focus on affected cultural
resources
until the immediate human tragedy is dealt with.
Planning such a recovery and working out the logisitcs
is important, but the emphasis should be on carrying
out people first.
Dane Magoon
--- "Vergil E. Noble" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Tim,
>
> The following article appeared in today's Washington
> Post.
>
> Vergil
>
>
> Washington Post
> Thursday, September 1, 2005; Page A19
> Preserving New Orleans History
> Park Service Team Set to Rescue Years of Artifacts
>
>
> By Petula Dvorak
>
>
> Washington Post Staff Writer
>
>
> Their bags are packed with safety glasses, gloves,
> masks, boots and suits.
> As soon as they hit the ground in New Orleans, they
> plan to set up triage
> tents and long tables.
>
>
> Then the emergency team from the National Park
> Service will begin its work:
> blotting, washing, drying, straightening and
> preserving centuries of
> historical artifacts that tell the story of one of
> the oldest U.S. cities.
>
>
> The curators, archaeologists and historians of the
> Park Service's Museum
> Resource Center are not the bookish types who dwell
> in dusty stacks.
>
>
> These are people who are trained in outdoor survival
> skills, are immunized
> against disaster area diseases, have helicoptered in
> and out of work sites
> and know how to identify poisonous snakes and
> spiders, said Pam West,
> director of the center.
>
>
> Their biggest enemy is mildew.
>
>
> "When we do retrieved artifacts, we're dealing in
> extreme mold," West said.
> "Anytime 48 hours pass, you get mold. You have to
> fight mold. We've seen it
> turn the most amazing colors -- bubble-gum pink
> once."
>
>
> The preservationists dried and blotted a million
> artifacts from colonial
> Jamestown in Virginia after Hurricane Isabel hit in
> 2003. Last year, they
> used boats to get to 300,000 artifacts in the Fort
> Pickens museum near
> Pensacola, Fla., after Hurricane Ivan.
>
>
> Once it gets the all-clear in the coming days, the
> preservation team will
> head to the Crescent City to retrieve documents,
> photographs, furniture and
> other pieces of history that have marked the rich
> life of a city founded in
> 1718 and occupied by the French, Spanish, Creoles,
> Americans, Confederates,
> fire, disease and water -- again and again.
>
>
> There are photographs and musical instruments in the
> Park Service's jazz
> museum, musical scores in Louis Armstrong's home,
> archives at the Jean
> Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve museum
> and the Chalmette
> Battlefield and National Cemetery, all floating in
> swampy, oily, polluted
> water.
>
>
> Once the artifacts are pulled from the water, Park
> Service specialists can
> begin the work: laying out, sorting, stretching,
> drying. "Papers can be
> freeze-dried. Photos, furniture and furnishings can
> be washed and dried,"
> West said.
>
>
> Sometimes, they can clean objects and transport them
> for restoration at a
> better facility. But as is often the case in
> hurricane situations -- where
> humans, let alone objects can't get transportation,
> refrigeration or water
> -- curators have to work in less-than-ideal
> conditions. "I saw someone
> preserve a 20-by-20 photo right there on the spot
> once. They knew how to
> dry and blot and straighten it right there, in the
> middle of camp," West
> said.
>
>
> The team also plans to work with universities and
> the residents of New
> Orleans, helping restore hundreds of years of
> memories.
>
Dane Magoon
Project Manager/Principal Investigator
Cultural Resources, Inc.
2800 Patterson Avenue, Suite 100
Richmond, VA 23221
Phone: (804) 355-7200
Fax: (804) 355-1520
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 09:47:41 -0400
From: "Grace Turner." <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New
Orleans]
Ed,
Thanks for posting that link - some very interesting comments
indeed!
I'm from the Caribbean. To me, Hurricane Katrina has hosted a
rality show of 'America Unedited' - it's fascinating! This
country has lots more to clean up and rebuild than storm
damage.
Grace Turner
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 10:03:02 -0400
From: "Williams, Emily" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Freezing v. Freeze-drying
Carl,
The difference between freezing and freeze-drying is that one =
inactivates the water in an object and the other aids in the removal of =
the water. Water from flooding etc.. can cause both chemical and =
physical damage to materials. Additionally, its presence can catalyze =
other forms of decay. However, rapid drying of wet artifacts can lead to =
damage in the form of dimensional changes. Water also has a high =
surface energy that leads to a high surface tension (think of how a thin =
film of water can hold two panes of glass together). This high energy =
hold water in micropores and capillaries with the result that air drying =
will remove some but not all of the water in a wet object. Also as the =
water evaporates from larger capillaries, the receding water front pulls =
the surfaces of the capillary together. If the walls are frail, =
collapse can follow. In the case of wet paper this can also lead to =
pages becoming stuck together.
Unfortunately in flood situations the number of books or documents =
affected is typically very high. Freezing these materials allows the =
deterioration caused by the water to be halted and the materials held =
until disaster responders and conservators have time to assess the =
condition of the material and deal with them on an individual basis. =
However it does not remove the need to deal with the materials. =
Although the water has been removed the object has not been truly =
stabilized as removing it from the freezer or power failures could =
render it wet again. =20
Freeze-drying is often used to permanently dry such materials as it is a =
relatively gentle and slow form of drying organic materials and it =
allows the issues of surface tension to be eliminated. In freeze-drying =
the object is frozen and then a vacuum is pulled which causes the water =
to sublime off (meaning that it passes from the solid ice form to the =
gaseous vapor state without passing through the liquid state). The =
vapor is given off to the surrounding chamber and is then trapped by =
freezing it on a much colder external condenser. During the process the =
internal temperature or weight of the object may be monitored to =
determine when an end point has been reached.
Emily Williams
Conservator of Archaeological Materials
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 12:25:55 -0600
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Forgive my ignorance, but what is the difference between freezing and
freeze drying?
Doesn't plain o'l freezing arrest (?) the influence of moisture?
Inquiring minds want know.
Carl Barna
Lakewood, CO
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 10:18:01 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Thank you, Shannon, for a very informative and eloquent look at the
potential
consequences to the historical and archaeological resources in New Orleans
as
a result of this disaster.
Mike Polk
Sagebrush Consultants, L.L.C.
Ogden, utah
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 10:43:02 -0400
From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage and response
Your concern is laudable, but your comment that it is " too bad the
people recovery and food/medical delivery efforts don't match the
organization of the NPS artifact and document recovery teams" ignores
the fact that the NPS task is orders of magnitude smaller. It
ignores the complexity and scope of the problems inherent in disaster
operations. I have been involved in a number of disaster relief
operations including hurricanes and volcanoes. While planning is
great, each disaster is unique and poses different problems. My
impression is that the Federal government is doing a pretty good job
of getting the required assets (manpower and equipment) into the area
as fast as is possible. I am less impressed with the City of New
Orleans and Louisianna. Both appear to at best have had really
sketchy plans and to have lost control pretty fast (especially New
Orleans). Police, fire/rescue, and local disaster assets are the
first responders and need to do it quickly. The State and Feds can
only come in once there is some idea of what is needed and where it
is needed.
Consider for a start that before recover operations can even begin
you have to gain access to the area. Many of the roads are covered
with downed trees and power lines (some of which are still live). It
is not as if you can just drop in the 82D ABN and all will be well.
One major problem is communication. The use of the USS Bataan (LHD-5)
is just an example of why having a military around isn't a bad idea.
The ship not only has a flight deck and is providing a base for
search and rescue helos, but also has considerable hospital space
(second only to hospital ships) and extensive command and control
facilities (radios and telephones). It is a very quick way to
reestablish control in an area that has lost its infrastructure.
Other Navy and Coast Guard ships are also being used for many of the
same purposes, but lack the capabilities of the Bataan. At the same
time military units are moving in to assist in rescue, support, and
security. Keep in mind the military is not allowed to act as police
in the US.
I've worked with the military, NGOs, foreign governments, and FEMA on
hurricanes, volcanoes, bombings, refuges, etc. It may look
disorganized, and FEMA may be a bit slower than many would like, but
that is more appearance than substance. Mind you if you have no water
or food, are filthy dirty, scared, and its hot as hell you are not
likely to be very understanding of the problems inherent in disaster
operations.
On Sep 2, 2005, at 9:14, Dane Magoon wrote:
> Hey All:
>
> Too bad the people recovery and food/medical delivery
> efforts don't match the organization of the NPS
> artifact and document recovery teams, as detailed in
> the Washington Post article forwarded by Vergil Noble.
>
> I simply don't think it is appropriate for any
> recovery efforts to focus on affected cultural
> resources
> until the immediate human tragedy is dealt with.
> Planning such a recovery and working out the logisitcs
> is important, but the emphasis should be on carrying
> out people first.
>
> Dane Magoon
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 11:40:40 -0400
From: "Williams, Emily" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Hurricane damage
From the American Association of Museums web site:
Alexandria Zoo (as of 8-31). AZA reports that the Zoo is fine. They had =
no animal loss.
Audubon Nature Institute (as of 8-31). AZA reports that the staff of the =
Audubon Nature Institute is safe. The physical plants at both the Zoo =
and the Aquarium suffered little damage. The staff will continue to =
assess the impact on the animal collections at all Audubon facilities. =
The Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES) lost one =
whooping crane but the remaining animals at the facility are fine. The =
area has not been flooded but there are some leaks at the Research =
Center. Four animal keepers were flown in by helicopter. At present, =
they do not need food or water.
Aquarium of Americas (as of 8-31). The Palladium-Item reported that the =
Aquarium, located on Canal Street a few blocks from the New Orleans' =
French Quarter, lost only one fish and he had been sick before the =
hurricane hit.
Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's home (as of 9-2). The Clarion Ledger =
reported on 8-31 that Beauvoir, located in Biloxi, was "virtually =
demolished." George Malvaney reported that he visited Beauvoir on the =
evening of 8-31. He said the bottom floor of the house was gone, the =
upstairs badly damaged, but that many artifacts were intact. He said =
artifacts have been temporarily secured. On 9-1 Greg Biggs reported from =
Larry McCluney that approximately 65% of the main house still stands, =
although the porch, windows, doors, columns, & front porch are gone. The =
first floor of the library is gone, but Davis's papers had been moved =
upstairs and survived. The small home where Davis resided survived. =
Other buildings, such as the gift shop, are gone.
Biedenharn Museum and Gardens (as of 9-2). Ralph Calhoun, executive =
director, reports that the museum and garden are fine.=20
Birmingham Botanical Garden (as of 9-1). AABGA reports from Fred Spicer =
that "Mother Nature has done some pruning" but the garden had no =
structural damage.
Birmingham Zoo (as of 8-30). AZA reports that the Zoo is without =
electricity, has some trees down, but suffered no animal losses.
BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo (as of 8-31). AZA reports that the Zoo has =
electricity now. There are lots of trees down, but no animal losses. =
They are already working on clean up.
Danzler House (as of 8-31). Located in Biloxi, the house had just been =
remodeled to house a Mardi Gras museum. TheDay.com reported that it was =
destroyed.
Davis Planetarium (as of 8-31). The Clarion Ledger reported that manager =
Gary Lazich said the planetarium had a small leak around the outside but =
no significant damage.
D-Day Museum (as of 9-1). Caroline Kennedy, Director of the West Baton =
Rouge Museum, reports on communication with Kenneth Hoffman of the D-Day =
Museum. Housing for staff is the main need.
Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center (as of 8-31). The Mobile Register =
reported that an estimated 5 feet of water came through the front doors. =
The original exhibit gallery was flooded with about an inch of water, =
but was under renovation anyway. Tim Pula, Science Coordinator, =
confirmed that the exhibit gallery was in a tear down phase of a major =
rework, so the damage was minimal. The museum had planned to be closed =
for a week, after Labor Day, for maintenance and Tim expects the museum =
to be up and running fine after that.
Jackson Zoo (as of 8-30). AZA reports that the Zoo suffered very slight =
building damage and has about 35 trees down. There was no injury to any =
staff or animals. About half of the zoo has power. They will be closed =
for about a week while they clean up the trees.
Louisiana State Museum (as of 9-2). Kacey Hill, Public Information =
Director, states that early reports indicate that the Louisiana State =
Museum's 9 historic French Quarter properties have sustained varying =
degrees of modest to severe damage as a result of Hurricane Katrina. =
Curatorial staff has conducted a preliminary survey of both facilities =
and collections for immediate stabilization purposes. Continuing =
assessment of conditions is underway, but it is too soon to fully =
realize the extent of the site repairs and collection treatment needed. =
Museum officials have received numerous calls from other institutions =
offering assistance, and look forward to accepting these generous offers =
in the weeks and months ahead. For more information, contact the =
Louisiana State Museum-Baton Rouge at 225-219-0729. =20
Marine Life Oceanarium (as of 8-31). The Baltimore Sun reports there is =
an empty space where the Gulfport aquarium used to be.
Miami Museum of Science (as of 8-31). ASTC Informs reported that the =
museum weathered the earlier landfall of the hurricane, sustaining =
damage to the Wildlife Center, but relatively little water penetration. =
President Gillian Thomas says the museum has already reopened, having =
been closed on Saturday and Sunday during power outages and clean up of =
fallen trees and damaged structures.
Mississippi Museum of Art (as of 8-31). The Clarion Ledger reported that =
the covering over a skylight that was to be repaired blew off. Director =
Betsy Bradley said that as a result leaks are recurring and ceiling =
tiles are down in the atrium area. The art was removed prior to the =
storm and was not damaged. Bradley said the museum will re-open very =
soon.
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (as of 8-31). The Clarion Ledger =
reported that the museum dodged major structural damage but not a power =
outage and water leaks. Emergency personnel scrambled to find diesel =
fuel for its generator to keep the 100,000-gallon aquarium system =
operating. Electrical power came back on Tuesday afternoon. The museum =
planned to reopen for visitors on Wednesday.=20
Montgomery Zoo (as of 8-30). AZA reports that the Zoo is without =
electricity, had some trees down, but suffered no animal losses.
National Park Service sites (as of 9-1). The NPS's Morning Report has =
updates on the recovery efforts in its parks and monuments, including =
the Everglades NP, Dry Tortugas NP, Gulf Islands NS, Jean Lafitte NHP, =
New Orleans Jazz NHP, Natchez Trace Parkway, Cane River Creole NHP, and =
Natchez NHP.
New Orleans Museum of Art (as of 9-1). The Times-Picayune reports that =
the New Orleans Museum of Art survived Hurricane Katrina and its =
aftermath without significant damage. Six NOMA security & maintenance =
employees had remained on duty during the hurricane. FEMA wanted them to =
move to a safer location, but there was no way to secure the artwork =
inside so the staff continues to stay on site. Museum workers had taken =
down some pieces in the sculpture garden before the storm, but a =
towering modernist sculpture by Kenneth Snelson was reduced to a twisted =
mess in the lagoon.
Ogden Museum of Southern Art (as of 8-30). Fran Huber, Registrar with =
the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, reported that the Ogden =
was fine on Tuesday, but she had no news since the levees broke.
Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History (as of 8-31). Cindy Gardner, =
Field Services Curator, reported that the museum had a third of its =
copper roof blown off, with water then pouring into an exhibit area and =
a storage room. Staff has been working on moving artifacts from one side =
of the building to the other. They have hundreds (if not more) of wet =
artifacts and some that are completely ruined. More information is =
available from the Clarion Ledger.
Rosemont Plantation (as of 9-1). Site director Percival Beacroft reports =
that the site is all right and in no danger.
USS ALABAMA and USS DRUM (as of 9-1). Jeff Nilsson, executive director =
of the Historical Navel Ships Association, reported on 8-31 that the =
ALABAMA was listing eight degrees to port (toward the pier), but the USS =
DRUM is apparently in good shape. The concrete gangway has been =
critically damaged, while the airplane hanger suffered damage to all =
sides and the planes are in a pile. The Pavilion and Gift Shop both =
suffered damage. There are two feet of water in the Gift Shop. The =
ALABAMA web site can be found by going to hnsa.org and clicking on their =
link. The home page gives an index and by clicking on USS ALABAMA News =
there is an overview of the damage. On 9-1 the Mobile Register reported =
that the Battleship Memorial Park sustained extensive damage. The park's =
aircraft pavilion was apparently battered into a "total loss" but the =
dozen vintage warplanes are all repairable. The USS Alabama was listing, =
although it is not believed to have incurred any serious damage. Bill =
Tunnell, executive director, said the park could be closed for weeks for =
repairs but said a further assessment of damage was needed first. About =
18 members of the staff and their families rode out the hurricane inside =
the battleship, as members have done voluntarily since Camille in 1969.
USS KIDD Memorial (as of 8-31). Jeff Nilsson, executive director of the =
Historical Navel Ships Association, talked with Maury Drummond, =
executive director of the USS KIDD Memorial in Baton Rouge. Maury said =
the ship suffered little or no damage and is expected to re-open within =
a week.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 12:23:31 -0400
From: Ron May <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Dane,
We all share your frustration that the United States government did not call
out every military helicopter in the nation to rush into Louisiana and
Mississippi to pluck out all the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. However,
none of us
are helicopter pilots and few are medical doctors or magicians. We are all
concerned for the destruction of heritage resources and it is totally
appropriate
for Vergil Noble to address emergency conservation of collections because
that is part of what we can do in the crisis.
Each moment I peer into my TV set, I am astonished not to see thousands of
soldiers, sailors, air men, and marines standing on street corners
protecting
and saving those in need. What idiot failed to send them? We have hundreds
of
ships withing hours of New Orleans capable of making fresh water from sea
water,
but why are they not anchored and doing something? People are dying from
lack
of water and food and medicines and the dead (in Mississippi) are being
temporarily tied to trees. Yes, this is a national crisis, but part of that
crisis
is to save our heritage. That is what WE do and this is the place to talk
about it.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 10:23:48 -0600
From: "Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New
Orleans]
1. As anthropologists, we should be interested in the social aspects unf=
olding in the midst of this immensely tragic situation: the circumstances=
in which established ("acceptable") forms of social integration become d=
ysfunctional and are replaced; the forms of replacement structures, or th=
e apparent lack thereof; the natures of human interactions between indivi=
duals, and between individuals and larger corporate groups, including gov=
erning authorities; perceptions within the affected sub-community and com=
munity groups and within the surrounding society -- including those membe=
rs of the surrounding society responsible for distribution of information=
(i.e., "the media") -- regarding behaviors and apparent associations wit=
h ethnicity, "race", or other social divisions; ad nauseum. But . . .
2. Clearly (or I hope it's clear), we are humans first and anthropologis=
ts after that, so we cannot allow ourselves to minimize the human tragedy=
(ies) as/if we indulge our anthropological interests. We should hurt dee=
ply that people are hungry and dehydrated and homeless and injured and il=
l and dead, and to the extent that we have nationalist leanings, that peo=
ple in our nation are so suffering, and we should want to do something, a=
s humans, to help relieve that suffering. Still . . .
3. I find it disturbingly interesting that so many folks (most of whom I=
presume, because of its venue, are anthropologically-minded) have respon=
ded to this blog by quickly and perjoratively jumping on what appears to =
be obvious -- that "the media" involved in disseminating the photographs =
equate black folks with looting and white folks with finding. As anthrop=
ologists and archaeologists, we all know that context is everything -- ot=
herwise that pretty pot is just a pretty pot. It seems apparent that mos=
t of the responses on the blog assume that context has been established b=
y presence of the photos and the captions. However, as some folks point =
out, the same photos appear with different captions in other media settin=
gs. Thus, context for the apparently racist captions is not well establi=
shed, and, therefore, we should be darned careful about categorizing and =
interpreting those captions. Now, as anthropologists, we know that, in f=
act, "the media" involved in disseminating those photos may, indeed, have=
attached (advertently or otherwise) racial interpretations to the images=
=2E And that may be both interesting (anthropologically) and tragic (hum=
anly). Still . . .
4. I also find it interesting -- and I suspect this situation is an exam=
ple -- that anthropologists, who commonly see themselves as objective obs=
ervers of human behavior, are, themselves, often so culture-bound that th=
ey cannot be objective about their own culture and society. That is, we =
frequently cannot seem to apply the same "standards" (if, indeed, there a=
re such -- oops, now I sound like a post-modernist) to our observations o=
f our own sociocultural milieu(s) as we can to those of the folks we purp=
ort to study. I know I am guilty of this, and most of my colleagues, tho=
se whom I know well, are, as well. For instance, I am, understandably, r=
elieved beyond description that my aunt, who lives in Biloxi, still lives=
in Biloxi. In large measure, the fact that she survived this disaster i=
s due to the fact that she has the financial means to have bought a house=
in one of the "high parts" of town (all 22 feet in elevation . . .) and =
to have installed hurricane shutters on the house. I realize that many -=
- probably most -- of her fellow Biloxians were not so fortunate, and tha=
t, this being the South, many -- probably most -- of those folks are not =
reasonably well-off WASPs. Still, I am VERY relieved and happy that her =
circumstances contributed to her survival, and I make no apologies for th=
at. Nonetheless . . .
5. We portray our inability to be objective when we assume, without esta=
blishing context, that people are being racist, and that those racist int=
erpretations extend to levels above individuals. Of course, we know that=
such situations have and continue to exist (and always will); but we bet=
ray our purported professional objectivity -- and reveal both our humanit=
y and our inhumanity -- when we assume the worst without knowing what nee=
ds to be known before making determinations, much less passing judgements=
=2E Many members of our own larger sociocultural milieu(s) will be makin=
g those determinations and passing those judgements loud and often the co=
ming days, weeks, months, and perhaps years -- one only has to turn on th=
e news channels to see and hear them already. As citizen anthropologists=
, we have a responsibility to bring what objectivity we can to the social=
and cultural aspects of this awful situation as it exists and as it unfo=
lds before us, with the goal that ALL people impacted by this disaster, r=
egardless of their "races", ethnicities, economic circumstances, and othe=
r socio-categorical characteristics, are treated with appropriate dignity=
as humans.
=20
At least that's how I see it . . .
=20
Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Office of Archaeological Studies
P.O. Box 2087
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
tel: 505.827.6343
fax: 505.827.3904
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
=20
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Edward W. Tennant
Sent: Fri 9/2/2005 6:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New Or=
leans]
This was forwarded from another list (see below).
I looked at these posts this morning (Friday) and the "find" picture was
removed by AFP.
However, if you look at this link you can see the "another black man
'looting'" and the "find" picture side-by-side (with some interesting
comments):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/triciawang/38922728/
-Ed Tennant
-----Original Message-----
From: H-NET Discussion List for African American Studies
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alkalimat, Abdul
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 12:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans
From: doreen hopkins [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Black male "looting":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10908301723
text: "A looter carries a bucket of beer out of a grocery store in New
Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, as floodwaters continue to rise in New=
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo/Dave
Martin)"
Another Black male "looting":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530
text: "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a
grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters
continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive dam=
age
when it...."
Other people "find":
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/photos_ts_afp/050830071810_shxwaoma_ph=
oto
1
text: "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread an=
d
soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the
area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)"
'Looting' Vs. 'Finding': Hurricane Katrina Exposes Racial Bias
By Carmen Cusido
---------------------------------
C 2005 DiversityInc.com
The reproduction, duplication, distribution, photocopying, publication,
modification, copying or transmission of
material from DiversityInc.com is illegal and strictly prohibited unless =
you
have written consent from this site.
Violators will be prosecuted. For licensing or bulk subscription informat=
ion
click here.
September 01, 2005
Hurricane Katrina washed away more than homes and buildings; it also expo=
sed
race and class inequities and media bias toward blacks. After the hurrica=
ne,
news reports showed many New Orleans residents going into closed stores a=
nd
running away with food, clothes, appliances and guns.
Here's the million-dollar question: Are white people "finding" something =
to
eat while black people are "looting" for lunch in New Orleans and other
flooded areas? Yes, if you look at the mainstream media. Then again, the
majority of low-income people in New Orleans are black and many are
starving.
For the world to see, there were too many images, but two stand out-one s=
hot
by an AFP/Getty Images photographer and another by The Associated Press
(AP)-and each had a different caption when published on Yahoo.com. In the=
AP
photograph, the photo shows a black person with some food. The caption be=
low
the picture says he's just finished "looting" a grocery store. The other
photo showed two white people with the caption describing how they were
"finding" bread and soda from a grocery store, BoingBoing.Net reports. In=
both pictures, the subjects are swimming, holding food, with no stores in=
sight.
The difference in words may be indicative of racial bias in the mainstrea=
m
media. Christina Pazzanese wrote in a Poynter.org forum for the
media-studies organization that in the national "crisis-mode" coverage of=
the aftermath of Katrina, there have been a number of professional
challenges for everyone in the media around racial and economic sensitivi=
ty.
"I am curious how one photographer knew the food was looted by one but no=
t
the other ... Should editors in a rush to publish poignant or startling
images relax their standards or allow personal or regional biases to cree=
p
into captions and stories?" Pazzanese asks. We all should be asking that
question too.=20
=20
Yes, most of those left behind in that flooded city are poor, black peopl=
e.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that New Orleans is 67.3 percent black and=
28.1 percent white. Columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson on BlackNews.com said=
the looting, though deplorable, put an ugly face on the millions of
Americans who grow poorer and more desperate. While criminal gangs, who
always take advantage of chaos and misery to snatch and grab whatever the=
y
can, did much of the looting, many desperately poor, mostly black residen=
ts,
saw a chance to take items and food they can't afford. New Orleans, Ofari=
Hutchinson writes, has one of the highest poverty rates of any of America=
's
big cities, and many people live in the most dilapidated, deteriorated
housing in the nation.
Many are criticizing the decision to have troops focus on capturing loote=
rs
instead of helping to rescue thousands of refugees who soon will die of
hunger and thirst. The looters may as well take advantage of the food tha=
t
would rot anyway, they say, as people who are starving and left with no
other option but to take the food.
Dante Lee of BlackNews.com comments, "As for the stealing of TVs and DVD
players, I would agree that this is inexcusable. However, food and drinks=
are critical to their survival. But these aren't the only necessities in
life - What about baby diapers, toilet tissue, shoes, dry clothes? People=
have to do what they can to survive."
After the rainstorm comes, the "human storm" hurricanes leave behind, wri=
tes
columnist David Brooks in The New York Times. Books referred to the human=
storm as the recriminations, the political conflict and the battle over
compensation.
The floods wash away the surface of society (registration required) and
expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the patterns of
corruption and the inequalities.
In 1900, another great storm hit the United States, killing more than 6,0=
00
people in Galveston, Texas. The storm exposed racial animosities, and the=
re
were (false) stories of blacks of cutting off the fingers of corpses to
steal wedding rings. The devastation ended Galveston's chance to beat out=
Houston as Texas's leading port.
Then in 1927, the Mississippi flood rumbled down on New Orleans. During t=
hat
time. blacks were rounded up into work camps and held by armed guards. Th=
e
racist violence that followed the floods helped persuade many blacks to m=
ove
north, Brooks writes.
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intende=
d solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are address=
ed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system man=
ager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only=
for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should =
not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including all attachments is for the=
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spection of Public Records Act. If you are not the intended recipient, pl=
ease contact the sender and destroy all copies of this message. -- This e=
mail has been scanned by the Sybari - Antigen Email System.=20
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 09:31:30 -0700
From: Anita Cohen-Williams <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans thread
And, I want to point out, that this thread is NOT relevant to HISTARCH.=20
Please take this discussion off-list.
--=20
Anita Cohen-Williams
Listowner
HISTARCH, SUB-ARCH, SPANBORD
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 10:37:49 -0600
From: "Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans thread
Amen.
=20
Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Office of Archaeological Studies
P.O. Box 2087
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
tel: 505.827.6343
fax: 505.827.3904
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
=20
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Anita Cohen-Williams
Sent: Fri 9/2/2005 10:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "looting" and "finding" food in New Orleans thread
And, I want to point out, that this thread is NOT relevant to HISTARCH.
Please take this discussion off-list.
--
Anita Cohen-Williams
Listowner
HISTARCH, SUB-ARCH, SPANBORD
[log in to unmask]
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intende=
d solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are address=
ed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system man=
ager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only=
for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should =
not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.
Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including all attachments is for the=
sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and p=
rivileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distri=
bution is prohibited unless specifically provided under the New Mexico In=
spection of Public Records Act. If you are not the intended recipient, pl=
ease contact the sender and destroy all copies of this message. -- This e=
mail has been scanned by the Sybari - Antigen Email System.=20
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:09:06 -0400
From: "TENNANT,EDWARD W" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New
Orleans]
Thanks for the reply. I'll respond off list so that I don't get in
trouble with the moderators. Of course, looking at this as someone
who works with descendant communities and am involved (at least
peripherally) with African-American archaeology, it seemed to
relate to HistArch in a very real way.
-Ed
On Fri Sep 02 09:47:41 EDT 2005, "Grace Turner." <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Ed,
> Thanks for posting that link - some very interesting comments
> indeed!
> I'm from the Caribbean. To me, Hurricane Katrina has hosted a
> rality show of 'America Unedited' - it's fascinating! This
> country has lots more to clean up and rebuild than storm
> damage.
>
> Grace Turner
>
>
--
TENNANT,EDWARD W
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0400
From: "TENNANT,EDWARD W" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
Sorry everybody, I didn't mean for that last email to go out to
the whole list. I'm trying to learn a new email client, and I'm an
idiot.
Also, sorry about the 'irrelevant' post.
-Ed
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 11:27:42 -0600
From: Chris Merritt <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
We understand Ed, and yes you are.
>From: "TENNANT,EDWARD W" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
>Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0400
>
>Sorry everybody, I didn't mean for that last email to go out to the whole
>list. I'm trying to learn a new email client, and I'm an idiot.
>Also, sorry about the 'irrelevant' post.
>-Ed
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:01:34 -0500
From: Christine Garst <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
Talk about irrelevant! What would you call slamming someone like this?
Maybe unkind is a better word than irrelevant.
>>> [log in to unmask] 9/2/2005 12:27:42 PM >>>
We understand Ed, and yes you are.
>From: "TENNANT,EDWARD W" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
>Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0400
>
>Sorry everybody, I didn't mean for that last email to go out to the
whole
>list. I'm trying to learn a new email client, and I'm an idiot.
>Also, sorry about the 'irrelevant' post.
>-Ed
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:58:31 -0400
From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage [FW: "looting" and "finding" food in New
Orleans]
I suspect that part of the reason for the apparent bias is that the
majority of the pre-hurrican population of New Orleans was Black and
the vast majority of those who are still in the city are Black. As a
result it is a logical consequence that the majority of the "looters"
are Black. A majority of the law abiding people in New Orleans right
now are also Black, but the media is not paying much attention to
them except as victims. After all, and this is a cynical but also
reasonably accurate statement, the primary role of the mainstream
media is to sell advertising. And highlighting murder, rape, and
looting is what they perceive as the best way to do that.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:05:33 -0500
From: Timothy Scarlett <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
Whoa.
These two guys know each other. This was meant in a friendly,
joking, and warm way. Just let it all go. This is why it's bad form
to argue too much politics on an email group dedicated to archeology.
Tim Scarlett
On Sep 2, 2005, at 1:01 PM, Christine Garst wrote:
> Talk about irrelevant! What would you call slamming someone like
> this?
> Maybe unkind is a better word than irrelevant.
>
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 9/2/2005 12:27:42 PM >>>
>>>>
> We understand Ed, and yes you are.
>
>
>
>> From: "TENNANT,EDWARD W" <[log in to unmask]>
>> Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
>> Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 13:16:14 -0400
>>
>> Sorry everybody, I didn't mean for that last email to go out to the
>>
> whole
>
>> list. I'm trying to learn a new email client, and I'm an idiot.
>> Also, sorry about the 'irrelevant' post.
>> -Ed
>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 14:28:54 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
In a message dated 9/2/2005 12:19:24 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> This is why it's bad form
> to argue too much politics on an email group dedicated to archeology.
>
Tim, thats "archaeology". You've been talking to the NPS or, maybe the
prehistoric crowd too much lately.
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 16:09:17 -0400
From: "Robert L. Schuyler" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
I want to second the "thanks" to Shannon Dawdy for an excellent precis on
what has happened in New Orleans and the region.
I also think that some discussion of the disaster beyond archaeology per se
is not completely out of line in HISTARCH but
Anita does have to rein us all back in now and then ...
Back to Archaeology:
(1) How many times since its founding has New Orleans been hit by
major hurricanes?
(2) Do these events leave a recognizable trace in the
archaeological record? I assume it would be mass
dumping of buildings etc. in pits after clean-up and
rebuilding. A destruction layer?
(3) Did major hurricanes cause real shifts in the culture of New
Orleans; that is, did the population as a
result swing way up or down and did the ethnic composition
of the city change as a result?
[If I went through one of these "events" I think I would,
like General Butler, be headed back
north.]
Bob Schuyler
At 01:26 AM 9/2/2005, you wrote:
> >From New Orleans North:
>
>The human tragedy is immense, and of course we must
>immediately do what we can to stave it. It will take weeks
>before we know what flooding has done, and the news reports
>are spotty and hard to trust as to the extent and geography of
>the water damage.
>
>However, the oldest notarial records are actually in a vault
>on the fifth floor of a large office building and are probably
>safe. Across the street in the basement were the late
>19th-century through 20th century notarial acts, which may be
>decimated, as would be the mortgage and conveyance books
>dating from the 1820s that include a wealth of information on
>slavery. Still, staff members did know the value of these old
>dusty books and it is possible they had a couple hours to move
>them to higher floors before they evacuated.
>
>Collections at Tulane, UNO, the Public Library and the
>Louisiana State Museum are all elevated at least one tall
>floor. The Historic New Orleans Collection was in the process
>of building a new archive storage facility to protect their
>collections, so I am a little worried about those. The State
>Museum, which was badly funded to begin with, will be
>hard-pressed to conserve their 10,000 irreplaceable 18th
>century documents from the French period if there is water
>exposure through window breaks or leaks. The best that could
>be done in that case is to put political pressure on the state
>to transfer custodial care. Same I would say with the Public
>Library's wonderful collection (the building is modernist with
>glass walls, so I am a bit worried).
>
>My understanding is that there was some ground-floor flooding
>in the French Quarter and certainly some looting of contents,
>but that most of the structures there stood up fairly well --
>after all, they've been through quite a few of these. Same is
>true of the Garden District. I am still waiting to hear
>specifics, though, on sites such as Madame John's Legacy, the
>Ursuline Convent, or Pitot House, which some of you have asked
>me about.
>
>But little do people realize that the historic value of the
>hard-hit lower 9th ward and the neighborhood of Holy Cross was
>tremendous as an extensive community of small, lower income
>shotgun houses from the 19th century largely spared the 'urban
>renewal' of the 20th century. Still, I'd lose all those
>houses again in exchange for one of the lives lost within them.
>
>Unfortunately, the political geography of the past will
>probably dictate historic preservation in the future. Since
>its founding, the wealthy in New Orleans have crowded their
>estates and townhouses along the high ground of the natural
>levees, leaving the swampy swales to the poor. So all those
>mansions and fancy townhouses valued by tour guides and
>blue-haired architectural boards are probably in relatively
>decent shape, but they will also receive the lion's share of
>reconstruction assistance.
>
>Many of the quaint cottages of the largely black 'back of
>town'neighborhoods may be wiped out, either because they were
>heavily damaged if next to the levee breaks, or because even
>with minor damage they will be last on the list of priorities
>for repair or preservation. But will anyone care? These are
>not neighborhoods where tourists are funneled. And the human
>loss there may make it difficult to focus on preserving a now
>painful past.
>
>Archaeologically, floods caused by levee breaks actually help
>protect urban sites unless they are actively being excavated,
>so I can't really be concerned about those. Rebuilding efforts
>will likely do greater damage than the hurricane itself. Great
>loss, however, has probably occured in the Barataria, Lake
>Borgne and barrier island areas due to the storm surge.
>
>All this talk of abandoning New Orleans, the "loss of New
>Orleans" or its cultural heritage that I am reading in the
>media is causing a second kind of heartbreak. We need hope,
>ambition, and a hell of a lot of help, not pessimism and
>abandonment. New Orleans, I think it is safe to say, is a
>world heritage site and needs the world's assistance.
>
>Back in the early 18th century, the French talked of
>abandoning New Orleans within 10 years of its founding due to
>hurricanes and political-economic disasters (Katrina also
>being a combination). And for all practical purposes, the
>French government DID abandon New Orleans after 1735. But
>people stayed, rebuilt, and prospered in their own way.
>
>Disasters and their aftermath are also a part of New Orleans'
>heritage. It wouldn't be what it is without them. For most,
>it has never been easy to live in the Big Easy. Their
>creativity and improvisation in survival, as well as their
>joie de vivre, is the city's real 'cultural heritage.' People
>who have only visited Bourbon Street have no idea what has
>been lost, nor have they ever really met the city that will
>survive.
>
>-- Shannon Dawdy
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Shannon Lee Dawdy
>Assistant Professor
>Department of Anthropology
>University of Chicago
>1126 East 59th St.
>Chicago, IL 60637
>773-834-0829
>
>
>Forgive me if my messages seem crude and brief -- please assume I am short
>on time, not short of temper.
Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
[log in to unmask]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 16:15:00 -0400
From: Tim Thompson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
And the rest of the story?
Mobile was the French Settlement from which New Orleans was settled (as I
recall). Though I worked on excavations at Fort Conde (Mobile; undergraduate
shovel-bummery) many years ago, I never made myself familiar in detail with
the local archival holdings, or where they might have been. Apparently, all
of downtown Mobile was underwater, and have no idea what resources there
may have been lost.
Pensacola, one of the earliest French (briefly) and Spanish settlements was
devasted last year and I haven't heard what the extent of the damage was
there, except at Fort Pickens.
When the Park Service team rescued the materials from Jamestown, they
brought them to Fort Lee, where I work, for processing, and the team is
extremely impressive, including a contractor who specializes in dealing with
catastrophes, though New Orleans may be the mother of all catastrophes. Of
course if the Park Service and/or Congress had responded to repeated
requests for elevated collections space at Jamestown, they wouldn't have had
the problem to begin with, but hey, we've got terrorists to kill half a
world away! Likewise, drifting away from the topic, the (local) Corps of
Engineers and local scientists have been issuing warnings for years about
what would happen in New Orleans, and the current administration,
particularly, but also previous ones, have steadfastly chopped out the funds
to deal with it. High up in the political atmosphere the spin line casuistry
is "Oh well, it wouldn't have mattered; we weren't planning to deal with a
category 5 storm, anyway." How do you suppose this drivel would go over in
Holland?
Best hopes to the living, and the remains of the dead. Sadly it will be
necessary to divert funds from numerous other, always shortly funded,
historic preservation projects to deal with the consequences of political
short-sightedness in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Any news about the rest of the Gulf Coast would be welcome.
Tim T.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 21:49:00 +0000
From: geoff carver <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
well, there are several points to that; first, culture is our business, & s=
upposedly there are a lot of other "experts" out there dealing with other a=
spects of the clean-up
if my specialty was dams or disaster-zone logistics or whatever, i'd be hap=
py to help out with that, but if i started poking around in something i don=
't know about, i'd just be in the way
which leaves the question: if we don't do something about culture, who will=
?
and if it doesn't matter now, trying to plan for restoring/recovering irrep=
laceable cultural goods, at the moment when they are in danger, what value =
do they, will they, or did they ever have...?
by the time anyone gets around to looking at archives, museums, collections=
, etc., the present humanitarian disaster will be over
but if you don't plan now, you're going to get a repeat of something like t=
he looting in baghdad after the invasion (or "liberation" or whatever it is=
they call it these days)
good examples of dealing with disaster & cultural relics were the gemaelde =
gallerie in dresden when the elbe flooded a few years ago, and the library =
in weimar that burned down this spring: moving & freeze-drying stuff fast t=
o stabilise it
>=20
> I simply don't think it is appropriate for any
> recovery efforts to focus on affected cultural
> resources
> until the immediate human tragedy is dealt with.
> Planning such a recovery and working out the logisitcs
> is important, but the emphasis should be on carrying
> out people first.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 19:33:06 -0400
From: Ron May <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
Archaeo-politics, that is what Tom King used to call it. Without national
politics, we would not have the archaeology laws of today. Please take care
to
study the legislation that spawns from Katrina and the levees, as it will
affect
how archaeology is done in the future. Not to mention historic studies.
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 09:59:32 +1000
From: Denis Gojak <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
I think Ron is right.
The sheer scale of the disaster and the apparent problems in dealing with
them are likely to result in wide-ranging changes to a whole host of laws
and arrangements that will directly and indirectly affect cultural heritage
places and ways of working. The message that archaeologists and
organisations that can affect policy change can now take is to plan, plan,
plan and commit to worst case events taking place and push this as a case
for more thoughtful allocation of resources. We now have a string of major
calamities that show that fundamental systems - such as land tenure records,
town admnistrative records and archival repositories - are under threat and
can be irretrievably lost. Archaeo-politicians may have to remind
politicians who only live in the present that these represent losses of
major financial and social consequence, and use that as a lever to get
better arrangements for archives to be at least copied, if not more securely
housed.
The importance of sending in crack squads of conservators was highlighted in
the Aceh province of Indonesia which suffered from the recent tsunami - a
death toll dwarfing Katherine in human loss and probably economic loss as
well. All land tenure records for several regions were lost when local
government buildings were destroyed, resulting in people who had lived by
established right on land for several generations to have suddenly lost
their only written evidence of occupancy. How that ends up playing itself
out is still to be seen, but the analogy for Hurricane Katherine is likely
to be apt. The people who appear to have been most affected were not owners
of land and buildings but ones whose livelihoods depend a lot on bits of
paper and the willingness of their landlords and insurers to accept their
claims of loss.
Denis Gojak
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron May" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 9:33 AM
Subject: Re: Ignore Previous Post (yeah, that'll happen)
> Archaeo-politics, that is what Tom King used to call it. Without national
> politics, we would not have the archaeology laws of today. Please take
> care to
> study the legislation that spawns from Katrina and the levees, as it will
> affect
> how archaeology is done in the future. Not to mention historic studies.
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 20:11:58 -0400
From: Ron May <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Bob,
Those questions you posed are all good. I am reminded of Hurricane Kathleen
that his San Diego in 1979, which ripped out prehistoric sites dating more
than
1000 years old. Hurricane Katrina destroyed pre-Civil War houses, which
makes
me wonder if this is not a harbinger of something worse in the future?
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 20:46:23 -0400
From: Charles L Heath <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Response to Jill Yakubik--Home Available
Hello Jill,
Apologies to the list, but there seems to be no other contact information
for Jill Yakubik or her colleagues.
I do not know what the archaeology job prospects are in the
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina area, but there are a number of
CRM firms that might be able to offer you a temporary position (TRC Garrow
Associates, URS Corp., Coastal Carolina Research, Inc., Environmental
Services, Inc., Legacy Research Associates, Inc.). Otherwise, the growing
"Triangle Area" job market might offer you other (non-archaeological) job
prospects (e.g., Research Triangle Park [RTP] industries, state
universities, state government).
If you, anyone associated with your firm, or any other archaeologists from
the devastated Louisiana/Mississippi areas find some work opportunities, or
would just like to come and look for a position, in our area of North
Carolina, my family and I, offer our home to you as a temporary home. We
have limited space, but can offer you a single bedroom, with adjacent
bathroom, as well as "run" of the kitchen/living area. We would feel
particularly privileged to host a family with young children, but you or any
of your colleagues are certainly welcome. I know its not much, but we would
like to help in whatever way we can. Our home is your home.
Charles and Ruth Heath
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Jill Yakubik
Sent: Thu 9/1/2005 12:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hurricane damage
Tulane and Loyola Universities have been closed for the semester. Beauvoir,
home of Jeff Davis, was badly damaged/destroyed. Insofar as the Museums are
concerned, no one is allowed into the city to check. The situation is very
grim--they are marking the roofs of the houses with the dead, because the
have to concentrate on rescuing the living.
Anybody need any homeless archaeologists for per diem work?
Jill Yakubik, Ph.D., RPA
President, Earth Search, Inc.
Formerly of New Orleans
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 18:11:15 -1100
From: Shannon Lee Dawdy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: More on Katrina
Several have asked how to help. For contributions, Red Cross
is still the most effective first-responder
(http://www.redcross.org/), but I also recommend Mercy Corps
(http://www.mercycorps.org/).
I am archiving your suggestions and offers of help. When I
hear more from the library/musuem/preservation community, I
will let them know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shannon Lee Dawdy
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
773-834-0829
------------------------------
End of HISTARCH Digest - 1 Sep 2005 to 2 Sep 2005 (#2005-210)
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