A cottage built by architect Jeremiah Allen was destroyed by fire March 7 on Block Island, a mystery shipwreck discovered about 35 miles from Louisiana's coast revealed many artifacts, and a piece of pottery with the possible face of Shakespeare was discovered in Shoreditch near Shakespeare's first theater.
Tag Archives: Disaster Recovery
Posts about emergency preparedness, disaster response, salvage, recovery, and resilience for cultural heritage sites, collections, buildings, and communities.
Kate Chopin House: Taking a look at a heritage recovery operation
By Jeff Guin A lot has happened in the three months since the National Historic Landmark Kate Chopin House was lost to fire. Much goes into a salvage effort of this scale, and you may be surprised that how much care has been taken with the remains of the building and of its surviving contents. Preservation Today recently spoke with Dustin Fuqua of the heritage research organization Cultural Lore about his experience leading the rescue operation. Here are some of his insights on the topic.
Heritage resources define community, even in their loss
The destruction of the Kate Chopin House and Bayou Folk Museum by fire becomes a test of what heritage actually means to a community. The building and its collections represented decades of stewardship and local memory, but the response to their loss—students, preservation organizations, government agencies, businesses, and residents immediately helping one another—revealed another kind of cultural resource. The piece argues that heritage survives not only in objects and structures, but in the relationships formed around caring for them.
National Landmark “Kate Chopin House” is lost to fire
CLOUTIERVILLE, LA--The Kate Chopin House, named for the legendary feminist writer who lived there during the 1880s, burned to the ground in an early morning fire today. The structure had been named a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of Interior in 1993.
U.S. Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Update
By Rachel Ribando Gros As the United States Gulf Coast recovers from the most recent hurricanes there, news about the cultural resources affected continues to pop up on the internet.
Top five sources for disaster response information
This resource guide gathers practical disaster-response information for cultural institutions facing floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other emergencies. Drawing on preservation organizations and government sources, it emphasizes planning, damage assessment, material-specific recovery, health concerns, triage, and drying methods. Its continuing lesson is straightforward: cultural resources become especially vulnerable when organizations wait until disaster strikes to determine where expertise, supplies, procedures, and reliable information can be found.
Slow Earthquake Recovery in Wells, Nev.
Six months after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Wells, Nevada, damaged homes and historic downtown buildings remained unrepaired as the community struggled with uninsured losses and limited federal aid. The piece highlights a recurring preservation problem after disasters: cultural resources can remain at risk long after the immediate emergency has passed.