Park Service Team Set to Rescue Years of Artifacts

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Preserving New Orleans History

Park Service Team Set to Rescue Years of Artifacts

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2005/08/31/AR2005083102455.html

By Petula Dvorak

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, September 1, 2005; Page A19

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.

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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 town 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 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.