When Disaster Strikes: Environmental Impacts on Collections Preservation

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Cultural heritage collections are threatened resources. Climate change exacerbates physical risk posed by insufficient facilities and infrastructure. Many museums, repositories, and collections facilities worldwide are ill-equipped to handle increased frequency of natural disasters exemplified by recent flooding in Louisiana, wildfires in California and Arizona, Super storm Sandy, and Hurricane Katrina. New collections of fragile, perishable, and organic materials rescued from sites facing imminent destruction encounter poor refuge in overburdened, vulnerable facilities. While collections may be "saved" via excavation, future research, education, and public outreach remain imperiled if the facilities to house these new collections are sub-standard. Most repositories are inadequately prepared for and therefore susceptible to the gamut of natural disasters. Confronting these challenges offers the opportunity to develop collaborative solutions that will not only benefit heritage preservation across the world, but also enrich research relevant to that changing world. This symposium brings together international experience and expertise focused on more effective planning for response to climate threats and the preservation challenges they pose.

Other Keywords
Climate Change • Collections • emergency response • Costal erosion

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • USA (Country) • Delaware (State / Territory) • Connecticut (State / Territory) • Greenland (Country) • West Virginia (State / Territory) • New Jersey (State / Territory) • Virginia (State / Territory) • District of Columbia (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)

  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • Disaster Struck: Smithsonian Museum Support Center Earthquake Response and Recovery (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Rosenthal. Kerry Button.

    On August 23, 2011, an earthquake centered in Louisa County, Virginia affected the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. Measured at a magnitude of 5.8, this was the strongest quake in the area since 1944, reaching as many as 12 states and felt as far away as Canada. The quake caused damage to a number of national landmarks including the Washington Monument, the National Cathedral, and several Smithsonian buildings. The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support Center (MSC) in Suitland, MD, home...

  • Emergency Response PTSD, Climate Change Denial, and Resiliency: The New World Disorder (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara Wolf.

    Curators and conservators have been wading through water for decades to rescue museum collections after natural and man-made disasters. The urge to "fix" things that have broken seems to be rooted in our DNA. Since 2003, I have had the opportunity not only to be a part of the emergency response community, but to witness the impact of these events on responders and collections. At the same time, there has been the development of an entire museum emergency response profession, a dramatic uptick in...

  • Finding our Way Forward: Collections Management in a Changing World (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Heather Thakar.

    Confronting the existing challenges of archaeological collections management amid increasing threat from environmental disasters Museums, Curation facilities, and Repositories worldwide are struggling to preserve irreplaceable cultural heritage. At the same time researchers and government agencies are also struggling to mitigate loss of valuable cultural heritage threatened outside of existing facilities. All involved clearly want to increase opportunities to learn valuable lessons and collect...

  • Our Collections at Risk: Climate Change Threats to NPS Museum Property (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robert Sonderman. Stefan Woehlke.

    Over the past 15 years NPS Collections from Texas to Maine have faced devastating impacts from hurricanes and other climate related events. During this time, Hurricanes such as Isabel, Ivan, Katrina and Sandy have wrought havoc on NPS museum collections. Although not subjected to direct impacts from these recent hurricanes, National Capital Region (NCR) parks have been heavily damaged by their collateral impacts, typically in the form of flooding along the Potomac Valley. It is simply a matter...

  • Walakpa as Case Study: Rescuing Heritage and Data from a Vanishing Site (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Anne Jensen.

    Walakpa is an iconic Arctic site with spectacular preservation, due to frozen conditions. Although many believe it to have been fully excavated, Stanford was only able to reach a third of the way to sterile soil due to permafrost, so earlier occupations of the site remain unstudied. Long considered stable, Walakpa began eroding rapidly in 2013. A single recent storm removed over 30 meters of cultural stratigraphy along a 100+ meter front. Need for rapid response prompted a large volunteer...