Recovery and Preservation of Archives HURRICANE KATRINA EMERGENCY GRANT

FAIN: PC-50016-06

Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA 70125-1056)
Robert Skinner (Project Director: November 2005 to April 2007)

The Xavier University of Louisiana Library holds historic collections documenting African American life and literature. Highlights of the collections include a collection of poetry by African Americans published in New Orleans in the 1840s; the photographic archives of Arthur Bedou, a pioneering black photographer who traveled with Booker T. Washington as an official photographer; and the New Orleans Crusader, an African American newspaper famous for bringing the Plessey vs. Ferguson case to the Supreme Court. Because these collections were stored on a higher floor of the library building, they escaped flood damage but are now threatened by mold. The library staff contacted conservation and disaster specialists, who have begun clean-up and repair. A professional firm has begun to freeze-dry and sterilize the collections in order to prevent the further spread of mold spores.