Disaster Planning Project

FAIN: PG-50382-08

House of Seven Gables Settlement Association (Salem, MA 01970-5640)
Alexandria M. Mason (Project Director: May 2007 to May 2009)
Anita Blackaby (Project Director: May 2009 to April 2011)

A risk assessment, emergency planning, the purchase of disaster recovery supplies, and the training of staff at the House of the Seven Gables. Disaster preparedness will help protect the site's six historic homes, including the house where Nathaniel Hawthorne was born and the Turner-Ingersoll-Mansion (1668). The collections include 18th- and 19th-century American furniture, textiles, decorative and fine arts, works on paper, and literary materials.

The House of the Seven Gables requests $5,000 from NEH for emergency management planning. The site is a National Historic Landmark District consisting of six historic houses with associated collections and archives. Funds will support a risk assessment of the site, two workshops in disaster planning and recovery, workshop handouts, and funds to purchase basic supplies needed to respond to a disaster. A professional consultant will enable the organization to expand and improve its current disaster plan, train staff in preparing for and responding to a disaster, create a core group of responders, and obtain necessary supplies to prevent and mitigate a disaster. The total project cost is $7,620. The House of the Seven Gables' voluntary cost share is $2,620.