| PC-50016-06 | Preservation and Access: Grants to Preserve and Create Access to Humanities Collections | Xavier University of Louisiana | Recovery and Preservation of Archives HURRICANE KATRINA EMERGENCY GRANT | 9/1/2005 - 8/31/2006 | $25,000.00 | Robert | | Skinner | | | | Xavier University of Louisiana | New Orleans | LA | 70125-1056 | USA | 2005 | Museum Studies or Historical Preservation | Grants to Preserve and Create Access to Humanities Collections | Preservation and Access | 25000 | 0 | 25000 | 0 | 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. |