Back to Winter 2006 Update

Second Boston Alliance for Response Forum Cements Support

Arthur Beale and Ann Russell
Forum moderator Arthur Beale
chats with Ann Russell of NEDCC.

In November 2003, the Alliance for Response forum at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, began a dialog among the city’s cultural heritage leaders, emergency management professionals, and first responders. A working group called the Cultural Emergency Management Team (CEMT) resulted. This volunteer group of cultural preservation specialists, first responders, and representatives of FEMA and the Massachusetts and Boston emergency management agencies has met monthly since February 2004. 

On December 16, 2005, CEMT hosted an Alliance for Response Forum Update: "Have We Learned Anything From Katrina?" The morning meeting at the Boston Public Library offered the opportunity to discover what initiatives are underway, locally and nationally, to protect cultural resources through partnerships with emergency managers. Current CEMT members encouraged new institutions to join them in implementing a strategy to make Boston disaster-ready.

Bernard Margolis
Bernard Margolis, President
of the Boston Public Library,
welcomes participants to
the forum.

More than 60 hardy souls braved winter weather to attend the meeting. Participants represented government agencies, university libraries, and cultural institutions as diverse as the Paul Revere House, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography. At the end of the meeting, 13 more institutions signed on to participate in future CEMT meetings.

The program featured Arthur Beale, Chair Emeritus, Department of Conservation and Collections Management, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Sara J. Wolf, Director, Northeast Museum Services Center of the National Park Service; Jane Long, Director, Heritage Emergency National Task Force, Heritage Preservation; Peter W. Judge, Public Information Officer, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency; Alan Cote, Deputy Secretary of State and Supervisor of Public Records; Bernard Margolis, President of the Boston Public Library; and Lori Foley, Field Service Director, Northeast Document Conservation Center.


Lori Foley of NEDCC talks with Peter
Judge before the forum.

CEMT’s goal is to improve mitigation, response, and recovery efforts for both manmade and natural disasters likely to affect cultural resources in the greater Boston area. The group has formulated an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to meet that goal. Its components include: