Heritage Emergency National Task Force

Alliance for Response Forums Scheduled

This year, Heritage Preservation launched a new Task Force initiative called Alliance for Response. Its purpose is to build partnerships between the stewards of cultural heritage and first responders and to strengthen emerging cultural heritage networks. Heritage Preservation and local partners will conduct invitation-only forums in four cities.

The first forum will take place at the Dallas Museum of Art on November 14, 2003. Under the leadership of Amigos Library Services, a distinguished local committee has been creating a program to provide education on disaster management issues, raise awareness of the need to protect cultural and historic resources, and develop a core network of people to facilitate local disaster response. The Forum will conclude with a behind-the-scenes tour. The planning committee includes representatives from the Texas State Archives, Texas Association of Museums, Texas Library Association, and the regional office of the National Archives and Records Administration.

On November 17, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, will host a program developed by the Northeast Document Conservation Center, in cooperation with the MFA, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Vermont Museums & Galleries Alliance, Naval War College Library, and Fire Safety Network. The forum will bring together 60 cultural heritage leaders, senior emergency management professionals, and first responders from the greater Boston area. Speakers will include Anne Hawley, Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Stephen McGrail, Director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency; and Bernard Margolis, President of the Boston Public Library.

The last forum of the year, organized by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc., OHIONET, Miami University of Ohio, and other members of the Ohio Preservation Council, will be hosted by the Cincinnati Art Museum on December 12. The meeting participants will assess local needs and resources to determine how they can best create more effective regional disaster response networks. Wes Boomgaarden, Preservation Librarian of the Ohio State University, and Julie Page, Preservation Librarian of the University of California-San Diego, along with local, state, regional and national emergency responders, will be among the presenters.

A final forum in New York City will take place in early 2004. Heritage Preservation will release a report on the lessons learned from the four events. It is anticipated that the networks fostered by the forums will serve as models of cooperation for other communities.

Watch the Heritage Preservation Web site for future news on this significant initiative. Click here for a PDF file of the project summary.