Preserving the Past for the Future
[Music]
i would like to begin this talk
by taking a moment to show respect and
recognition for the ancestral lands of
the menehowac people
people who were removed from northern
virginia but who live on
through the land i acknowledge and honor
with gratitude the land
and waterways and the people who have
stewarded them throughout the
generations
i respect the memory and history of the
people who came before me
and the land upon which i live our world
has changed dramatically
especially in the last few months this
is a turbulent time
climate change social movements about
unequal justice
and the coven 19 pandemic our country
our world is in a state of emergency
coven 19 has complicated our lives
and made us re-examine our personal and
professional priorities
it has also forced us to create new
procedures for our daily lives
i now carry a face covering with me
wherever i go and am vigilant about
washing my hands
the virus has also challenged us to
reinvent how we establish
and maintain relationships not just our
personal relationships
but also how we connect with the world
around us including
our relationships with cultural heritage
as we look toward an
uncertain future preserving our past who
we are
and what we’ve accomplished has never
been more important
through the simple acts of communication
and collaboration
we can make a difference to protect our
cultural treasures
at home and at museums libraries
archives and heritage sites individuals
and organizations around the world and
in our own backyard
are taking steps to promote awareness
and preparedness
against threats to the heritage we value
and as the collections management
specialist
with the smithsonian’s national
collections program i strive to do just
that
each day in partnership with my
colleagues within the smithsonian
we are all collection stewards
regardless of our titles
departments or specialties through
communication and collaboration
early and often we make a difference for
the collections that belong to this
nation
in the quiet times as well as the
challenging ones
let me take you back in time for a
moment to one of those challenging days
february 10 2010. i was working at the
national air and space museum when
on that february day one of our
collection storage buildings partially
collapsed
due to 33 inches of snow and high winds
the building was already closed due to
the snowfall so thankfully
no one was in the building at the time
when i heard the news
my heart sank our first instincts as
collection stewards was to get on site
and pull
all the objects out of the building
immediately this is not what happened
and it was not the right way to be
thinking human lives and safety come
first
that was my baptism by snow into the
world of collections of emergency
management
we were not permitted back into the
building for several days
in the meantime we got ourselves our
facility and our plan
ready for recovery of the collections
and 26 days later
we went to work on march 18th it was all
hands on deck
and the recovery began and continued
through several campaigns
until the 10th of may within three
months we went from a stable building
and happy standard operations
to a barren concrete slab and months of
documentation
stabilization and reorganization of the
collections
this was a severe but rare event
the building collapse was costly but it
was not on the same scale
what i’m about to describe since 2010
it has been quote an unprecedented
decade
of billion-dollar disasters unquote
according to a report from the national
oceanic and atmospheric association
this year there have been 10 disasters
to date
that have cost 1 billion or more in
recovery
the number and cost of disasters are
multiplying over time
due to a combination of exposure
vulnerability
and that climate change is increasing
the frequency of some types of extremes
that lead to billion dollar disasters
these events affected not only homes
but also cultural sites considering this
data
and the building collapse the
smithsonian has taken positive steps
to prepare for collections emergencies
that may be the result
of these types of disasters one
significant step
in 2016 included the creation of a team
that i have the honor to lead
the preparedness and response in
collections emergencies team
price this is the first central
collections emergency response team for
the smithsonian
this team of eight cultural heritage
professionals
leave efforts to raise awareness of
everyday risks
as well as the extreme hazards and other
challenges
related to our changing social cultural
public health and environmental climate
the price team teaches smithsonian staff
what they can do today
to mitigate those risks and preserve the
collections for many years to come
there are only eight of us and we cannot
do the work of protecting and preserving
millions of collection items at the
smithsonian on our own
we need partners each day we work to
develop partnerships among our 6 000
colleagues
including staff from collections
security facility
safety and health exhibits and many
others
we learn with and from each other by
actively listening to one another’s
perspectives
and by doing joint training exercises
and workshops
these are things we can do today to keep
the collections and ourselves
safe tomorrow through the four stages of
the disaster life cycle
price teaches workshop participants to
mitigate risks
by completing assessments in their
storage and exhibit areas
think where are the problems and what
can i do
to remedy or prevent them for example a
leak occurs consistently near a basketry
collection
the collection is composed of handmade
baskets made from grasses
trees vines and bark these items used to
be sturdy enough to carry fruits and
vegetables
but are now hundreds of years old so the
baskets are not as strong as they once
were
collection staff document the specific
location of the leak
volume of water and effect on the
collections and share that information
with their facilities partners
so they can make the necessary repairs
this simple act of communication
supports mitigating this threat in the
future
we prepare all staff by providing
training like teaching handling
techniques for collection items
if that leak i mentioned suddenly
becomes more severe
anyone again regardless of their title
or department can be brought in to lend
a hand
once they’ve been given the opportunity
to practice handling stunt double
baskets
at one of our structured training
workshops think about how you would
handle a basket you bought yesterday
versus a basket that’s a family heirloom
you will probably be a bit more careful
with the heirloom
through practice during the peaceful
times we are better prepared to pitch in
to help each other during the
challenging times
price teaches staff how to respond
safely and forensically
we cover topics ranging from re-entry of
an affected building
documentation of the scene and mental
health in emergency response
for example we ask are you emotionally
prepared for the chaotic scene you may
walk into
damaged shelving bins of water
containing your life’s work
the fragile materials you’ve worked hard
to protect
if you’re not mentally prepared for that
it’s okay be honest with yourself
and your teammate there are many roles
to fill when it comes to the disaster
life cycle
recovery and triage techniques are
taught with the acknowledgement that it
could be years or even decades to
complete this stage
what is triage in the case of our
basketry collection
triage may include removing excess water
securing any loose pieces
and placing the basket in a container so
we don’t need to touch it directly if we
move it
given the time constraints of responding
to an emergency
the ultimate goal of triage is to
stabilize
so why do we and many other
organizations go through all these
trainings when severe events are rare
because supporting the safety and
stability of the collections today
ensures that we will still have them
tomorrow
and we are not the only ones who care
for our cultural heritage
we all have our own family treasures
that we steward
and hope to pass down to the next
generation these collection items and
cultural heritage sites
are powerful conduits that connect us to
each other
there’s an individual and a story behind
every collection item
whether it’s a specimen collected from
deep below the ocean’s waves or from
outer space
a person had the foresight to collect
and care for it behind the scenes
every letter written textile sewn
aircraft designed
orchid cultivated and basket woven that
personal connection
and story is part of what inspires us to
work together every day to preserve the
collections
price and our colleagues continue to do
our part to provide daily stewardship
positive communication and opportunities
for collaboration
to preserve and protect the collections
which we hold and trust for all of you
i wish that price had been around when
the storage building collapsed
we would have had a lot more tools in
our toolbox to respond with
we did not predict the collapse of the
building or the current pandemic
but we can prepare our cultural sites
and homes
for future emergencies by thinking ahead
about new risks from our changing
environment
every step we take together now no
matter how small
helps to steal ourselves for whatever
comes next
[Music]
you