“Please Give Us Electricity,” cries a sign, evoking all the sorrow, pain, red tape and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina less than a year ago.
Discovered among the wreckage of New Orleans on Broad Street in the wake of disaster, the sign is just one of the many items documented by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in an effort to preserve and present the history of Katrina. During the week of Sept. 26 to 30, 2005, David H. Shayt, curator of the Museum’s Department of Industry, visited New Orleans and southern Mississippi in a search fo artifacts, photographs and personal stories documenting the tragedy.
“We found many objects, but not the ones we really wanted … like a $20,00 FEMA credit card or flotation devices, axes or other tools used for escaping houses,” Shayt said.
Shayt did retrieve 20 objects and more than 900 photographs to initiate the collection.
Last week the Smithsonian received additional valuable donations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including an Aug. 28, 2005, copy of the urgent weather message that accurately predicted the extent of the catastrophe — a day before the storm hit the Gulf region. The collection currently holds 60 objects.
