July 11, 2025 • 60 mins
Guests: Tina Seetoo, Preservation Manager at the Delta Flight Museum and Chair of Georgia Heritage Responders, and Erica Hague, Collections Manager at the Atlanta History Center and Communications Manager for Georgia Heritage Responders.
First broadcast July 11 2025. Transcript at: https://hdl.handle.net/1853/78025
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"I'm looking forward to learning all about this organization that responds to Georgia's heritage."
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ROGER MOORE (00:01):
Kermit, is it always like on this show.
KERMIT THE FROG: Oh, how do you mean? (00:03):
undefined
ROGER MOORE (00:04):
Well, all this craziness.
KERMIT THE FROG (00:06):
Oh, well, this is actually
a rather quiet show for us.
No unforeseen disasters so far.
JANICE (00:11):
Hurry up, guys.
[CLAMORING]
MISS PIGGY (00:15):
(YELLING) Watch out!
[CLATTERING]
ROGER MOORE: Unforeseen disasters? (00:18):
undefined
KERMIT THE FROG (00:20):
Well, that's a disaster
we knew about all along.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
(00:46):
You are listeningto WREK Atlanta,
and this is Lost in theStacks, the Library--
or the Research Libraryrock and roll radio show.
Gosh, I'm already filling infor Charlie and flubbing stuff.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm Alex McGee, in the studiowith Fred Rascoe, Marlee Givens,
and Cody Turner, and a fewother people we will introduce
in just a few minutes.
Each week on Lost in theStacks, we pick a theme
(01:08):
and then use it to create amix of music and library talk.
Whichever you're herefor, we hope you dig it.
FRED RASCOE (01:13):
Sounding great so far, Alex.
ALEX MCGEE (01:15):
Thank you.
FRED RASCOE (01:15):
Our show today is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And I'm glad you broughtthis show to us today, Alex.
I'm looking forward to learningall about this organization that
responds to Georgia's heritage.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:28):
That cannot be the whole story.
ALEX MCGEE (01:30):
Well, they are a band of merry cultural heritage
practitioners who partner torespond to natural disasters
and emergencysituations to ensure
the preservation of natural,cultural, and historic
resources.
FRED RASCOE (01:42):
That's an image a band of merry heritage
practitioners.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah.
That does make more sensethan just responding
to Georgia's heritage, yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:51):
Yeah, and it looks like this is a newer
organization founded recently?
ALEX MCGEE (01:55):
Well, that is also not the whole story.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:57):
All right, well, let
me just rewrite my next line.
Together, today, we are learningabout this newer but not
really neworganization that steps
in when disaster strikes andputs heritage resources at risk.
FRED RASCOE (02:11):
And are merry while doing it.
Our songs today areabout disasters.
Those are natural disasters.
Those can behuman-caused disasters,
all kinds ofdisasters-- and also
responding to keepthings safe, but really,
a lot of songs about disasters.
Turns out there arequite a few of those.
When disaster strikes,things get moving,
and no disaster gets peoplemoving faster than a fire.
(02:34):
So let's get our show movingwith "On Fire" by Stetsasonic,
right here on Lostin the Stacks.
[STETSASONIC, "ON FIRE"]
(SINGING) And yes, y'all,you are about to bear witness
To microphone fitness
A true and livingfeat to get you out
(02:56):
On fire, on fire, onfire, on fire, on fire,
On fire, on fire, on fire, onfire, on fire, on fire, on fire
ALEX MCGEE (03:08):
That was "On Fire," by Stetsasonic.
Our show today is called"Georgia Heritage Responders,"
and we are pleased towelcome Tina Seetoo,
Preservation Manager at theDelta Flight Museum and Chair
of Georgia HeritageResponders, and Erica Hague,
collections manager atthe Atlanta History Center
and Communications Manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
FRED RASCOE (03:30):
And Alex, you're doing double duty today
as co-host and partguest, I guess,
and just part of this merry bandthat we're talking about today.
So let's introduce you, too.
ALEX MCGEE (03:42):
Well, if you insist.
FRED RASCOE (03:43):
OK,
MARLEE GIVENS (03:45):
Alex McGee is University Archivist
for Georgia Tech's Library--
Georgia Tech LibrariesArchives and Special
Collections and is Secretaryfor Georgia Heritage Responders.
So Alex, let mejust start with you.
Can you tell us what isGeorgia Heritage Responders?
ALEX MCGEE (04:02):
Well, I'm going to pass it over to our guests,
actually.
Sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
I think they're thebest equipped to answer.
MARLEE GIVENS (04:07):
All right, all right, so Tina?
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (04:13):
Let's see.
The Georgia HeritageResponders are a group of--
a group of--
FRED RASCOE (04:24):
Or a merry band.
TINA SEETOO (04:25):
Or a merry band, if you will,
of cultural practitioners.
So we are from museums,libraries, archives, parks.
And we are a loosely[LAUGHS] network--
loosely bound networkof practitioners
(04:48):
that want to help people learnabout responding to disaster,
but also help out in situationsof wide area disasters
when they happen inthe state of Georgia.
FRED RASCOE (05:05):
So like anyone who has
some collection, an archivalcollection, a museum collection,
they're going to want to eitherknow about or participate
in Georgia HeritageResponders because, I
guess, when disaster happens,that's when you step in.
(05:25):
And what is thatstepping in look like?
TINA SEETOO (05:30):
Well, that's where we are still working.
So we started as anAtlanta area group,
and we've only recentlybegun to start statewide.
So we are trying toform smaller networks
(05:52):
based on FEMA regions, or GEMAregions, I guess, technically.
Sorry, Georgia EmergencyManagement Agency regions.
Sorry.
ALEX MCGEE (06:04):
No.
TINA SEETOO (06:04):
The acronyms.
ALEX MCGEE (06:05):
Thank you.
TINA SEETOO (06:06):
And so that we can maybe
have smaller groupsaround the state that
can help people locally.
But right now, we're stillin that process of building.
So we are available, throughour website, to Help. people.
(06:26):
But we also encouragepeople to join.
And that way you can do-- wehave training, so to help people
be more resilient on theirown, as well, so two goals.
Wouldn't you agree?
ERICA HAGUE (06:40):
Yeah.
I think that anyonethat's in the GLAM field--
GLAM stands for galleries,libraries, archives, museums--
and would like to join thismerry band, we're here for you.
We want to help peoplefeel like they can respond
at their own institutions orat other institutions in sort
of thinking about this as a sortof regional network of groups
(07:04):
that is statewide.
But you can helpyour neighbor, right?
If you do not needhelp yourself,
you can help your neighborwith their disaster
if something occurs.
MARLEE GIVENS (07:14):
Yeah, and I'm curious about that help.
Is it more likeboots on the ground,
or are you lending materials orgiving materials, mops, brooms,
things like that?
ERICA HAGUE (07:24):
Yeah, so it can be--
most of what we do istraining and boots on ground.
I can come and help for a day,a weekend, whatever is needed.
And that's sort ofhow we look at it.
We don't have necessarily,as an organization,
materials that we lend out.
But all of our organizationsdo have materials
(07:46):
that are used in responsethat are reusable,
like fans, dehumidifiers, thingslike that that could potentially
be lent to another institution.
ALEX MCGEE (07:54):
And we teased this in our introduction,
but can you guys talk about whatcame before Georgia Heritage
Responders?
TINA SEETOO (08:04):
Sure.
So in, I guess, 2006,we received a grant
from Heritage Preservationto have an Atlanta area.
But of course, Atlanta area isabout 10 counties, Metro area.
So we had a meeting.
(08:26):
It was held at theHigh Museum of Art.
And the purpose of the grantis to try to form a network.
And so we started out as theHeritage Emergency Response
Alliance.
We kind of movedalong that with that,
(08:46):
but found that wewere more likely for--
well, let me jump back.
Five years later,the Savannah network
was formed througha similar grant.
And so we found, yes, wemight have a local disaster.
But chances are,what Georgia faces
(09:08):
is hurricanes and therepercussions of hurricanes.
And they don't tend tobe in the Atlanta area.
For example, therewas a bad system that
came through South Georgia--
well, there's been so many.
ALEX MCGEE (09:25):
Several, yeah.
TINA SEETOO (09:26):
But the Albany Museum was hit fairly hard.
There was also an ice stormin Atlanta the next day.
So we were-- it was reallyhard for us to actually go
down and help inperson, but we were
able to assist overthe phone, get them
in touch with resources.
So it is a true network.
(09:47):
If we can't help locally, wecan try to at least assist over
the phone.
FRED RASCOE (09:53):
And what does that help look like?
When you're on the phone, whatdo the people on the other end
who are facing the waterdamage or whatever it is,
what are they facing thatthey need to know about
from the Heritage Responders?
What are you telling them?
What kind of communicationhappens in that moment?
TINA SEETOO (10:12):
Sometimes you're just holding their hand
and telling them thatthey're doing the right thing
because it's very stressful.
And talking to amuseum director who
has collections that areendangered because the roof is
missing, or they,hopefully, have insurance,
(10:39):
but there are things that youcan do before insurance kicks in
to lessen how much damagethere is to your collection.
So if they haven'tmet us already,
it's usually introducingourselves and saying,
here's what we do andtrying to get them
(10:59):
pointed to resources, whetherit's funding or questions
about specific materials.
I am a book and paper person,but so if someone asked me
about sculpture orpaintings, then I
can put them intouch with someone.
We funnel our information upthrough the National Heritage
(11:22):
Responders--
throwing that one in.
And they are also afederally funded group
through the AmericanInstitute for Conservation.
And that is acollection of people
that have thatkind of information
very specific to collections.
FRED RASCOE (11:43):
We're librarians, so we're
used to the acronyms andthe organization names.
That's fine.
Lay it on us.
TINA SEETOO (11:48):
OK.
ALEX MCGEE (11:49):
Alphabet soup.
ERICA HAGUE (11:50):
Yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (11:51):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and we will be back withmore about natural disasters
and cultural heritagepreservation after a music set.
File the set under QC955.E33.
[FREEDOM FRY, "EARTHQUAKE"]
(12:16):
[BR549, "AFTER THE HURRICANE"]
ALEX MCGEE (12:30):
That was "After the Hurricane,"
by BR549 and, before that,"Earthquake," by Freedom Fry,
songs about reactingto natural disasters.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
MARLEE GIVENS (12:46):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and today's show is called"Georgia Heritage Responders."
Our guests are TinaSeetoo, Erica Hague,
and Alex McGee, who is also aLost in the Stacks producer.
FRED RASCOE (12:59):
Tina is preservation manager
at the Delta Flight Museumand chair of Georgia Heritage
Responders, andErica is collections
manager at theAtlanta History Center
and communications manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
MARLEE GIVENS (13:13):
And our colleague Alex
is university archivist for theGeorgia Tech Libraries Archives
and Special Collections andsecretary for Georgia Heritage
Responders.
So in our firstsegment, Erica, I
remember you mentioned training.
Can you talk a little bitmore about the training
that GHR does?
ERICA HAGUE (13:32):
Yeah, so we try to do an annual training that
is hands-on, as well aslooking at what you should
be doing before a disaster.
You want to prepare.
You want to have a plan.
You want to be able toimplement that plan.
And so training is part of that.
So we try to do thiseither near year end
(13:55):
or around May Day, just funtimes with words, May Day,
on actual May Day.
But we try to do both becausewe think that a lot of people
will not be able to do ahands-on training themselves.
Sometimes you don'thave space, you
don't have theability to do that.
But that's something thatwe try to bring to the table
(14:17):
and have people do.
It's one thing to knowwhat it looks like,
and it's another thing toactually experience it and be
picking out papersthat are wet and being
like, what do I do with this?
So it's really helpful tohave both sides of that.
FRED RASCOE (14:34):
So we've talked a lot about--
or not talked about, but I'vementioned a lot that this
is kind of like a merry band.
And in a merry band, it's kindof like a loose collective.
I'm thinking of the RobinHood type of merry band.
ERICA HAGUE (14:51):
We just don't wear tights.
FRED RASCOE (14:52):
But it applies here-- maybe not the tights,
but it applies here because thisis not some formal government
agency.
This is a community ofpractitioners coming together.
And it's the communitypractitioners
that are creating thattraining, like how
to deal with this wet document,things like that, right?
ERICA HAGUE (15:11):
Yes.
FRED RASCOE (15:11):
How do you get those experts in?
Is it just like putting outa wide call for volunteers?
ERICA HAGUE (15:19):
Yeah, so the trainers, who does the training?
We have the good luckof having several people
in state that arethemselves conservators that
can help guide that process.
And then there's acouple people like myself
that have gone throughHEART training.
HEART stands for HeritageEmergency and Response Training.
(15:40):
That's done by SCRI, which isthis Smithsonian Cultural Rescue
Initiative, and FEMA.
That is an annual trainingthat is held by them that--
it's, like, a week long, andit's super in-depth to not only
what are you lookingat at an institution,
but what are you lookingat regionally when
there is a disaster and how torespond in those situations.
(16:02):
So I think there's two or threepeople in the state that have
HEART training, specifically.
And those peopleautomatically, I believe,
become NationalHeritage Responders.
And then there'sother folks that
have gone through NationalHeritage Responder
training, which is donethrough the AIC, American
Institute for Conservation, thatis part of the National Heritage
Responder network.
(16:22):
And I think there'sprobably five or six?
TINA SEETOO (16:25):
I think so, at this point.
And they also funded our initialGeorgia Heritage Responder.
And it was based--
all the people inGeorgia that did
that training, which was about35, I think, at the end of it.
It started in 2020.
(16:45):
There were some setbacks.
But we did finally doour face-to-face training
in Savannah in '22,October, I believe.
And that-- so thatis a group that
has been trained in the samemanner of the National Heritage
Responders, butlocal to Georgia.
FRED RASCOE (17:04):
Did any of you-- and Alex,
I want to includeyou in this, as well.
Did any of you decideto get involved
with this because ofa personal experience
with an archival disaster?
[LAUGHTER]
ALEX MCGEE (17:17):
Well, I think probably all of us
have dealt with somethingat our place of employment
where we leaned into ourtraining, is what I will say.
I have been party to leaks.
We did a show just afew weeks ago on our--
we had a high-humidity,high-temperature chilled water
(17:38):
outage for our librarybuilding last summer,
which we talked about howthat impacted the archives.
So certainly, I havehad leaks before I
got involved with GeorgiaHeritage Responders, but yeah.
And Tina, you--
TINA SEETOO (17:56):
So my library degree
is from the University of Texas.
And I went through theconservation program there.
So I'm a trained bookand paper conservator.
And so it was justkind of ingrained.
Disaster preparednessand recovery
(18:18):
is a part of preservation.
So I kind of couldn't avoid it.
[LAUGHTER]
ERICA HAGUE (18:28):
Most of archives, I feel like, are in basements.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
ALEX MCGEE (18:34):
Totally.
That's where we always end up.
ERICA HAGUE (18:36):
We always joke that we're basement dwellers.
And the unfortunate partof being in the basement
is there's a lotof water intrusion.
So it's not necessarilya hurricane or a fire
that I've been through, butit's a lot of water intrusion,
where water should not be,usually from those spring storms
where it's like, I'm going todump a foot of water in, like--
ALEX MCGEE (18:56):
30 minutes.
ERICA HAGUE (18:57):
--30 minutes.
[LAUGHTER]
So those are the types of thingsthat I've had to deal with.
And after the firstcouple, you're just like,
OK, we need to get a plan.
FRED RASCOE (19:08):
And you've responded to that.
And so now you know how totrain other people to respond.
ERICA HAGUE (19:13):
Correct.
FRED RASCOE (19:14):
You're listening to Lost in the Stacks.
And we'll hear moreabout natural disasters
and preserving culturalheritage from our merry band
on the left side of the hour.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
[UPBEAT COUNTRY MUSIC]
EIRA TANSEY (19:36):
This is Eira Tansey, troublemaking archivist.
You're listening to Lost inthe Stacks on WREK Atlanta.
I think I'm good.
WENDY HAGENMAIER (19:48):
Classic.
[LAUGHTER]
[UPBEAT COUNTRY MUSIC]
ALEX MCGEE (19:59):
Today's show is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And as we discuss the evolutionof heritage response today,
I want to pauseand share a passage
from "Building Resilience--
Three Decades of CulturalHeritage Emergency Preparedness
and Response in Georgia,"by our guest, Tina Seetoo,
and Christine Wiseman,published early last fall.
(20:22):
It says-- well,this passage says,
"Although significantstrides have
been made to advance thelevel of disaster resilience
among cultural heritageorganizations in Georgia,
there remains work to be done.
As Glenda Anderson sums it up"--
MARLEE GIVENS: "Perseverance is key. (20:36):
undefined
Sustainability isnever a guarantee."
ALEX MCGEE (20:41):
"Interest wanes after the initial response
to a disaster, andattention spans are short.
Governments tend to spend moneyon fixing an existing problem
rather than preparing for anevent that may never happen.
This issue is even morepronounced in the NCH community,
where staff are so oftenasked to do more with less
or, as DavidCarmichael explains"--
FRED RASCOE (21:02):
"Over the long term,
the greatest obstacle has alwaysbeen a combination of denial--
'A disaster of that magnitudecan't happen to me'--
and the tyranny of the urgent--
'I have moreimmediate concerns.'"
ALEX MCGEE (21:13):
"He further states"--
FRED RASCOE (21:15):
"I can see very little hope of overcoming those
challenges except consistent andrepeated efforts to make people
aware of the dangers andthe potential consequences
of failure."
ALEX MCGEE (21:24):
"When asked about future directions
for statewide NCH planninggiven the threat of an increase
in disasters dueto climate changes,
respondents spoke of fosteringpartnerships, utilizing
technology, and employingstrategies for sustainability.
MARLEE GIVENS (21:38):
It sounds like a job for everybody.
ALEX MCGEE (21:40):
File this set under QC944.L43.
[NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE,"LIKE A HURRICANE"]
(22:06):
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
FRED RASCOE (22:09):
"Like A Hurricane," by Neil Young and Crazy Horse--
a song about seeking safetyand shelter from an impending
disaster.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
ALEX MCGEE (22:21):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and our show today is called"Georgia Heritage Responders."
Our guests are TinaSeetoo and Erica Hague.
And I am Alex McGee, Lostin the Stacks producer
and also playing part of guest.
FRED RASCOE (22:34):
Tina is preservation manager
at the Delta Flight Museumand chair of Georgia Heritage
Responders, andErica is collections
manager at theAtlanta History Center
and communications manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
MARLEE GIVENS (22:46):
And Alex is university archivist
for the Georgia TechLibraries Archives
and Special Collectionsand, for guest purposes,
secretary of GeorgiaHeritage Responders.
ALEX MCGEE (22:56):
So we are coming to the end of our discussion today,
but I want to end bylooking ahead to the future.
Obviously, we read that lastpassage from Tina's article
with Christine.
And since then, wehave seen the damage
that storms cause in placeswhere we may not expect it.
I'm thinking about HurricaneHelene, the devastation
(23:19):
it wreaked hundreds of milesinland, but also the fires
in California, therecent flooding in Texas.
Alongside all of theseterrible natural disasters,
there have also beenchanges happening
at the federal level that aretrickling down and, we'll say,
impacting folks at thestate and local level.
And so I want to end ourdiscussion by thinking
(23:41):
about, what now, withall these changes,
with the realityof climate change?
And can you guys speak to howall these changes are impacting
Georgia Heritage Respondersand what you're thinking about
as we are now officiallyin hurricane season?
TINA SEETOO (24:00):
Oh, yeah.
ALEX MCGEE (24:01):
I know, it's a lot.
It's a big, big question.
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (24:06):
Well, I can speak to the sustainability.
I think we've alwaystried to limit our focus
to try-- like ifsomebody, a group,
is already out theredoing other things,
let's just stay in our lane.
Let's focus on either thetraining aspect or the response.
But really, because we allhave 40-hour-a-week jobs,
(24:33):
and this is just something thatwe do volunteer, so that is--
the sustainabilityis important to us,
so trying to really make it aseasy as possible to be a member,
but also to go forward and help.
Hopefully, that makes sense.
ALEX MCGEE (24:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, and I guess wecan mention GaNCH,
a powerful tool that is helpfulwhen we do need to respond.
So Erica, I'm going toput you on the spot.
ERICA HAGUE (25:05):
Yeah, so GaNCH is a tool where we pool from Wikidata
and we look for all ofthe cultural resources,
the parks, things like that.
And from Wikidatayou can pool a lot
of more generic emails,typically, but for institutions
that are maybe smaller or maybeonly have one staff member.
(25:25):
And we can send pre-storm andpost-storm sort of updates
to those email addresses.
And so we try to be reallytargeted with those.
And we have-- there's over1,000 of these locations across
the state.
And sending those out sometimesdoesn't net back a lot.
(25:46):
But we are alwayswilling to help.
And especially during thelast hurricane season,
where we saw some really badstorms come through Georgia,
we did get quite a few peoplethat were reaching out just
for advice or forother resources that
might be able to helpthem in their response.
So I think that, for GeorgiaHeritage Responders moving
(26:08):
forward, we're reallylooking to use this tool more
and to refine it and its use.
ALEX MCGEE (26:14):
Yeah, because we are still actively--
people are adding to GaNCH.
It is a livingdatabase, if you will.
TINA SEETOO (26:21):
And I'll go ahead and plug that it was--
the creation of GaNCH wasfunded by a catalyst grant
from LYRASIS, which is a librarynetwork that is headquartered
here in Atlanta.
ALEX MCGEE (26:33):
I think so, yeah.
TINA SEETOO (26:34):
Maybe.
ALEX MCGEE (26:34):
I think, yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (26:35):
Sure.
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (26:38):
But anyway, it allowed
us grant fundingto pull together
these data sets from abunch of different areas
to start that initial--
but we need your help.
If you are from an institution,just go check out your--
you can go to that website.
ALEX MCGEE (26:55):
Your listing.
TINA SEETOO (26:56):
Check out your listing.
It will point you to theWikidata for your institution.
Our main sticky point is thatwe don't have a generic email
address thatblahmuseum@gmail.com or whatever
for that institution so thatit's not linked to somebody who
(27:19):
might get another job andmove away and that can--
or director@whatever.com.
So getting those generic waysof contacting institutions
after a storm isvery much needed.
FRED RASCOE (27:38):
We're talking about sustainability.
And I want to focus a little biton organizational sustainability
for the future in our currentpolitical environment.
It wasn't just but a few yearsago that I would have said,
wow, we really need tohave federal and state
government resources involvedin doing this kind of work.
(28:03):
Now, I wonder if Iwould think that I
would want to put that in thehands of federal and state
government.
But who else isgoing to do this?
So to make thiscommunity continue,
what's the strategy to keep thisorganization going and helping
(28:23):
libraries and museumsthat respond to disaster?
ERICA HAGUE (28:26):
So we're not just bringing the merry band
together, we'reexpanding the merry band.
FRED RASCOE (28:30):
Right, yeah.
ALEX MCGEE (28:31):
Looking to expand, for sure.
ERICA HAGUE (28:33):
Yeah, I think that everyone
that is interested injoining the merry band
can definitely reach out.
But it's not something that's--
if that doesn'tsound interesting,
I mean, that's understandable.
But for me, I think that it'sone of those things where
I get a lot of--
helping otherpeople is something
(28:54):
that I really like to do.
And this is not onlyhelping my institution,
it's not only helping ourneighboring institutions,
it's helping peopleacross the state.
So that's who I think we'dlove to have join us, if so.
But the band can expand.
TINA SEETOO (29:11):
Yes.
ERICA HAGUE (29:12):
Exponentially.
But yeah, I think that one ofthe things that we struggle with
is that there's a lot of peoplefrom Atlanta, which is great,
and there's lots of peoplein Savannah, which is great,
but there's peopleacross the state.
And this is astatewide organization.
ALEX MCGEE (29:31):
Well, I think that's a nice positive note
to leave it on.
It's the community that willsustain this organization
in the absence ofhigher-up support.
How about that?
Yeah.
FRED RASCOE (29:46):
And we're keeping the band merry.
ALEX MCGEE (29:48):
We're keeping the band merry.
FRED RASCOE (29:49):
An optimistic, merry note.
Yeah, I think more organizationsshould adopt the adjective
"merry."
[LAUGHTER]
MARLEE GIVENS (29:56):
Yeah maybe a missed opportunity.
But Georgia Heritage Responderstells you what it is,
absolutely.
This is Lost in theStacks, and you've
been listening to our discussionwith Georgia Heritage Responders
board members Tina Seetoo,Erica Hague, and Alex McGee.
Thank you all somuch for joining us.
ERICA HAGUE (30:14):
Thank you.
TINA SEETOO (30:15):
Thanks.
ALEX MCGEE (30:16):
File this set under TN311.U6.
[THE BEE GEES, "NEW YORKMINING DISASTER 1941"]
(SINGING) In theevent of something
[SPIROGYRA, "CAPTAIN'S LOG"]
MARLEE GIVENS (30:40):
That was "Captain's Log," by Spirogyra.
And before that, "New YorkMining Disaster 1941,"
by the Bee Gees, songs aboutartifacts preserved from
disaster.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
ALEX MCGEE (30:59):
Today's episode is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And before we rollthe credits, I
was wondering ifanyone in the studio
has had to save resourcesof their own from a disaster
or if you havethought through what
you would save in a disaster.
Fred, I know that your house hashad some water damage recently,
so we're going tostart with you.
FRED RASCOE (31:20):
Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me about that.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah, currently, stillwithout a kitchen,
going on month and a half now.
But fortunately, we are stillable to live in the house.
The damage was not to anything--
(31:40):
any of our possessionsor anything
like that, anythingthat we collected.
It was just to thecabinets and to the floor.
And so they had--
cabinets and floor and thewall had to be wiped out
and uninstalled.
But the things in thecabinets, they were like,
some spice jars andthings like that.
So we were veryfortunate that we
(32:03):
didn't have to worryabout preserving
something that was ofsentimental value or something
like that.
How about you, Marlee?
MARLEE GIVENS (32:12):
I'm counting myself lucky
that our leaks have all been inrooms that have water in them
already, like the bathroom.
We don't tend to keep valuableartifacts in the bathroom.
So yeah, knock on wood.
How about you, Tina?
TINA SEETOO (32:27):
Oh, yeah, well, during Hurricane Helene, I was--
our house was hit by a tree,a big 50-foot sweetgum.
If you know what a sweetgumis, it's very dense.
It also was mostly--
the damage was toour kitchen, so not--
but I did--
(32:47):
I woke up immediately at 3:30,and I ran in to get my work
computer.
[LAUGHTER]
I was like, I don't wantto have to replace this.
ALEX MCGEE (32:56):
Oh, but technology and water don't mix well.
TINA SEETOO (32:58):
No, and so there was just a fountain
coming down through theroof into and onto our table
in the kitchen.
So we were just--
basically got a tarp.
And I guess this is mytraining-- got a tarp, connected
it to the ceiling, and we'refunneling all the water out
(33:19):
onto the back deck for,like, eight hours or however
long it took, or wheneverit stopped raining.
But yeah, I didn't have tomake any decisions like that.
FRED RASCOE (33:31):
How about you, Erica?
ERICA HAGUE (33:32):
I have had the good fortune
to not have many disastersin my own personal life.
However, my aunt anduncle live in St. Pete,
and they're in afirst-floor condo.
And so both the hurricanesthat hit St. Pete in succession
last year took outthe majority of--
it flooded themtwice, basically.
(33:52):
And they are still notback in their condo.
And I think that a lot ofpeople that are down in Florida
are in the samesituation, where it's
a lot of waitingfor contractors,
waiting for it to berebuilt. So they, luckily,
didn't have anythingon the floor.
All their stuff was higher up.
But they didn't lose anythingsuper important, which is good.
ALEX MCGEE (34:14):
That is--
you said somethingthat that's my takeaway
from all of this is I donot keep my valuable things
on the floor.
ERICA HAGUE (34:22):
Yes.
ALEX MCGEE (34:22):
So they are on higher shelves that I can grab.
We have some--
FRED RASCOE (34:26):
My kids still haven't learned that.
ALEX MCGEE (34:28):
Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
Hopefully, it'll come.
You need to make them listento this show, I guess, yeah.
Well, with that,roll the credits.
[UPBEAT DRUMMING]
Lost in the Stacksis a collaboration
between WREK Atlanta andthe Georgia Tech Library,
written and produced by AlexMcGee, Charlie Bennett, Fred
Rascoe, and Marlee Givens.
MARLEE GIVENS (34:49):
Legal counsel and a hideout for a Merry band
were provided by the BurrusIntellectual Property Law Group
in Atlanta, Georgia.
ALEX MCGEE (34:58):
Special thanks to Tina and Erica
for being on the show, naturalcultural and heritage responders
who step up in thewake of a disaster.
And thanks, as always, toeach and every one of you
for listening.
MARLEE GIVENS (35:08):
Our web page is library.gatech.e
du/lostinthestacks, where you'llfind our most recent episode,
a link to our podcastfeed, and a web form
if you want to getin touch with us.
ALEX MCGEE (35:19):
Next week, we'll be speaking
about transferable skillsfrom library public services
with a group of librarianswho used to do that.
FRED RASCOE (35:26):
Or a merry band of librarians.
I can't get off of it.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm going to drivethat into the ground.
Time for our last song today.
When water or mold orsmoke or any other hazard
threatens to harm your archivalcollection, even a sweetgum
tree, you'll want to be readyto respond, and quickly,
because when disasterstrikes, your world can
(35:47):
be rocked like a hurricane.
Oh, right?
Right?
Yeah, OK.
Dad jokes all around.
It's a rock and rollradio show, after all.
So let's close the show andstart our weekend with "Rock You
Like a Hurricane,"by the Scorpions,
(36:07):
right here on Lostin the Stacks.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
[SCORPIONS, "ROCK YOU LIKE AHURRICANE"]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ROGER MOORE (00:01):
Kermit, is it always like on this show.
KERMIT THE FROG: Oh, how do you mean? (00:03):
undefined
ROGER MOORE (00:04):
Well, all this craziness.
KERMIT THE FROG (00:06):
Oh, well, this is actually
a rather quiet show for us.
No unforeseen disasters so far.
JANICE (00:11):
Hurry up, guys.
[CLAMORING]
MISS PIGGY (00:15):
(YELLING) Watch out!
[CLATTERING]
ROGER MOORE: Unforeseen disasters? (00:18):
undefined
KERMIT THE FROG (00:20):
Well, that's a disaster
we knew about all along.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
(00:46):
You are listeningto WREK Atlanta,
and this is Lost in theStacks, the Library--
or the Research Libraryrock and roll radio show.
Gosh, I'm already filling infor Charlie and flubbing stuff.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm Alex McGee, in the studiowith Fred Rascoe, Marlee Givens,
and Cody Turner, and a fewother people we will introduce
in just a few minutes.
Each week on Lost in theStacks, we pick a theme
(01:08):
and then use it to create amix of music and library talk.
Whichever you're herefor, we hope you dig it.
FRED RASCOE (01:13):
Sounding great so far, Alex.
ALEX MCGEE (01:15):
Thank you.
FRED RASCOE (01:15):
Our show today is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And I'm glad you broughtthis show to us today, Alex.
I'm looking forward to learningall about this organization that
responds to Georgia's heritage.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:28):
That cannot be the whole story.
ALEX MCGEE (01:30):
Well, they are a band of merry cultural heritage
practitioners who partner torespond to natural disasters
and emergencysituations to ensure
the preservation of natural,cultural, and historic
resources.
FRED RASCOE (01:42):
That's an image a band of merry heritage
practitioners.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah.
That does make more sensethan just responding
to Georgia's heritage, yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:51):
Yeah, and it looks like this is a newer
organization founded recently?
ALEX MCGEE (01:55):
Well, that is also not the whole story.
MARLEE GIVENS (01:57):
All right, well, let
me just rewrite my next line.
Together, today, we are learningabout this newer but not
really neworganization that steps
in when disaster strikes andputs heritage resources at risk.
FRED RASCOE (02:11):
And are merry while doing it.
Our songs today areabout disasters.
Those are natural disasters.
Those can behuman-caused disasters,
all kinds ofdisasters-- and also
responding to keepthings safe, but really,
a lot of songs about disasters.
Turns out there arequite a few of those.
When disaster strikes,things get moving,
and no disaster gets peoplemoving faster than a fire.
(02:34):
So let's get our show movingwith "On Fire" by Stetsasonic,
right here on Lostin the Stacks.
[STETSASONIC, "ON FIRE"]
(SINGING) And yes, y'all,you are about to bear witness
To microphone fitness
A true and livingfeat to get you out
(02:56):
On fire, on fire, onfire, on fire, on fire,
On fire, on fire, on fire, onfire, on fire, on fire, on fire
ALEX MCGEE (03:08):
That was "On Fire," by Stetsasonic.
Our show today is called"Georgia Heritage Responders,"
and we are pleased towelcome Tina Seetoo,
Preservation Manager at theDelta Flight Museum and Chair
of Georgia HeritageResponders, and Erica Hague,
collections manager atthe Atlanta History Center
and Communications Manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
FRED RASCOE (03:30):
And Alex, you're doing double duty today
as co-host and partguest, I guess,
and just part of this merry bandthat we're talking about today.
So let's introduce you, too.
ALEX MCGEE (03:42):
Well, if you insist.
FRED RASCOE (03:43):
OK,
MARLEE GIVENS (03:45):
Alex McGee is University Archivist
for Georgia Tech's Library--
Georgia Tech LibrariesArchives and Special
Collections and is Secretaryfor Georgia Heritage Responders.
So Alex, let mejust start with you.
Can you tell us what isGeorgia Heritage Responders?
ALEX MCGEE (04:02):
Well, I'm going to pass it over to our guests,
actually.
Sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
I think they're thebest equipped to answer.
MARLEE GIVENS (04:07):
All right, all right, so Tina?
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (04:13):
Let's see.
The Georgia HeritageResponders are a group of--
a group of--
FRED RASCOE (04:24):
Or a merry band.
TINA SEETOO (04:25):
Or a merry band, if you will,
of cultural practitioners.
So we are from museums,libraries, archives, parks.
And we are a loosely[LAUGHS] network--
loosely bound networkof practitioners
(04:48):
that want to help people learnabout responding to disaster,
but also help out in situationsof wide area disasters
when they happen inthe state of Georgia.
FRED RASCOE (05:05):
So like anyone who has
some collection, an archivalcollection, a museum collection,
they're going to want to eitherknow about or participate
in Georgia HeritageResponders because, I
guess, when disaster happens,that's when you step in.
(05:25):
And what is thatstepping in look like?
TINA SEETOO (05:30):
Well, that's where we are still working.
So we started as anAtlanta area group,
and we've only recentlybegun to start statewide.
So we are trying toform smaller networks
(05:52):
based on FEMA regions, or GEMAregions, I guess, technically.
Sorry, Georgia EmergencyManagement Agency regions.
Sorry.
ALEX MCGEE (06:04):
No.
TINA SEETOO (06:04):
The acronyms.
ALEX MCGEE (06:05):
Thank you.
TINA SEETOO (06:06):
And so that we can maybe
have smaller groupsaround the state that
can help people locally.
But right now, we're stillin that process of building.
So we are available, throughour website, to Help. people.
(06:26):
But we also encouragepeople to join.
And that way you can do-- wehave training, so to help people
be more resilient on theirown, as well, so two goals.
Wouldn't you agree?
ERICA HAGUE (06:40):
Yeah.
I think that anyonethat's in the GLAM field--
GLAM stands for galleries,libraries, archives, museums--
and would like to join thismerry band, we're here for you.
We want to help peoplefeel like they can respond
at their own institutions orat other institutions in sort
of thinking about this as a sortof regional network of groups
(07:04):
that is statewide.
But you can helpyour neighbor, right?
If you do not needhelp yourself,
you can help your neighborwith their disaster
if something occurs.
MARLEE GIVENS (07:14):
Yeah, and I'm curious about that help.
Is it more likeboots on the ground,
or are you lending materials orgiving materials, mops, brooms,
things like that?
ERICA HAGUE (07:24):
Yeah, so it can be--
most of what we do istraining and boots on ground.
I can come and help for a day,a weekend, whatever is needed.
And that's sort ofhow we look at it.
We don't have necessarily,as an organization,
materials that we lend out.
But all of our organizationsdo have materials
(07:46):
that are used in responsethat are reusable,
like fans, dehumidifiers, thingslike that that could potentially
be lent to another institution.
ALEX MCGEE (07:54):
And we teased this in our introduction,
but can you guys talk about whatcame before Georgia Heritage
Responders?
TINA SEETOO (08:04):
Sure.
So in, I guess, 2006,we received a grant
from Heritage Preservationto have an Atlanta area.
But of course, Atlanta area isabout 10 counties, Metro area.
So we had a meeting.
(08:26):
It was held at theHigh Museum of Art.
And the purpose of the grantis to try to form a network.
And so we started out as theHeritage Emergency Response
Alliance.
We kind of movedalong that with that,
(08:46):
but found that wewere more likely for--
well, let me jump back.
Five years later,the Savannah network
was formed througha similar grant.
And so we found, yes, wemight have a local disaster.
But chances are,what Georgia faces
(09:08):
is hurricanes and therepercussions of hurricanes.
And they don't tend tobe in the Atlanta area.
For example, therewas a bad system that
came through South Georgia--
well, there's been so many.
ALEX MCGEE (09:25):
Several, yeah.
TINA SEETOO (09:26):
But the Albany Museum was hit fairly hard.
There was also an ice stormin Atlanta the next day.
So we were-- it was reallyhard for us to actually go
down and help inperson, but we were
able to assist overthe phone, get them
in touch with resources.
So it is a true network.
(09:47):
If we can't help locally, wecan try to at least assist over
the phone.
FRED RASCOE (09:53):
And what does that help look like?
When you're on the phone, whatdo the people on the other end
who are facing the waterdamage or whatever it is,
what are they facing thatthey need to know about
from the Heritage Responders?
What are you telling them?
What kind of communicationhappens in that moment?
TINA SEETOO (10:12):
Sometimes you're just holding their hand
and telling them thatthey're doing the right thing
because it's very stressful.
And talking to amuseum director who
has collections that areendangered because the roof is
missing, or they,hopefully, have insurance,
(10:39):
but there are things that youcan do before insurance kicks in
to lessen how much damagethere is to your collection.
So if they haven'tmet us already,
it's usually introducingourselves and saying,
here's what we do andtrying to get them
(10:59):
pointed to resources, whetherit's funding or questions
about specific materials.
I am a book and paper person,but so if someone asked me
about sculpture orpaintings, then I
can put them intouch with someone.
We funnel our information upthrough the National Heritage
(11:22):
Responders--
throwing that one in.
And they are also afederally funded group
through the AmericanInstitute for Conservation.
And that is acollection of people
that have thatkind of information
very specific to collections.
FRED RASCOE (11:43):
We're librarians, so we're
used to the acronyms andthe organization names.
That's fine.
Lay it on us.
TINA SEETOO (11:48):
OK.
ALEX MCGEE (11:49):
Alphabet soup.
ERICA HAGUE (11:50):
Yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (11:51):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and we will be back withmore about natural disasters
and cultural heritagepreservation after a music set.
File the set under QC955.E33.
[FREEDOM FRY, "EARTHQUAKE"]
(12:16):
[BR549, "AFTER THE HURRICANE"]
ALEX MCGEE (12:30):
That was "After the Hurricane,"
by BR549 and, before that,"Earthquake," by Freedom Fry,
songs about reactingto natural disasters.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
MARLEE GIVENS (12:46):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and today's show is called"Georgia Heritage Responders."
Our guests are TinaSeetoo, Erica Hague,
and Alex McGee, who is also aLost in the Stacks producer.
FRED RASCOE (12:59):
Tina is preservation manager
at the Delta Flight Museumand chair of Georgia Heritage
Responders, andErica is collections
manager at theAtlanta History Center
and communications manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
MARLEE GIVENS (13:13):
And our colleague Alex
is university archivist for theGeorgia Tech Libraries Archives
and Special Collections andsecretary for Georgia Heritage
Responders.
So in our firstsegment, Erica, I
remember you mentioned training.
Can you talk a little bitmore about the training
that GHR does?
ERICA HAGUE (13:32):
Yeah, so we try to do an annual training that
is hands-on, as well aslooking at what you should
be doing before a disaster.
You want to prepare.
You want to have a plan.
You want to be able toimplement that plan.
And so training is part of that.
So we try to do thiseither near year end
(13:55):
or around May Day, just funtimes with words, May Day,
on actual May Day.
But we try to do both becausewe think that a lot of people
will not be able to do ahands-on training themselves.
Sometimes you don'thave space, you
don't have theability to do that.
But that's something thatwe try to bring to the table
(14:17):
and have people do.
It's one thing to knowwhat it looks like,
and it's another thing toactually experience it and be
picking out papersthat are wet and being
like, what do I do with this?
So it's really helpful tohave both sides of that.
FRED RASCOE (14:34):
So we've talked a lot about--
or not talked about, but I'vementioned a lot that this
is kind of like a merry band.
And in a merry band, it's kindof like a loose collective.
I'm thinking of the RobinHood type of merry band.
ERICA HAGUE (14:51):
We just don't wear tights.
FRED RASCOE (14:52):
But it applies here-- maybe not the tights,
but it applies here because thisis not some formal government
agency.
This is a community ofpractitioners coming together.
And it's the communitypractitioners
that are creating thattraining, like how
to deal with this wet document,things like that, right?
ERICA HAGUE (15:11):
Yes.
FRED RASCOE (15:11):
How do you get those experts in?
Is it just like putting outa wide call for volunteers?
ERICA HAGUE (15:19):
Yeah, so the trainers, who does the training?
We have the good luckof having several people
in state that arethemselves conservators that
can help guide that process.
And then there's acouple people like myself
that have gone throughHEART training.
HEART stands for HeritageEmergency and Response Training.
(15:40):
That's done by SCRI, which isthis Smithsonian Cultural Rescue
Initiative, and FEMA.
That is an annual trainingthat is held by them that--
it's, like, a week long, andit's super in-depth to not only
what are you lookingat at an institution,
but what are you lookingat regionally when
there is a disaster and how torespond in those situations.
(16:02):
So I think there's two or threepeople in the state that have
HEART training, specifically.
And those peopleautomatically, I believe,
become NationalHeritage Responders.
And then there'sother folks that
have gone through NationalHeritage Responder
training, which is donethrough the AIC, American
Institute for Conservation, thatis part of the National Heritage
Responder network.
(16:22):
And I think there'sprobably five or six?
TINA SEETOO (16:25):
I think so, at this point.
And they also funded our initialGeorgia Heritage Responder.
And it was based--
all the people inGeorgia that did
that training, which was about35, I think, at the end of it.
It started in 2020.
(16:45):
There were some setbacks.
But we did finally doour face-to-face training
in Savannah in '22,October, I believe.
And that-- so thatis a group that
has been trained in the samemanner of the National Heritage
Responders, butlocal to Georgia.
FRED RASCOE (17:04):
Did any of you-- and Alex,
I want to includeyou in this, as well.
Did any of you decideto get involved
with this because ofa personal experience
with an archival disaster?
[LAUGHTER]
ALEX MCGEE (17:17):
Well, I think probably all of us
have dealt with somethingat our place of employment
where we leaned into ourtraining, is what I will say.
I have been party to leaks.
We did a show just afew weeks ago on our--
we had a high-humidity,high-temperature chilled water
(17:38):
outage for our librarybuilding last summer,
which we talked about howthat impacted the archives.
So certainly, I havehad leaks before I
got involved with GeorgiaHeritage Responders, but yeah.
And Tina, you--
TINA SEETOO (17:56):
So my library degree
is from the University of Texas.
And I went through theconservation program there.
So I'm a trained bookand paper conservator.
And so it was justkind of ingrained.
Disaster preparednessand recovery
(18:18):
is a part of preservation.
So I kind of couldn't avoid it.
[LAUGHTER]
ERICA HAGUE (18:28):
Most of archives, I feel like, are in basements.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
ALEX MCGEE (18:34):
Totally.
That's where we always end up.
ERICA HAGUE (18:36):
We always joke that we're basement dwellers.
And the unfortunate partof being in the basement
is there's a lotof water intrusion.
So it's not necessarilya hurricane or a fire
that I've been through, butit's a lot of water intrusion,
where water should not be,usually from those spring storms
where it's like, I'm going todump a foot of water in, like--
ALEX MCGEE (18:56):
30 minutes.
ERICA HAGUE (18:57):
--30 minutes.
[LAUGHTER]
So those are the types of thingsthat I've had to deal with.
And after the firstcouple, you're just like,
OK, we need to get a plan.
FRED RASCOE (19:08):
And you've responded to that.
And so now you know how totrain other people to respond.
ERICA HAGUE (19:13):
Correct.
FRED RASCOE (19:14):
You're listening to Lost in the Stacks.
And we'll hear moreabout natural disasters
and preserving culturalheritage from our merry band
on the left side of the hour.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
[UPBEAT COUNTRY MUSIC]
EIRA TANSEY (19:36):
This is Eira Tansey, troublemaking archivist.
You're listening to Lost inthe Stacks on WREK Atlanta.
I think I'm good.
WENDY HAGENMAIER (19:48):
Classic.
[LAUGHTER]
[UPBEAT COUNTRY MUSIC]
ALEX MCGEE (19:59):
Today's show is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And as we discuss the evolutionof heritage response today,
I want to pauseand share a passage
from "Building Resilience--
Three Decades of CulturalHeritage Emergency Preparedness
and Response in Georgia,"by our guest, Tina Seetoo,
and Christine Wiseman,published early last fall.
(20:22):
It says-- well,this passage says,
"Although significantstrides have
been made to advance thelevel of disaster resilience
among cultural heritageorganizations in Georgia,
there remains work to be done.
As Glenda Anderson sums it up"--
MARLEE GIVENS: "Perseverance is key. (20:36):
undefined
Sustainability isnever a guarantee."
ALEX MCGEE (20:41):
"Interest wanes after the initial response
to a disaster, andattention spans are short.
Governments tend to spend moneyon fixing an existing problem
rather than preparing for anevent that may never happen.
This issue is even morepronounced in the NCH community,
where staff are so oftenasked to do more with less
or, as DavidCarmichael explains"--
FRED RASCOE (21:02):
"Over the long term,
the greatest obstacle has alwaysbeen a combination of denial--
'A disaster of that magnitudecan't happen to me'--
and the tyranny of the urgent--
'I have moreimmediate concerns.'"
ALEX MCGEE (21:13):
"He further states"--
FRED RASCOE (21:15):
"I can see very little hope of overcoming those
challenges except consistent andrepeated efforts to make people
aware of the dangers andthe potential consequences
of failure."
ALEX MCGEE (21:24):
"When asked about future directions
for statewide NCH planninggiven the threat of an increase
in disasters dueto climate changes,
respondents spoke of fosteringpartnerships, utilizing
technology, and employingstrategies for sustainability.
MARLEE GIVENS (21:38):
It sounds like a job for everybody.
ALEX MCGEE (21:40):
File this set under QC944.L43.
[NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE,"LIKE A HURRICANE"]
(22:06):
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
FRED RASCOE (22:09):
"Like A Hurricane," by Neil Young and Crazy Horse--
a song about seeking safetyand shelter from an impending
disaster.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
ALEX MCGEE (22:21):
This is Lost in the Stacks,
and our show today is called"Georgia Heritage Responders."
Our guests are TinaSeetoo and Erica Hague.
And I am Alex McGee, Lostin the Stacks producer
and also playing part of guest.
FRED RASCOE (22:34):
Tina is preservation manager
at the Delta Flight Museumand chair of Georgia Heritage
Responders, andErica is collections
manager at theAtlanta History Center
and communications manager forGeorgia Heritage Responders.
MARLEE GIVENS (22:46):
And Alex is university archivist
for the Georgia TechLibraries Archives
and Special Collectionsand, for guest purposes,
secretary of GeorgiaHeritage Responders.
ALEX MCGEE (22:56):
So we are coming to the end of our discussion today,
but I want to end bylooking ahead to the future.
Obviously, we read that lastpassage from Tina's article
with Christine.
And since then, wehave seen the damage
that storms cause in placeswhere we may not expect it.
I'm thinking about HurricaneHelene, the devastation
(23:19):
it wreaked hundreds of milesinland, but also the fires
in California, therecent flooding in Texas.
Alongside all of theseterrible natural disasters,
there have also beenchanges happening
at the federal level that aretrickling down and, we'll say,
impacting folks at thestate and local level.
And so I want to end ourdiscussion by thinking
(23:41):
about, what now, withall these changes,
with the realityof climate change?
And can you guys speak to howall these changes are impacting
Georgia Heritage Respondersand what you're thinking about
as we are now officiallyin hurricane season?
TINA SEETOO (24:00):
Oh, yeah.
ALEX MCGEE (24:01):
I know, it's a lot.
It's a big, big question.
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (24:06):
Well, I can speak to the sustainability.
I think we've alwaystried to limit our focus
to try-- like ifsomebody, a group,
is already out theredoing other things,
let's just stay in our lane.
Let's focus on either thetraining aspect or the response.
But really, because we allhave 40-hour-a-week jobs,
(24:33):
and this is just something thatwe do volunteer, so that is--
the sustainabilityis important to us,
so trying to really make it aseasy as possible to be a member,
but also to go forward and help.
Hopefully, that makes sense.
ALEX MCGEE (24:54):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, and I guess wecan mention GaNCH,
a powerful tool that is helpfulwhen we do need to respond.
So Erica, I'm going toput you on the spot.
ERICA HAGUE (25:05):
Yeah, so GaNCH is a tool where we pool from Wikidata
and we look for all ofthe cultural resources,
the parks, things like that.
And from Wikidatayou can pool a lot
of more generic emails,typically, but for institutions
that are maybe smaller or maybeonly have one staff member.
(25:25):
And we can send pre-storm andpost-storm sort of updates
to those email addresses.
And so we try to be reallytargeted with those.
And we have-- there's over1,000 of these locations across
the state.
And sending those out sometimesdoesn't net back a lot.
(25:46):
But we are alwayswilling to help.
And especially during thelast hurricane season,
where we saw some really badstorms come through Georgia,
we did get quite a few peoplethat were reaching out just
for advice or forother resources that
might be able to helpthem in their response.
So I think that, for GeorgiaHeritage Responders moving
(26:08):
forward, we're reallylooking to use this tool more
and to refine it and its use.
ALEX MCGEE (26:14):
Yeah, because we are still actively--
people are adding to GaNCH.
It is a livingdatabase, if you will.
TINA SEETOO (26:21):
And I'll go ahead and plug that it was--
the creation of GaNCH wasfunded by a catalyst grant
from LYRASIS, which is a librarynetwork that is headquartered
here in Atlanta.
ALEX MCGEE (26:33):
I think so, yeah.
TINA SEETOO (26:34):
Maybe.
ALEX MCGEE (26:34):
I think, yeah.
MARLEE GIVENS (26:35):
Sure.
[LAUGHTER]
TINA SEETOO (26:38):
But anyway, it allowed
us grant fundingto pull together
these data sets from abunch of different areas
to start that initial--
but we need your help.
If you are from an institution,just go check out your--
you can go to that website.
ALEX MCGEE (26:55):
Your listing.
TINA SEETOO (26:56):
Check out your listing.
It will point you to theWikidata for your institution.
Our main sticky point is thatwe don't have a generic email
address thatblahmuseum@gmail.com or whatever
for that institution so thatit's not linked to somebody who
(27:19):
might get another job andmove away and that can--
or director@whatever.com.
So getting those generic waysof contacting institutions
after a storm isvery much needed.
FRED RASCOE (27:38):
We're talking about sustainability.
And I want to focus a little biton organizational sustainability
for the future in our currentpolitical environment.
It wasn't just but a few yearsago that I would have said,
wow, we really need tohave federal and state
government resources involvedin doing this kind of work.
(28:03):
Now, I wonder if Iwould think that I
would want to put that in thehands of federal and state
government.
But who else isgoing to do this?
So to make thiscommunity continue,
what's the strategy to keep thisorganization going and helping
(28:23):
libraries and museumsthat respond to disaster?
ERICA HAGUE (28:26):
So we're not just bringing the merry band
together, we'reexpanding the merry band.
FRED RASCOE (28:30):
Right, yeah.
ALEX MCGEE (28:31):
Looking to expand, for sure.
ERICA HAGUE (28:33):
Yeah, I think that everyone
that is interested injoining the merry band
can definitely reach out.
But it's not something that's--
if that doesn'tsound interesting,
I mean, that's understandable.
But for me, I think that it'sone of those things where
I get a lot of--
helping otherpeople is something
(28:54):
that I really like to do.
And this is not onlyhelping my institution,
it's not only helping ourneighboring institutions,
it's helping peopleacross the state.
So that's who I think we'dlove to have join us, if so.
But the band can expand.
TINA SEETOO (29:11):
Yes.
ERICA HAGUE (29:12):
Exponentially.
But yeah, I think that one ofthe things that we struggle with
is that there's a lot of peoplefrom Atlanta, which is great,
and there's lots of peoplein Savannah, which is great,
but there's peopleacross the state.
And this is astatewide organization.
ALEX MCGEE (29:31):
Well, I think that's a nice positive note
to leave it on.
It's the community that willsustain this organization
in the absence ofhigher-up support.
How about that?
Yeah.
FRED RASCOE (29:46):
And we're keeping the band merry.
ALEX MCGEE (29:48):
We're keeping the band merry.
FRED RASCOE (29:49):
An optimistic, merry note.
Yeah, I think more organizationsshould adopt the adjective
"merry."
[LAUGHTER]
MARLEE GIVENS (29:56):
Yeah maybe a missed opportunity.
But Georgia Heritage Responderstells you what it is,
absolutely.
This is Lost in theStacks, and you've
been listening to our discussionwith Georgia Heritage Responders
board members Tina Seetoo,Erica Hague, and Alex McGee.
Thank you all somuch for joining us.
ERICA HAGUE (30:14):
Thank you.
TINA SEETOO (30:15):
Thanks.
ALEX MCGEE (30:16):
File this set under TN311.U6.
[THE BEE GEES, "NEW YORKMINING DISASTER 1941"]
(SINGING) In theevent of something
[SPIROGYRA, "CAPTAIN'S LOG"]
MARLEE GIVENS (30:40):
That was "Captain's Log," by Spirogyra.
And before that, "New YorkMining Disaster 1941,"
by the Bee Gees, songs aboutartifacts preserved from
disaster.
[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]
ALEX MCGEE (30:59):
Today's episode is called "Georgia Heritage
Responders."
And before we rollthe credits, I
was wondering ifanyone in the studio
has had to save resourcesof their own from a disaster
or if you havethought through what
you would save in a disaster.
Fred, I know that your house hashad some water damage recently,
so we're going tostart with you.
FRED RASCOE (31:20):
Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me about that.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah, currently, stillwithout a kitchen,
going on month and a half now.
But fortunately, we are stillable to live in the house.
The damage was not to anything--
(31:40):
any of our possessionsor anything
like that, anythingthat we collected.
It was just to thecabinets and to the floor.
And so they had--
cabinets and floor and thewall had to be wiped out
and uninstalled.
But the things in thecabinets, they were like,
some spice jars andthings like that.
So we were veryfortunate that we
(32:03):
didn't have to worryabout preserving
something that was ofsentimental value or something
like that.
How about you, Marlee?
MARLEE GIVENS (32:12):
I'm counting myself lucky
that our leaks have all been inrooms that have water in them
already, like the bathroom.
We don't tend to keep valuableartifacts in the bathroom.
So yeah, knock on wood.
How about you, Tina?
TINA SEETOO (32:27):
Oh, yeah, well, during Hurricane Helene, I was--
our house was hit by a tree,a big 50-foot sweetgum.
If you know what a sweetgumis, it's very dense.
It also was mostly--
the damage was toour kitchen, so not--
but I did--
(32:47):
I woke up immediately at 3:30,and I ran in to get my work
computer.
[LAUGHTER]
I was like, I don't wantto have to replace this.
ALEX MCGEE (32:56):
Oh, but technology and water don't mix well.
TINA SEETOO (32:58):
No, and so there was just a fountain
coming down through theroof into and onto our table
in the kitchen.
So we were just--
basically got a tarp.
And I guess this is mytraining-- got a tarp, connected
it to the ceiling, and we'refunneling all the water out
(33:19):
onto the back deck for,like, eight hours or however
long it took, or wheneverit stopped raining.
But yeah, I didn't have tomake any decisions like that.
FRED RASCOE (33:31):
How about you, Erica?
ERICA HAGUE (33:32):
I have had the good fortune
to not have many disastersin my own personal life.
However, my aunt anduncle live in St. Pete,
and they're in afirst-floor condo.
And so both the hurricanesthat hit St. Pete in succession
last year took outthe majority of--
it flooded themtwice, basically.
(33:52):
And they are still notback in their condo.
And I think that a lot ofpeople that are down in Florida
are in the samesituation, where it's
a lot of waitingfor contractors,
waiting for it to berebuilt. So they, luckily,
didn't have anythingon the floor.
All their stuff was higher up.
But they didn't lose anythingsuper important, which is good.
ALEX MCGEE (34:14):
That is--
you said somethingthat that's my takeaway
from all of this is I donot keep my valuable things
on the floor.
ERICA HAGUE (34:22):
Yes.
ALEX MCGEE (34:22):
So they are on higher shelves that I can grab.
We have some--
FRED RASCOE (34:26):
My kids still haven't learned that.
ALEX MCGEE (34:28):
Oh, yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
Hopefully, it'll come.
You need to make them listento this show, I guess, yeah.
Well, with that,roll the credits.
[UPBEAT DRUMMING]
Lost in the Stacksis a collaboration
between WREK Atlanta andthe Georgia Tech Library,
written and produced by AlexMcGee, Charlie Bennett, Fred
Rascoe, and Marlee Givens.
MARLEE GIVENS (34:49):
Legal counsel and a hideout for a Merry band
were provided by the BurrusIntellectual Property Law Group
in Atlanta, Georgia.
ALEX MCGEE (34:58):
Special thanks to Tina and Erica
for being on the show, naturalcultural and heritage responders
who step up in thewake of a disaster.
And thanks, as always, toeach and every one of you
for listening.
MARLEE GIVENS (35:08):
Our web page is library.gatech.e
du/lostinthestacks, where you'llfind our most recent episode,
a link to our podcastfeed, and a web form
if you want to getin touch with us.
ALEX MCGEE (35:19):
Next week, we'll be speaking
about transferable skillsfrom library public services
with a group of librarianswho used to do that.
FRED RASCOE (35:26):
Or a merry band of librarians.
I can't get off of it.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm going to drivethat into the ground.
Time for our last song today.
When water or mold orsmoke or any other hazard
threatens to harm your archivalcollection, even a sweetgum
tree, you'll want to be readyto respond, and quickly,
because when disasterstrikes, your world can
(35:47):
be rocked like a hurricane.
Oh, right?
Right?
Yeah, OK.
Dad jokes all around.
It's a rock and rollradio show, after all.
So let's close the show andstart our weekend with "Rock You
Like a Hurricane,"by the Scorpions,
(36:07):
right here on Lostin the Stacks.
Have a great weekend, everybody.
[SCORPIONS, "ROCK YOU LIKE AHURRICANE"]
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