Hurricane Digital Memory Bank Earns AASLH Award

The American Association of State and Local History recently awarded The Center for History and New Media and the University of New Orleans an Award of Merit for Leadership in History for our work on the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (www.hurricanearchive.org). AASLH presents the Award of Merit to honor significant achievement in the field of local history and to honor excellence in special projects.

Launched in November 2005 to collect and preserve the stories and digital record of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank (HDMB) has collected nearly 25,000 items. HDMB is the largest and by far the most accessible non-commercial archive containing the stories and images of Katrina and Rita. This collected evidence will prove invaluable to future historians, and the process of recording experiences of those affected by the storms will contribute to healing and rebuilding in their communities.