[StBernard] Group to collect digital archive of history of everyday life in St. Bernard Parish before Katrina; public asked to bring photos to Nunez College from 11-4 on Jan. 20

[Westley Annis]

A group funded by the Carnegie Foundation of New York is archiving
interviews and photos of the New Orleans area before Katrina and invites St.
Bernard residents to bring photos of everyday life in the parish to Nunez
Community College from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20.
 
 The group will scan into a computer and try to restore photos damaged in
the storm but also wants to interview residents and use shots of everyday
life to help paint a picture of the parish, said Judy Stein, who has been in
Chalmette with Matt Baum. 
 
 Stein, of the Group "Do You Know What it Means?,'' a takeoff of an old song
about New Orleans, said she is involved in a project conceived by members of
the staff and alumni of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. The
Historic New Orleans Collection 533 Royal St., is also involved in the
project.
 
 For more information about the project, visit
http:doyouknowwhatitmeans.org/who.html.
 
 Photographs and footage gathered will be digitalized and archived for
future presentation and will be posted on the website
www.doyouknowwhatitmeans.org.
 
 "Our aim is to document the way life was in this parish before Katrina,''
Stein said of St. Bernard Parish. "The way life was here before the storm.''
 Her group is interested in such things as "family photos of a special day,
or photos of festivals or personal photos,'' Stein said.
 
 Residents can also be videotaped while discussing St. Bernard before the
storm, Stein said.
 
 The group encourages residents to come out to Nunez and will provide a free
lunch for participants, she said.
 
 Stein said the group is also working on getting old real estate photos of
St. Bernard homes.
 
 One phase of the project in the New Orleans area had a St. Bernard tie-in,
focusing on the Fazendeville Group, a small community that was displaced
from the area near what is now Chalmette National Cemetery next to Chalmette
Battlefield, where the Battle of New Orleans was fought on Jan. 8, 1815.
 In 1964, the National Park Service obtained their land, which was located
directly on the Chalmette Battlefield and some of those families relocated
to the Lower Ninth Ward, which was severely damaged in Hurricane Katrina and
remains largely uninhabitable today. 
 
 Stein, a photographer and alumni of the School of Visual Arts, will serve
as the Site Director for the project, and will be the primary liaison
between the institutions and people involved. She will identify respondents,
conduct the primary interviews, determine criteria for input into the
collection and organize and train local volunteers.
 
Stein can be reached at 1-(646) 391-8637.