Dear Texas Colleagues, 

I hope you and your loved ones are managing to stay safe from the continued impacts of the severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force (HENTF), a public-private partnership between FEMA and the Smithsonian Institution, is supporting response and recovery efforts of Texas’ arts and culture sector—and the public. I am forwarding information that may be useful to you if you need recovery assistance.

FROM FEMA:

A major disaster declaration has been made on May 17, 2024, for the events that began on April 26 and are continuing.

Individual Assistance is now available in 7 counties: Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker counties(please see Designated Areas for further location and assistance details).  

1. Individual Assistance is available to individuals and households. For disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024, FEMA’s Individual Assistance program was expanded to include quicker access to needed funds including simplifying assistance for self-employed individuals such as self-employed artists and entrepreneurs. Learn more about this update in the Press Release.   

• Information on DR-4781 can be found at 4781 | FEMA.gov.

FEMA is working to gather reports of damage, identify any unmet needs, and share the following resources:   

1. Was your cultural institution or arts organization affected? If so, how? Please fill out one of the following Rapid Damage Assessment Forms:  
2. Cultural Institutions  
3. Arts Organizations  
4. Individual Artists and Performing Groups  

• Cultural institutions, arts organizations, and artists and performing groups can call the National Heritage Responders hotline: 202-661-8068. The National Heritage Responders, a team of trained conservators and collections care professionals administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, are available 24/7 to provide advice and guidance.      

• Members of the public and individual artists who have questions about saving family heirlooms and personal collections can email the National Heritage Responders at NHRpublichelpline@culturalheritage.org.  

• HENTF’s Save Your Family Treasures guidance is available at www.fema.gov/assistance/save-family-treasures. Here you can find the downloadable FEMA fact sheets “After the Flood: Advice for Salvaging Damaged Family Treasures” and “Salvaging Water-Damaged Family Valuables and Heirlooms,” available in multiple languages.     

For additional questions on FEMA assistance, please contact Please email fema-hentf@fema.dhs.gov. 

Please let us know if we can be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Gloria Meraz
Director and State Librarian
Texas State Library and Archives Commission

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The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center (SHC) in Liberty has announced a new quarterly book club starting February 27.

Featuring fictional works with a connection to the world of museums, archives, and libraries, the Sam Houston Center book club is open to all and will take place from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday in February, May, August, and November 2024, meeting in the Center’s main building at 650 FM 1011 in Liberty. Home to extensive archival holdings documenting Southeast Texas, a library collection, and a museum, the Center offers an ideal setting for discussions about novels tied to these fields. Each meeting will be led by SHC staff.

The first book club on February 27 will focus on The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. Based on a true story, this novel focuses on financier J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, who curated the collections for his library in New York City in the early twentieth century. Greene was keeping her identity, and the fact that she was African American, a secret as she operated in New York’s intellectual and artistic circles. This work of historical fiction has been a popular book club selection and fits nicely with the theme of libraries, archives, and museums.

Future quarterly book club titles include:

The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
May 28, 2024, 6:00 pm

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
August 27, 2024, 6:00 pm

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
November 26, 2024, 6:00 pm

Interested participants may obtain a copy of the novels through their local library or favorite bookstore to prepare for the conversation. For more information, contact SHC staff at (936) 336-8821 or via email at SamHoustonCenter@tsl.texas.gov.

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After delegates gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos in March of 1836 to form the new government of the Republic of Texas, they sent a handwritten copy of the Texas Declaration of Independence to the town of San Felipe de Austin for printers there to produce a broadside version for wider distribution. The printers were Baker & Bordens, a small company that handled other orders from the Texas government and published the newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register. Baker & Bordens took the order to publish 1,000 broadsides of the Declaration of Independence from Mexico. They also printed the text in the March 12, 1836, edition of their newspaper, where they apologized for neglecting to add the names of two signers of the document, including the author of the declaration, George Childress.

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