Not Since the Great Depression: The Post Katrina Documentary Impulse and New Media

Assembling content for an online database project regarding hurricanes Katrina and Rita provides daily opportunities to assess personal and community losses throughout the Gulf Coast. It also puts one into contact with the vast array of documentation efforts flourishing along the coast, particularly New Orleans, which serves as this catastrophe’s “Ground Zero.” Each individual’s story constitutes one invaluable piece in the immense debris field stretching from Texas to Alabama. New Media drives the documentation of the tragedies and ongoing recoveries; similarly, New Media must assist in making these invaluable materials accessible to both web surfers and scholars.

Michael Mizell-Nelson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of New Orleans and the Content and Outreach Lead for the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank . His research interests center upon the social and cultural history of New Orleans and 20th century US history. He is completing his book-length study of race relations in Jim Crow New Orleans. A background in broadcast video documentary production includes the feature-length Streetcar Stories and several documentary shorts, such as Vintage Drag, a documentary on 1930s and 40s female impersonators.