Members of the Orange County Regional History Center are starting to remove items from memorial sites at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, as part of the One Orlando Collection Initiative.
Mayor Theresa Jacobs explained during the June 27 inauguration that the City of Orlando is partnering with the History Center to remove and preserve items from memorial sites for the Pulse shooting victims around the city.
“Our goal is not to take this away from the public, it is to take care of it and preserve it so that these items are protected from the weather,” says Jacobs. “We don’t want people to feel that their efforts are in vain.”
Members of the History Center presented an example of the preservation process by displaying a box with a memorial banners and tissue paper, as Jacobs and Orange County Regional History Center Museum Director Michael Perkins discussed the Collection Initiative.
During the event a T-Shirt was removed from a memorial site on the lawn in front of the Dr. Phillips Center and collected by History Center members for further curating processes. A candle from the same memorial site was used to replace the removed item.
Perkins says the first step of the curating process is to document the items on site by taking pictures and writing down from where it is being removed. Then, History Center members will box up the items in an acid-free box and if the items are three-dimensional, they will be covered with tissue paper. The boxed items will be taken to an off-site storage facility where it will be curated, which involves formal pictures and documentation. The final step is to remove dirt and debris from the items.
“We’re doing everything we can to keep these items as safe as we can for future generations because that’s what’s so important. The community response to this tragedy is just overwhelming and I think these memorials are a testament to that,” says Perkins. “And it is our mission, to make sure this community response is not forgotten and it is memorialized for future generations.”
Photos by Nicole Dudenhoefer.
You must be logged in to post a comment.