Agnes in NEPA

New Agnes Web Site to serve as “Virtual Museum”
For immediate release

On the 30th anniversary of the 1972 flood in Wyoming Valley, nearly every media outlet in the region is preparing retrospective programming or publications. In 2002, the Internet is a medium that did not even exist at the time of the flood, and Michelle Hryvnak, a 21-year old Hanover Township resident, sees the World Wide Web as an opportunity to create a virtual museum. According to Hryvnak, the idea came to her upon hearing her parents and grandparents talk about the flood and seeing their photographs. “I realized that these stories and pictures should be preserved while we still had the chance, and no one was doing it in an organized fashion.” The site is located at www.agnesinnepa.org

As she did her research, she discovered that there is quite a bit of information about the 1972 disaster on the Internet, but that it was terribly fragmented and often hard to find. Moreover, there was no place where people could share the personal stories and pictures that are the really important part of history.

“On a program on WVIA recently, Dr. Anthony Mussari appealed for a museum of the flood. I can’t build a museum, but I can build a web site!” The objective of the site is to bring together in one spot as much factual and anecdotal information about the flood as possible, and then make it accessible to everyone. Where the actual information can’t be represented on the web, such as books and videos, there is a directory of resources and where to find them.

According to Hryvnak, the site is a work is progress. “I’m hoping people will contribute to it, and make suggestions for additions. Then, when Dr. Mussari’s physical flood museum comes along, it will already have a great web site!”

To that end, Hryvnak is encouraging media and institutions to provide her access to their resources. “Anything I put up on the site will be credited to the source, and that gives them the visibility they need. It’s a win-win situation, and a great way to preserve all we can for future generations. I missed the flood by about ten years, but I want tomorrow’s kids to be able to have some place to go where they can learn all about it.

For more information:

Michelle Hryvnak-Davies
www.agnesinnepa.org
mhryvnak@gmail.com