Foundation support since 2000 has helped make the George Mason University Center for History and the New Media the foremost creator of interactive history websites. The September 11 Digital Archive, built by the Center and associates at City University of New York, is the first digital acquisition for permanent preservation by the Library of Congress. A Foundation officer grant in September 2005 supported the preliminary work to capture online the history of Hurricane Katrina. This new grant will allow the George Mason University team to bring to full scale a Hurricane Digital Memory Bank to collect and preserve digital evidence of the three devastating Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Up and running since late October 2006, this work seeks to ensure that memories and objects already gathered are not lost, to collect stories that otherwise might not be told, and to archive the full story of the hurricanes in an easily accessible format. The team is networking with many individuals and institutions along the Gulf Coast, including the University of New Orleans, Louisiana State Museum, and local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. This project also aims to create models that would allow interested groups to establish "hurricane memory banks" for use in future storm seasons or comparable sites for floods, volcanic eruptions, and other hazards whenever such events occur. Project Director: Professor Roy Rosenzweig, Director, Center for History and New Media, Department of History.