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National "Documerica" Environmental Photo Exhibit Comes to National Archives at Kansas City

Release Date: 05/15/2012
Contact Information: National Archives at Kansas City - Kimberlee Ried, (816) 268-8072, kimberlee.ried@nara.gov; EPA Region 7 - David Bryan, (913) 551-7433, bryan.david@epa.gov

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Kansas City, Kan., May 15, 2012) - The National Archives at Kansas City, in cooperation with EPA Region 7, will open EPA’s “Documerica” exhibit of photographs depicting environmental conditions of the past and present beginning May 16, 2012. The display’s visit to Kansas City is the seventh stop in a national tour and will be open through May 31, 2012.

From its development in 1971, “Documerica” became the United States’ first serious pictorial examination of the environment. The project collected more than 15,000 images, documenting the environmental and human conditions of this country when EPA was starting its mission. The idea was to visually record the difference in conditions in later years, providing the public with a measurement of progress made to accomplish goals set by Congress.

Forty years later the project was rediscovered with the help of National Archives. “State of the Environment” launched Earth Day 2011 as an opportunity for the public to participate and engage in a modern revitalization of Documerica. There are more than 1,900 new images that have been submitted to EPA through Flickr.

WHO: Karl Brooks, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 7

WHAT: Opening Ceremonies for EPA’s “Documerica” Photographic Traveling Exhibit National Tour

WHERE: National Archives at Kansas City, 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo. 64108

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday May 16, 2012

The EPA photo project will continue accepting submissions through the end of 2013. Public entries will be considered for a larger exhibit of both projects set for March-September 2013 at the U.S. National Archives’ Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 15 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by Federal agencies in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. For more information, call (816) 268-8000, email - kansascity.educate@nara.gov, or visit www.archives.gov/central-plains.