Civil War Era Document, Damaged by Katrina, Is Restored by Iowa Librarian

A four-page letter, written on blue hotel stationery by Jefferson Davis to then-U.S. President James K. Polk, had been among the rare manuscripts on display at Beauvoir, Davis’ home, now a museum and library, in Biloxi. It was also among the many artifacts that suffered the ravages of Hurrican Katrina.

Here, from the Clarion Ledger , the story of how it was saved by preservationist Gary Front of the University of Iowa Library.