Committee to Rescue Italian Art records

The Committee to Rescue Italian Art (CRIA) was organized in response to the devastating floods which swept across North and Central Italy on November 4, 1966. On November 8, CRIA sent two experts to examine the situation in Florence and Venice. They made their report to the group and its honorary president, Mrs. John F. Kennedy, on the same day which it incorporated, November 14. At the same time, CRIA moved into offices in New York City and principal committees were formed. CRIA began immediately its work of restoring and repairing works of art damaged by the flooding with an initial goal of raising $2,500,000 for the rescue work. By early December, CRIA was able to announce its first grants and more allocations were made later that month and in January. Within a month there were fifty branches of CRIA across the country. Most of the national and regional committee work was done by art historians, collectors, and graduate students. Dario Covi, professor of art history at the University of Louisville, served as the Kentucky Area Chair for CRIA.