diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupManager.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupManager.java
index 6c06f0a44..6c7310b9f 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupManager.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupManager.java
@@ -18,7 +18,16 @@ import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
 /**
- * TODO
+ * Instantiate and run the ServletContextListeners for Vitro, while accumulating
+ * messages in StartupStatus.
+ * 
+ * The startup listeners are stored in a file with one full-qualified class name
+ * per line. Blank lines and comment lines (starting with '#') are ignored.
+ * 
+ * No exception in the listeners should prevent the successful completion.
+ * However, an uncaught exception or a fatal error status will cause the
+ * StartupStatusDisplayFilter to disply the problem instead of showing the home
+ * page (or any other requested page).
  */
 public class StartupManager implements ServletContextListener {
 	private static final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(StartupManager.class);
@@ -175,8 +184,11 @@ public class StartupManager implements ServletContextListener {
 		try {
 			log.debug("Initializing '" + listener.getClass().getName() + "'");
 			listener.contextInitialized(sce);
+			ss.listenerExecuted(listener);
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			ss.fatal(listener, "Threw unexpected exception", e);
+			log.error("Listener threw fatal exception: '"
+					+ listener.getClass().getName() + "'", e);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupStatus.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupStatus.java
index f28fe226e..447a2addc 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupStatus.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/startup/StartupStatus.java
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.startup;
 
+import java.io.PrintWriter;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -10,11 +12,16 @@ import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
 import javax.servlet.ServletContextListener;
 
 /**
- * TODO
+ * Accumulates a list of messages from the StartupManager, and from the context
+ * listeners that the run during startup.
  */
 public class StartupStatus {
 	private static final String ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "STARTUP_STATUS";
 
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+	// static methods
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 	public static StartupStatus getBean(ServletContext ctx) {
 		StartupStatus ss;
 
@@ -29,6 +36,10 @@ public class StartupStatus {
 		return ss;
 	}
 
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+	// methods to set status
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 	private List<StatusItem> itemList = new ArrayList<StatusItem>();
 
 	public void info(ServletContextListener listener, String message) {
@@ -58,21 +69,22 @@ public class StartupStatus {
 		addItem(StatusItem.Level.FATAL, listener, message, cause);
 	}
 
+	/** Say that a previous fatal error prevented this listener from running. */
 	public void listenerNotExecuted(ServletContextListener listener) {
-		addItem(StatusItem.Level.NOT_EXECUTED, listener, "Not executed", null);
+		addItem(StatusItem.Level.NOT_EXECUTED,
+				listener,
+				"Not executed - startup was aborted by a previous fatal error.",
+				null);
 	}
 
-	public boolean isStartupAborted() {
+	/** Create a simple item for this listener if no other exists. */
+	public void listenerExecuted(ServletContextListener listener) {
 		for (StatusItem item : itemList) {
-			if (item.level == StatusItem.Level.FATAL) {
-				return true;
+			if (item.getSourceName().equals(listener.getClass().getName())) {
+				return;
 			}
 		}
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	public List<StatusItem> getStatusItems() {
-		return Collections.unmodifiableList(itemList);
+		addItem(StatusItem.Level.INFO, listener, "Ran successfully.", null);
 	}
 
 	private void addItem(StatusItem.Level level, ServletContextListener source,
@@ -80,22 +92,92 @@ public class StartupStatus {
 		itemList.add(new StatusItem(level, source, message, cause));
 	}
 
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+	// methods to query status
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+	public boolean allClear() {
+		return getErrorItems().isEmpty() && getWarningItems().isEmpty();
+	}
+
+	public boolean isStartupAborted() {
+		return !getErrorItems().isEmpty();
+	}
+
+	public List<StatusItem> getStatusItems() {
+		return Collections.unmodifiableList(itemList);
+	}
+
+	public List<StatusItem> getErrorItems() {
+		List<StatusItem> list = new ArrayList<StartupStatus.StatusItem>();
+		for (StatusItem item : itemList) {
+			if (item.level == StatusItem.Level.FATAL) {
+				list.add(item);
+			}
+		}
+		return list;
+	}
+
+	public List<StatusItem> getWarningItems() {
+		List<StatusItem> list = new ArrayList<StartupStatus.StatusItem>();
+		for (StatusItem item : itemList) {
+			if (item.level == StatusItem.Level.WARNING) {
+				list.add(item);
+			}
+		}
+		return list;
+	}
+
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+	// helper classes
+	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 	public static class StatusItem {
 		public enum Level {
 			INFO, WARNING, FATAL, NOT_EXECUTED
 		}
 
-		final Level level;
-		final String sourceName;
-		final String message;
-		final Throwable cause;
+		private final Level level;
+		private final String sourceName;
+		private final String shortSourceName;
+		private final String message;
+		private final String cause;
 
 		public StatusItem(Level level, ServletContextListener source,
 				String message, Throwable cause) {
 			this.level = level;
 			this.sourceName = source.getClass().getName();
+			this.shortSourceName = source.getClass().getSimpleName();
 			this.message = message;
-			this.cause = cause;
+
+			if (cause == null) {
+				this.cause = "";
+			} else {
+				StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
+				PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter(sw);
+				cause.printStackTrace(pw);
+				this.cause = sw.toString();
+			}
+		}
+
+		public Level getLevel() {
+			return level;
+		}
+
+		public String getSourceName() {
+			return sourceName;
+		}
+
+		public String getShortSourceName() {
+			return shortSourceName;
+		}
+
+		public String getMessage() {
+			return message;
+		}
+
+		public String getCause() {
+			return cause;
 		}
 
 	}