Steven:

I'm guessing the "war booty" you are expecting will not be stolen art, but
rather souvenirs from around the war zone, including things from the
battlefront, homes and captured/dead enemy soldiers.

Get a policy before they start arriving home. Since the airborne is an
integral part of your town, it should probably be part of your Collecting
Plan. Having worked at a museum with shelves and shelves of ever conceivable
war souvenir and not able to do anything with them (the great question of
how do you deaccession nazi paraphernalia), my advice is be prepared and
don't be afraid to say no. Remember your mission, and if you have one, your
collecting policy.

If you are worried about alienating a local community (i.e. the military) by
saying no, one option you might want to consider is a temporary exhibit on
the war where you could loan objects from the soldiers and then return them
to them at the end of the exhibit. If this is part of your mission, it could
be a good community-building project (think of the public programs you could
do!) it would make the soldiers feel honored, and on a selfish front it will
give you time to review what is being offered so you can accept the most
choice pieces, especially those which the public responded to the most.

And remember, just because they brought it home, do not assume it is legal
and cleared customs. Soldiers are ingenious at carrying all sorts of illegal
booty home (see the above-mentioned shelves). Since you have a relationship
with the base, I would contact them to get the Army's policy on booty and
souvenirs to ensure whatever you do take is legal. Having used this before,
I can testify it is pretty strict and explicit and will help you a great
deal not only to avoid certain donations, but also to predict what might be
coming in so you can formulate a policy

Pamela Feltus
(I'm sending this on my own hard-earned experience, not on behalf of AAM
policy!)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jennifer Uhrhane [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 12:23 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Iraq donations
>
> how can you even consider accepting works of art stolen from another
> country!? i don't see that there is any "fine line" on this issue...you
> will cross "the line" if you accept those works. better to figure out
> how to return items (if presented to you) to the museums from which
> they were looted!
> --
> Jennifer Uhrhane
> [log in to unmask]
> www.detailphoto.com
>
> On Apr 2, 2004, at 11:17 AM, Steven Stewart wrote:
>
> > I am the Curator of Collections at a general museum in Tennessee.
> > Our "sister" town has an Army base for the 101st airborne division.
> >
> > With the recent return of many soldiers and civilians from the Middle
> > East,
> > we are thinking that we are going to be confornted with the
> > possibiblity of
> > donations of "war booty".  We are very concerned that there might be a
> > fine
> > line of whether we should accept dontations or not of this sort.  We
> > are
> > sure that similar institutions around the country will be facing the
> > same
> > issuses.
> >
> > Is anyone out there developing a policy on this?  Does the AAM or any
> > other
> > similar professional oraganization have a developed standard on this
> > type
> > of thing?  The tide may never come in, but we want to be prepared with
> > a
> > structured policy and procedure to handle this type of thing if it
> > happens.
> >
> > Looking for some guidance in this "touchy" area...
> >
> > Steven Stewart
> > Curator of Collections
> > Customs House Museum and Cultural Center
> >
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