I, too, am very interested in this topic and situation. Please respond on
list. Thanks
Lori Allen,
Grad Student, UMSL
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of susan fishman-armstrong
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 8:04 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Ownership question
Hello all!
I have been asked to prepare a recommendation for my director concerning the
ethical pros and cons for acquiring a certain collection.
Let me start by giving some background. Another museum in our state has
lost significant storage space and is unable to care for a large
archeological collection that it purchased over 10 years ago. They have
asked us if we would like to acquire this collection. They would donate it
to us. After reviewing the collection, it does meet our mission, it is in
good shape, and we do have plenty of storage space to house it.
There is an ethical and legal issue, however. The individual that they
purchased the collection from was a pot-hunter (putting it delicately) who
collected during the 1950s. I am concerned about ownership, because no one
can guarantee that he always collected with permits/permission. He is no
longer alive, so we can't ask him questions about the collection.
Here is my problem. On one hand, we do not want to accept this collection,
because we do not want to acquire anything that the title of ownership is
not clear. We also do not want to accept it because we do not want to
portray an image to the community that we approve of commercial collecting.
On the other hand, this collection is scientifically important. It was
collected over 50 years ago and many of the sites are now extinct. We would
like to see it remain in our state, because of the significant cultural
heritage it holds (for our state). The other museum does not have the
capabilities to care for this collection any longer and we are the only
institution that is able to accept it in our state.
So... I would like to ask if anyone has had to deal with this sort of a
problem. If we did accept the collection, what suggestions do you have that
we could do to protect ourselves? Are there other arguments that you can
suggest that we consider? Contact me on or off-list.
Thanks,
Susan
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