I have some sympathy for Dave Harvey's viewpoint, with caveats.

During the mid-70's, when I was a graduate student, one of my professors
raised an important issue: are collections safer in libraries/museums,
where they are subject to immediate loss in the event of fire/flood/war
(witness the Library at Alexandria in the past, or libraries and museums
in europe during the wars of the 20th century in our time; the temples in
Cambodia; Tibet under the Chinese....), or dispersed in private hands.

We were not able to resolve this question in class, and I have not
resolved it to my own safisfaction during the ensuing years.

In the course of building my conservation practice I have joined a number
of professional organizations.  If a complete run of an organization's
journal and/or newsletter was available, I purchased it.  The public and
university libraries in my geographical area did not (and do not) have
many of the texts which I need for my professional development, so I _took
it upon myself_ (italics added) to build a conservation reference
collection.

By 1986 it was extensive enough that I published a bibliography to the
collection.  Now, ten years later, the collection exceeds 4,000 volumes,
plus serials.

Some of my colleagues have told me that such a collection has no business
being in private hands, yet some of my books are discards from
institutions which purport to support graduate conservation training
programs, and they are in good condition (these are texts which are
germane to graduate conservation training programs for their data, not as
exemplars of paper/binding, etc.)

While I am not certain that such a collection belongs in private hands,
they were not stolen, and they were generally not otherwise available.

As to their care, I repair them as needed (not as they need, but as I need
them, and in this regard I conform to library/museum standards of
practice.)

As to the eventual disposition of the collection, there is a letter in the
family safe deposit box which suggests that an initial attempt be made to
sell the collection as a collection.  If that cannot be done in a
reasonable amount of time (that's for the heirs and assigns to determine)
then they can let the cherry pickers in.

But circumstances may work against me, as has happened with Mr. Gertler,
and his avaiation archives.  Or the New York Historical Society.

Just a thought.

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab
Portland, OR

[log in to unmask]
(whose reference collection is available to anyone.  On site.)

On Sun, 7 Apr 1996, David Harvey wrote:

> I have read this thread with interest and with some dismay.
>
> Yes, Mr. Gertler shouldn't apologise for "rescuing this collection".
>  However, I am very curious why  he "rescued" this archive personally rather
> than finding a suitable institution for it in the first place.
>
> I think that his situation perfectly illustrates why most museum
> professionals and institutions subscribe to a code of ethics and conflict of
> interest provisions which limit personal collecting.  Although many of these
> provisions insure that the staff will not be in a position to compete with
> their institution's interests, they are also intended to insure that a
> curator or director will not be in Mr. Gertler's position of having a deep
> financial interest within one's field and scope of professional activity.
>  Curators and other museum professionals are in a position where they are
> approached constantly by institutions, collectors, and the general public.
>  For such a professional to be simultaneously involved in the commerce of
> collecting leaves too much potential for abuse and outright fraud, let alone
> the perception of conflict.  The recent case involving the FBI's arrest of a
> curator at the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum who was involved in the trade
> is another illustration of these issues which I am concerned about, which
> damage both the profession and the institution.
>
> It is clear that everyone agrees that this important historical archive
> should be in an insitution which can care for them and make them publically
> accessible, and I do not doubt Mr. Gertler's sincerity in pursuing that.  I
> do take issue however, with the ethics of his personally "investing" in these
> archives in the first place  which, "cost me a fortune and two years of
> exasperating and frustrating negotiations".  It is obvious that Mr. Gertler's
> circumstances have changed and now that he must divest himself of this
> personally acquired archive he  must make the painful choice to either sell
> it all off piecemeal (something he keeps reminding us of) or he is nobly,
> "willing to negotiate and compromise my families stake in these archives to
> see them go to a proper insititution..."
>
> "Caveat Emptor"
>
> This is precisely the sort of mess which no musuem professional should ever
> find themselves in and this is why those who teach aspiring musem
> professionals should strive to emphasize professional ethics in their
> courses, whether it be museum studies, education, or conservation.
>
> I am curious, is the field of historic aviation museums and collecting
> especially prone to this sort of conflict?  Or is this situation present in
> other fields?
>
> Dave
>
> David Harvey
> Conservator of Metals & Arms
> Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
> P.O. Box 1776
> Williamsburg, VA  23187-1776  USA
> voice:     804-220-7039
> e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> ___________________________________________
>
> On Sunday, April 7, 1996 J. Gertler wrote:
>
> >I agree that this collection should not STAY in private hands. >I agree with
> many of the poins made by E. J. Pershey. But I >will not apologize for
> RESCUING these archives. I have >been employed full-time or self-employed
> full-time for
> >the past twenty-five years as an aviation museum supplier, >consultant,
> and/or curator and executive director. My major >accomplishment was
> establishing a recognized tax-exempt >public museum featuring one of the best
> collections/exhibits >of pre-WWII aero engines in the world. (THE RACEWAY
> >COLLECTION; 175 engines; 48 WWI and earlier and 19 being >the only known
> examples) I also collected the largest >collection of WWI German and
> Austro-Hungarian aircraft >parts and instruments, along with a number of
> unique
> >or extremely rare aeroplanes over those twenty five >years.They were all
> publicly accessable and information was >provided to all who needed it. When
> I was contacted by the >previous ownere of these archives, they had sat in
> file  >cabinets for nearly forty years in his basement and he was on >the
> verge of breaking them up to sell the most historic >documents to autograph
> dealers and the photo collection at >airshows for $5 per photo. His own words
> were, "You >wouldn't believe how many pick-up loads (of The Curtiss >Wright
> Co archives) I took to the dump." Fortunately, he was >fascinated by the
> early material and his basement was bone >dry and his four file cabinets were
> full of folders pressed >tightly together. When major dealers such as those
> with full
> >page ads like Profiles In History, are selling single Lindbergh >letters @
> $25,000 and Sotheby auctions are fetching >$7,000-$12,000 for signed Wright
> letters in the Kallir auction >and even a ten page report from cosmonaut Yuri
> Gagarin is >hammered for over $100,000, What is a signed and personal >wax
> sealed contract forming The Wright Company by Wilbur >and Orville worth? What
> are 850  pages of unpublished >Wright Co. letters worth? What are the
> executive board >minutes, ledgers, and ten crates of historic documents
> >worth. Wealthy collectors have been fighting over them, >without let-up. The
> Cody Archive sale in London brought >some bids that were five to ten times
> the high estimates for
> >personal and business documents!
>
> >I am willing to negotiate and compromise my families stake >in these
> archives to see them go to a proper institution who >will preserve them and
> provide public access. They cost me a >fortune and two years of exasperating
> and frustrating >negotiations. I can appreciate your concern. I appreciate,
> >very much the help I have received from subscribers to this >list. Until
> recently I was executive director at Ryder's Fighter >Museum when the owner
> and wife and son were killed in a >plane crash. This association cost me
> several hundred
> >thousand dollars and the virtual destruction of my life-long >collection.
>
> >Cheers,
> >      J.Gertler
>