Hello Derek,
In 1979 or 1980 while working on my dissertation I wrote to AAM about Coleman's papers. They forwarded my letter to his son who returned my letter with a brief note saying all he had were published copies of his father's books. He went on to say somethings like "the young turks" over there don't know what they're doing.
One possible source for correspondence and official museum business is the Smithsonian Archives which according to their 1996 guide, pp 386-87 now holds the records of the AAM from 1906-1985. The guides states: "These records comprise the working files of the American Association of Museums. They include correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, proceedings, copies of Museum News, 1931-1962, copies of Museum Work, 1919-1925, and a large number of other publications and guides relating to museums in the United States and around the world." Use of the collection requires prior arrangement with the Archives staff.
Unfortunately I can't tell you more about the collection because when last there they had recently received the material and it had not processed.
Best wishes.
Barbara Fleisher Zucker
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).