Hello-

This post is, in many ways, quite relevant I think to the wonderful ongoing discussions we have been having over the past week or so on preservation/ operation issues, although this fits more into the realm of "relevancy." As curator at our museum, I (and the Curatorial Committee that I answer to) have been trying to take a good look at our collections in regards to what is relevant to our Mission Statement. This is a process that began long before I was here, but now focuses on an area that I personally believe needs to be addressed.

A gentleman donated a small amount of late passenger-era timetables to us in the late 1970's. Part of the wording in his donation (a very enlighted view on his part) was that these items were to be used for research, and that if museums came available that were more relevant to a given railroad, that he fully supported their transfer elsewhere. Our collections committee voted to go ahead with a search for a better place for the timetables that were not relavent to our collections area (i.e. Southeast Michigan railroads). So far, our first set of timetables (a grouping from the Burlington) have found an excellent home with the Gerald Kopiasz and the Heartland Group.
We are now looking for other for the remaining collections of timetables.

It should be mentioned that these really would be excellent research material candidates, as they are in "used", but "good" condition. Here is what we have:

Milwaukee Road- Twelve timetables dating from 1954-1970

Great Northern- Twenty-One timetables from 1954-1969

Texas & Pacific- one, from 1962.

If there are any museums, research groups, or historical societies out there who have a fairly direct connection with any of these railroads, please contact me. We'd really like to see these go to home where their information could be useful.

Thanks,

TJ Gaffney
Curator of Collections
Port Huron Museum
tjgaffney@phmuseum.org



Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com

> Hello-

> This post is, in many ways, quite relevant I
> think to the wonderful ongoing discussions
> we have been having over the past week or so
> on preservation/ operation issues, although
> this fits more into the realm of
> "relevancy." As curator at our
> museum, I (and the Curatorial Committee that
> I answer to) have been trying to take a good
> look at our collections in regards to what
> is relevant to our Mission Statement. This
> is a process that began long before I was
> here, but now focuses on an area that I
> personally believe needs to be addressed.

> A gentleman donated a small amount of late
> passenger-era timetables to us in the late
> 1970's. Part of the wording in his donation
> (a very enlighted view on his part) was that
> these items were to be used for research,
> and that if museums came available that were
> more relevant to a given railroad, that he
> fully supported their transfer elsewhere.
> Our collections committee voted to go ahead
> with a search for a better place for the
> timetables that were not relavent to our
> collections area (i.e. Southeast Michigan
> railroads). So far, our first set of
> timetables (a grouping from the Burlington)
> have found an excellent home with the Gerald
> Kopiasz and the Heartland Group.
> We are now looking for other for the
> remaining collections of timetables.

> It should be mentioned that these really
> would be excellent research material
> candidates, as they are in "used",
> but "good" condition. Here is what
> we have:

> Milwaukee Road- Twelve timetables dating
> from 1954-1970

> Great Northern- Twenty-One timetables from
> 1954-1969

> Texas & Pacific- one, from 1962.

> If there are any museums, research groups,
> or historical societies out there who have a
> fairly direct connection with any of these
> railroads, please contact me. We'd really
> like to see these go to home where their
> information could be useful.

> Thanks,

> TJ Gaffney
> Curator of Collections
> Port Huron Museum
> tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

To Mr. Gaffney and the Port Huron Museum:

BRAVO!



midlandblb@cs.com

My advice: Unless you can find a trustworthy caretaker who has a specific use for those timetables, then sell them through an auction, at a railroadiana show, or to a railroadiana dealer. My experience is that 9 times out of 10 they will sit somewhere and never see the light of day. Your motives are worthy and so were those of the original donor. If the original donor absolutely stipulated no resale, then check out the recipient group carefully to see if it has a track record of proper access, care, documentation, and (most importantly) accountablity concerning the source of the donation. Many museums and historical groups get poor marks in regards to donations.

denmeg_hogan@msn.com

> To Mr. Gaffney and the Port Huron Museum:

> BRAVO!

Thanks Les-

A quick update: Both Rich Wilkens and Richard R. Anderson of the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA (located in Snoqualmie Depot) have requested the Great Northern and Milwaukee Timetables, and baring the usual delays with collections committees and boards of trustees (I have to have them approve the transfer) these timetables will be transfered to their care.

The Texas & Pacific Timetable is still out there though, if some organization who has a T&P
connection is interested.

I (as well as the staff and board of our museum) believe that collections should reflect the mission statement of the institution. As you may gather, it isn't an easy process to decide what doesn't fit the criteria, nor should it be. As was discussed in the seminar on archival management at the ARM/ TRAIN convention, many of our institutions began by excepting anything that came in the door. Now that many of our institutions have matured, it, I believe, is part of our duty to make our collections relevant to whatever our mission statement is. Ours goes like this: "The mission of the Port Huron Museum of Arts and History is to encourage an appreciation of the arts and history in our community through our commitment to education, community, and heritage. The MuseumÂ’s collecting goal is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret works of art and items of historical interest, particularly those of St. Clair County." If an item was excepted in the past, and it no longer fits our criteria, then we try and find a suitable home.

In our case, we began roughly ten years ago to try and thin items which don't fit into our collections. For example, a confederate battle flag (which was required by the State of Michigan to be returned to Louisiana back in the 1941 but hadn't been) was de-asscessioned to the Louisiana Historical Association Civil War Museum in 1996. Was it controversial? You bet. But the fact that we were the sole remaining institution in Michigan to have a confederate battle flag made little sense. It hadn't been taken by a soldier from St. Clair County; in fact it had been donated by a "collector" back before there was even a museum to our predecessor, the Port Huron Public Library. Is it in better hands, where it will be appreciated more? We believe so.

Enough rambling, but I think for museums and collections to grow, we must define what our collections are, and whether or not we are the best place for a given item.

Thanks,

TJ Gaffney
Curator of Collections
Port Huron Museum

Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com