UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

[chadwick]

For many years I have heard horror stories about the treatment of the collection at the Charleston United Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. I had hoped that the reports were over exaggerated. They in fact were not.

The room that houses the collection is on the top floor of an old humid building at the upper end of the Old Market. The walls of the room house large 10-12 foot windows that allow in a tremendous amount of light even with the “protective shades” over them. Unfortunately the light not only contributes to the damage of the delicate items, it also allows the visitor the chance to see just how poorly the historical items are displayed and stored. Jackets, including what appear to be two from the Charleston Depot, are folded and stuffed onto shelves or hung in simple curio cabinets without climate control or protection from the light and insects.

Several beautiful battle flags with their honors attached hang pressed between glass in front of windows or sit folded in display cases. There are kepis, slouch hats, shoes, knapsacks, and every other personal item you can imagine scattered about the room in a mixture of cases and cabinets, not one of which is temperature, moister, or light protected.

It was terribly upsetting to see these treasures that were trusted to the UDC to preserve and protect slowly rotting away before my eyes, but the worst was yet to come.

When I approached the “director” of the museum and asked if there was any desire on the part of the UDC to procure funds for preservation I was told that their collection was “perfectly protected already.” The director said that all the cases in the museum were already temperature controlled and that the blinds blocked the light from the collection. She also said that the room’s air conditioning prevented any damage from the Charleston humidity.

I almost fainted as I felt my blood pressure surge, but I composed myself and politely pointed out that none, not a single one, of the cases were climate controlled and that in fact some of them had cracks in the doors. I also expressed my deepest concern over the fact that the flags were daily being bleached by the sun pouring in through the large windows.

I was informed by the director that she had been in charge of the museum for fifty-two years and that she had no intention of changing the way she did things. When asked who had told her that the cases were climate controlled she nastily responded, “That’s none of your business.”

Therefore these priceless items are being left to slowly waste away not due to a lack of funds or to a lack of interest in raising such funds but due to the ignorance and ego of one old bitter lady.

I left the museum with my blood boiling. Those that know me well know that I very rarely ever get upset or show any anger in public, but this has enraged me and I feel that I must do all that I can to help save what is left of this great collection.

Therefore, I am asking for any suggestion from those of you in the preservation community on how best to proceed. I know that the UDC can be difficult to deal with at times and I know that several kindhearted historians in the Charleston area have taken up this fight before just to run into the same director and her unwillingness to change or to accept financial assistance for preservation. I plan to contact the UDC national office and address my concern to their president. I also hope to discuss the situation with our local and state officials. What else can we as a preservation community do to get the ball rolling?

Thanks for your time. I would appreciate any thoughts.

[Auld Pelty]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I suggest that you try to establish a dialogue with another of the UDC women and use diplomacy skills to offer some assistance. In other words, try working around the bitter old woman within her chapter. The UDC is a wonderful organization and there are very likely some ladies who do not care for this woman's gate keeping attitude. Like you, they may be hoping for an opportunity to improve the museum conditions. Probably, they have some politics that make mundane activities like organizing a monthly meeting painful.

[LWhite64]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I see that June is still there then.

[Jimmayo]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

Same old horror story about care and exhibit of objects in the UDC care. I was there several years ago and was surprised at the attitude of the person on duty and the exhibit of the items. Change will have to made from within that organization and there is little an outsider can do about it.

I have also heard tales about the collection at the UDC building on Monument Ave. in Richmond but no one I know has ever been able to get inside for a look around.

[chadwick]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I suggest that you try to establish a dialogue with another of the UDC women and use diplomacy skills to offer some assistance. In other words, try working around the bitter old woman within her chapter. The UDC is a wonderful organization and there are very likely some ladies who do not care for this woman's gate keeping attitude. Like you, they may be hoping for an opportunity to improve the museum conditions. Probably, they have some politics that make mundane activities like organizing a monthly meeting painful.

I know that there are some goodhearted members of the UDC and I know that some of the younger members tried to help when a push was made back in the 90’s to improve the preservation of the items within the collection, but they were shouted down or ignored by the older established members.

The current director made it very clear that it has been her way for the past 52 years and I expect it will remain that way until she moves on or passes away.

[chadwick]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I noticed that the current UDC national president, who is in the last year of her term, ran on the platform of the “three P’s.” The first of these P’s was preservation.

I hope to speak with her next week and see if there is anything that she will be willing to do from a national level to perhaps put pressure on the local camp. Unfortunately the national headquarters is located in Richmond and if the above post is correct about the collection there, then she may have no understanding of my concerns. We shall see and I will post whatever I find out.

[chadwick]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I had a very nice talk this morning with the national president of the UDC based out of Richmond and voiced our concern over the treatment of the collection within the Charleston UDC museum.

She was very receptive and knew exactly who I was talking about without me having to even mention the name of the director. She has agreed to look into how best to proceed from the UDC standpoint and said that she would have the South Carolina commander contact me to discuss the issue further.


I want to thank those of you who have contacted me with ideas and personal stories with respect to the museum. I believe this is a situation we can improve and understand fully that it may be a long and drawn out fight. I also understand the price tag of the needed preservation but I do not believe that that fact alone should stop us from working to save these items. Even if it means starting small and saving them one at a time, I think that in the end it will be worth it.

[NYCivilWar]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

Scott,

On behalf of those who have visited this museum and for those who have not yet, I THANK YOU for your effors thus far. My wife and I honeymooned in Charleston this summer and I couldn't wait to get into the museum. When we did I was very impressed with the collections, but at the same time... a bit of me died inside. The museum was such a throwback to museums of the turn of the 20th century. Almost more of a "cabinent of curiosities" than anything else. Even if the museum flattened its textiles instead of having them folded (yikes) and literally stuffed into display cases (which were falling apart themselves) they would be taking a step, albeit a small one, in the right direction. Not to mention doing something about the 10 foot plus high windows that pour UV rays onto the collection.

[CSchneider]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

Or at least pad the folds and buffer the textile from touching the acidic wooden cabinets... Its frustrating knowing that about a half hour and some ethafoam could add a century to the life of some of those garments. Certainly something that both non-museum and museum folks alike don't want to hear, but unfortunately, at this point, many of those textiles need some years to "rest" in storage with a consistent environment of the proper temperature and relative humidity.

I'm sure they're not a well-funded museum, and conservation supplies are expensive, but a lot could be done with a bit of proper foam, batting, and tissue. Are they truly not interested in doing anything even if they were provided with some materials?

Well done Scott. Hopefully something good will come out of your work.

-Craig Schneider

[chadwick]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I'm sure they're not a well-funded museum, and conservation supplies are expensive, but a lot could be done with a bit of proper foam, batting, and tissue. Are they truly not interested in doing anything even if they were provided with some materials?-Craig Schneider

I am in the process now of investigating their funding. Their national president is also looking into who holds the deed for the building and the rights to the individual pieces within the vast collection.

As far as donations, I can tell you that the particular individual who I spoke with Saturday has turned away numerous offers over the past two decades for financial assistance from individuals and has refused any preservation help from other museums in the state. After speaking with a person close to the situation, it appears that the “director” believes that any outside assistance would lead to a loss of their collection or at the least a loss of their control of the items.

There is no doubt that power and ego are a huge part of the problem here. One person surrounded by her handpicked minions has managed to block any and all efforts made to improve the situation of the collection.

It is time for a changing of the guard.

[chadwick]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

"cabinent of curiosities"

Kyle,

I like that. I think it will be a handy quote to use as we move forward.
Thanks

[Vuhginyuh]

I am typically the eternal optimist, but...

There isn't a one of us that has climbed those storied stairs and passed through those doors that hasn't felt faint before we left. I shared this with my father, a professional in the field, and he simply shrugged his shoulders. "A 35 year old argument" he muttered. He respectfully went on the say... "A big funeral with lots of red, white and blue carnations set in familiar arrangements might do the trick..." Emphasis on might. And "...as radically as the old City has changed these last 20 years, like it or not, some things there are destined to linger and languish...".

You also have to keep in mind that The Charleston Museum (in my opinion the rightful heir) is well aware of the collection's plight. That is no slouch facility, yet they seem to have gained little or no leeway with the UDC over the years.

Hang in there Scott. You may be the one that finally makes things happen. Someday, and I hope soon, the collection will be liberated from the Market.

[NYCivilWar]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

Kyle,

I like that. I think it will be a handy quote to use as we move forward.
Thanks

I can't take full credit for it...It is a legitimate "museum world" term used to describe 18th and 19th century methods of museum displays. It's the first thing I thought of when I walked in. Cram as much in as possible into a given case, order not necessarily the key.

[Slouch]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

I believe the City owns the building and the UDC has something like a 99 year lease agreement.

I was at the museum this past summer and was also a bit shocked. Dispite the horrible preservation efforts, they forbid photography.

I wish they would take professional photographs of the collection and publish them in a book. That would be a great way to raise money! Much better than the UDC Christmas ornaments they were trying to sell in July.

[CSchneider]

Re: UDC Museum Charleston S.C.

Cabinet of Curiosities.

Its true. That museum and a few others that I can think of, including the Warren Rifles Confederate Museum in Virginia, are relics in and of themselves. At times it is interesting to step back into the 19th and early 20th Century and see the same displays that the veterans saw, but its going to destroy the artifacts. The collection that I care for used to be the definition of Cabinet of Curiosities in the 19th Century. Many of the objects in the attached photo were so degraded that they were disposed of when the collection moved from that location. Most of the remaining stuff that was displayed during that time period is so damaged that it can hardly be handled and will surely never be displayed again. Today some of these old Civil War museums still look quite similar to that old photo, and their artifacts will certainly suffer the same fate.

-Craig Schneider