Museum of the Confederacy

[dusty27]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

He has held meetings with local museum members--there are about 3,800 members worldwide and 37 in this region......

This number is astounding! With all the Confederate reenactors we have and they only have 3,800 members WORLDWIDE??

$30 is pretty good for an annual fee for helping to preserve the artifacts in the collection.

Man..............

[Moose]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

Dusty,
As the resident mole, I say that because I did an intership with the membership department at the MOC this summer and saw all kinds of crazt sh... well you get the picture.

I can tell you this, and with all due respect to SCV members, up until this past summer they gave a blanket orgaization membership to SCV Camps and UDC groups. What that means is they paid a measly Annual Membership Fee of $30 for outside the Richmond area, and $45 for in the Richmond area for ALL members of the chapter or camp. So if you had 30 members, each would only pay a $1 membership fee.

Pretty sad that the people whom are most likely to support the place, pay the least amount. Now that was this summer, as of July. I don't know what the status is of the SCV memberships now, because they just (as in July of 2007) took the blanket membership away.

Cheers,
Joseph Caridi

[dusty27]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

I'd be embarrassed...............

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

And I can say that when someone called me this summer (which I was surprised about, but dire straights makes people do interesting things) asking me to renew my membership I told them reasons why I had not. Now that the moving the White House is out of the picture and that they seem to have a plan, I will consider renewing.

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

Em-

In the non-profit/museum world its not that unusual to court former members. In the business they are called LYBUNTS (Last year but not this).

One of the best places to find members is amongst former members. Some museums and non-profits use phone calls, some a special letter campaign.

Don't read too much into it. Its SOP in the non-profit industry, in fact an organization that doesn't ask its former members to reup is one that's not on the ball.

Greg Starbuck

[DougCooper]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

I don't know what the status is of the SCV memberships now, because they just (as in July of 2007) took the blanket membership away.

Cheers,
Joseph Caridi

Good. I am astonished that it ever was established. Sheesh - if that is an example of their fund raising program I am beginning to see at least one reason why they are in such dire straits.

I am renewing for one reason - the collection.

[Moose]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

Mr. Starbuck -
I will not argue your point of trying to regain members from old members, but I can tell you with 100% fact that the reason they were calling old members was because new members were not comming in, and they HAVE no idea what they are doing to drive members away.

I know this because I had to go through the lists of locals whom live in the Richm0nd Metro Area to find thier current contact info. They only called members in the Richmond area. And I can say this, the number of lapsed members is from what I remember at least double the amount of current members. One would be astonished at the amount of mishandling done by the membership department there.

Cheers,
Joseph Caridi

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

I'll refer to my previous post as to the reasons why museums call their former members (we do it, most museums do it). I have no idea whether they are mishandling their membership or anything else, I'm not in on those discussions.

All museums are dealing with diminishing membership rolls. People in this country are less and less interested in their history and tradition. Our culture is fracturing into many different directions. (Some argue that our culture is disappearing).

Non profit membership drives/fund raising aka development is a whole industry unto itself. There are people who specialize in it. It is a career field. I don't think being an intern makes a person an expert.

Greg Starbuck

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

And yes, certainly a SOP; and as I said I may consider rejoining but right now I feel indebted to the Virginia Historical Society as I'm always there doing research and thus want to support the institution in Richmond that I use the most.

Reasons why I lapsed now are off the table and so that may encourage me to come back.

[cap tassel]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

These museums the MOC wants to place throughout the state are stand alone operations built on donated or purchased property, in close proximity to their NPS counterparts. (excluding the Fort Monroe site). Nothing has been said, suggested, or implied that the NPS sites would display MOC artifacts. These are stand alone museums owned & operated by the MOC.

Greg Starbuck

I was under the impression that if the collection was broken up then more of it would actually be on display. Is this true? I think you make an astute observation in your later post about the attitude of the general public towards preserving the past. I just believe it's a losing battle anyway with either one museum or a handfull spread out across the state. I wonder if many former members believe the same thing.

[Miss L]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

Ladies/Gents:

The 3800 member figure is quite plausible, unfortunately. Anyone who is a current member has recently received a copy of the Museum’s Annual Report, and in the back is a listing of members. I don’t have a lot of time to devote to this right now, but I added up the names on the first page (just over 200) and with 13 pages of names, that comes to 2600 (although some pages have many more names than others due to spacing, etc.).

The statistics are interesting. Every state is represented; although some just barely, with four of them each supplying one member. Six of our cousins to the north (Canada) are members, as are 21 of our cousins across the pond (Great Britain). Australia has provided 6 members, Switzerland and Germany two apiece, and Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia, Croatia, France and Belgium each have a member.

I suppose we can all sit here bemoaning the state of affairs and watch the place slide further into oblivion, or we can scrape together the $30* and join. (That comes to $2.50 a month. You probably spend that a day on an organic mocha latte spiced vanilla frapuccino grande with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Well, maybe you don’t, but maybe you know people who do.)

Will it change things? I have no idea. But I’d rather spend the $30 and at least know I tried, than not and always wonder if it would’ve made a difference.


*Depending on your residence – see www.moc.org for more info

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

I was under the impression that if the collection was broken up then more of it would actually be on display.

Its not really accurate to say that the collection is being broken up. All the artifacts would remain MOC property, they would retain their accession catalogue numbers, they would remain under the custodial care of the MOC curatorial staff, any conservation efforts would continue.

If because the items are being displayed in different parts of the state constitutes the 'the collection being broken up' then it is already broken up. The MOC, at any given time, has scores of artifacts on loan to other institutions throughout the country.

I know I sound like a spokesman for the MOC and I do not intend to. I'm only a member and they've not always pleased me. However I don't want to see people get worked up on issues that are well within the precepts of standard museum operating procedures.

Think of the collection and the potential for interpreting that collection. Think of the sacrifice of the men and their blood represented by that collection.

Greg Starbuck

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

NAACP: Tell 'whole story' of the Confederacy
March 9, 2008 12:16 am

BY DAN TELVOCK


The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond may have found more support for a facility in Spotsylvania County to house artifacts with local ties.

Spotsylvania's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hasn't endorsed the museum, but some members said last week they would support the plan if it tells the "whole story."

"We are going to tell the full American story," said Museum of the Confederacy President Waite Rawls.

In September, Rawls announced his vision of a system of four museums in Virginia, including one at or near the Chancellorsville battlefield.

The museum in Richmond is dwarfed by the adjacent Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. Attendance is down nearly 50 percent.

The White House of the Confederacy and the museum's administration headquarters, research center and library would remain in Richmond. The other two proposed sites are Appomattox Court House National Park and Fort Monroe in Hampton.

Rawls has met with local Rotary Club members, Confederacy museum members in the region and the Chamber of Commerce. On Thursday, he met with the NAACP at Mount Hope Baptist Church. About 50 people attended, along with five Spotsylvania supervisors.

"What we are looking for is balance," said NAACP member Col. Horace McCaskill. "We're not adverse to learning about the Confederacy side, but we want the whole story to be told, and we need to understand that."

The "whole story" means "all cultures involved in the Civil War," including the roles of free and enslaved blacks and Americans Indian, he said.

Rawls said the Museum of the Confederacy has unique artifacts that "will bring the human face to what happened on those [battle] fields." His plans call for 8,000-square-foot buildings with about 5,000 square feet for exhibits. Each site would cost an estimated $5 million. He said he wants 1,000 square feet for a community room in each facility.

"One of the things I would love to have in the Museum of the Confederacy here is an NAACP meeting. It would send a signal to all Americans of what we are all about," he said.

Rawls said the museum would be an economic boon by attracting more tourists. He is talking with private donors and may not launch a full capital campaign for a year, he said. He hopes to have a Spotsylvania museum open by 2012.

NAACP members asked how the museum would be financed, what exhibits it would have, how the stories would be told and whether any of the content would duplicate what is already in the county.

"If it improves what we currently have here, from the standpoint of visitors coming in, I think it would be of some benefit to the county," said local activist Richard Toye.

Layton Fairchild, a former candidate for the Board of Supervisors, said people want to know the truth about the war.

"There are a lot of stereotypes on both sides, the white side of history and the black side of history," he said. "If we had an institution come in and say 'This is how it happened and let's get educated,' I think that is the most important thing."

Cleo Coleman, a history buff whose great-grandfather was a free black, said the name of the museum does not bother her.

"But I am certainly aware of the fact that it has some negative connotations for people, and I am not sure how we bridge that," she said.

Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com




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Museum of the Confederacy President Waite Rawls said he chose Spotsylvania, Appomattox, Fort Monroe and Richmond as the sites for a system of Confederacy museums because of the rich historical significance of each place:
Spotsylvania County is the bloodiest spot in American history. "More people died right here," Rawls said, "more people were wounded right here than anywhere in the country, because it happened over and over again."

Rawls said there is no better place to tell the story of a free country than Fort Monroe in Hampton, where Union Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler in 1861 made a decision that resulted in slaves' fleeing to the fort, nicknamed "Freedom's Fortress." Slaves who reached Fort Monroe were set free.

Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, after the final engagement of the war in Virginia. It is where the war ended and the country started to reunify, Rawls said.

Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy.


"I think some people had the idea that blacks, as a group, would be opposed to the museum because it would be objectionable to them. I think we have the same concerns as any individual would have in this county. The museum itself does not bother me, as long as it tells the true story."
--Richard Toye, NAACP member


"To some people, the term 'Confederacy' has a stigma with it. But it is part of our history. Again, let's move on and learn from this. It is an educational process."

--Layton Fairchild, former candidate for Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors


"I think, really, balance is what we are looking for here. We want to know what the parameters of this museum will be. How balanced will it be? Will it have exhibits on free blacks? Will it be telling the story in a balanced fashion?"

--Cleo Coleman, NAACP member and history buff


"We learn from them, they learn from us. The starting point is always learning to improve the gap between perception and reality."

--Waite Rawls, president of the Museum of the Confederacy


"Let's just see if the Museum of the Confederacy is right for Spotsylvania County."

--Supervisor Jerry Logan, who organized the meeting with the NAACP




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Copyright 2008 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.

Online at: http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...3092008/362007

[Delhi Rangers]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

This is really turning into a sad state of affairs. Excuse me for having to ask, but what ever happened to the idea of moving the museum to Lexington? I personally would of liked to see it relocated to Lexington. If the museum is to establish multiple sites, was a "western site" ever considered? I would have loved to see a site established in the Chickamauga/Chattanooga area for the Western/Trans-Mississippi artifacts.
Not being critical to anyone, just my opinion.

[sam H]

Re: Museum of the Confederacy

After hearing first hand some of the ideas for the new museums, I think it is a positive change. I work every weekend here at the at the museum and attendance is down drastically. it is just impossible to find after being swallowed up by the MCV campus. Also, the majority of the collection is just sitting in the basement collecting dust. Being able to have the entire collection on display again, since the museum was originally in the white house, will be awesome. Their is some really sweet stuff down there.