[ARC5] US Army Signal Corps Museum

[Mike Feher]

I talked to Mindy, the curator of the Fort Monmouth museum. She said everything they had at the museum and in storage was boxed up. As far as she knows, they are all still in boxes being stored someplace. Sadly, I expect eventually they will just be trashed without even opening the boxes. The library is also in boxes. I recall about 15 or more years ago some environmental agency with hazmat suits came to the museum and storage areas. Anything that showed the slightest trace of radium was trashed (well put in a big hole someplace). The beautiful early items that were disposed of almost made me cry. 73 – Mike  

 

Mike B. Feher, N4FS

89 Arnold Blvd.

Howell NJ 07731

848-245-9115

 

From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Doran Platt
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2022 6:34 PM
To: ARC-5 Mail List <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [ARC5] US Army Signal Corps Museum

 

My experiences mirror those who have commented. I have given "valuable" items to two aviation museums. In both cases, the donation was to replace current examples exhibited in poor condition to those in excellent condition.  One privately run museum actually used what was deeded to them. The other, a DoD funded entity, did not.  I no longer consider donations a viable end-use for any of my stuff.  The only eENTITY know of that appears to manage assets properly is the Air and Space Museum and annex in DC. 

Jeep K3HVG

On 02/17/2022 12:43 PM Steve WD8DAS via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net <mailto:arc5 at mailman.qth.net> > wrote: 

 

 

 

I used to think that donating to a museum was a good way to preserve an historical artifact. It still can be, I'm sure, but it is not guaranteed.   I was soured by several experiences over the years.  

 

After being told how great it was that my rare and historically-interesting items were being donated, and receipts provided, I noticed my donations never appeared in the collections of the museums in question.  When I inquired (saying I wanted to do some further research on the items) I was told they did not have them in their collections.  

 

When I pointed out that I donated them a few years earlier, they were unwilling or unable to explain what happened to them.  My guess it they were either stolen by those who accepted the donations, or they were sold to finance other operations and acquisitions of the museum.  

 

I don't mention this to discourage people from donating artifacts to museums, but rather to just create awareness that preservation of your items is not necessarily what will happen and one just has to decide if that's OK. 

 

 

Steve WD8DAS

sbjohnston at aol.com <mailto:sbjohnston at aol.com> 
http://www.wd8das.net/ 

http://af4k-crystals.com

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