RE: (erielack) ELHS collection

[Pat_McKnight_@_nps.gov]

I have been trying to hold off on commenting on this because no matter what
I say or do it will be misconstrued.  I see this discussion as a good thing
for railroad history preservation.  If this much thought had gone into the
disposition of the 952 a half a century ago, the ongoing court case would
not be going on now.

Now as for the archives, I was approached a while back by members of the
group that asked what I thought about getting the collection.  The idea of
getting the collection in a central repository, with other Erie and DL&W
archives made sense.  I would not oppose Steamtown acquiring such a
collection, but . . . . . and this seems to be the big BUT, any collection
turned over to Steamtown would have to have all rights of ownership as
well.  Any professional archival repository or museum has the same basic
requirement.  If ELHS finds a place that will allow the collection to be
accessible while retaining ownership, I say more power to them.

Again, I talked to individuals in ELHS, and while the ownership issue is
the main problem, there are folks out there that are just opposed to the
idea that Steamtown would be a good place for them.  Ten years ago, I
probably would have agreed with them.  I have, however, made some inroads
on the existing collection, and added to it.  I feel if the archives are
not intellectually accessible, we should not have them.

So, you guys need to battle this one out.  Again, if the collection showed
up on our doorstep tomorrow with open ownership, I would encourage the park
to accept it.  If the collection was tossed out of Akron, and needed
temporary storage without ownership, I would suggest we take it in until a
place could be found (though I could not make it accessible without
ownership).  Again, a parallel with the 952, I would love to see that
locomotive at Steamtown with clear title, but there is no way I would ever
get involved in the current dispute.

Good luck in resolving this issue.  If anyone is ever at Steamtown, I would
be happy to show off our archives and research library.  Just look me up.

Patrick McKnight
Historian/Archivist
Steamtown NHS
570-340-5193

We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but
to make the past alive so that it can explain us and make a future
possible.-Alan Bloom


                                                                                                            
                      Frank P Adams                                                                         
                      <frank.p.adams_@_verizonbu        To:       "'EL Mail List'" <erielack@lists.elhts.org> 
                      siness.com>                     cc:       (bcc: Pat McKnight/STEA/NPS)                
                                                      Subject:  RE: (erielack) ELHS collection              
                      02/27/2007 08:57 AM MST                                                               
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Add my support for moving the archives to Steamtown.   Since Patrick
McKnight is on this e-mail list, perhaps he could advise of the options
when
donating to the federal government?

Frank
ELHS #2116


- -----Original Message-----
From: William E. Botkin [mailto:webotkin_@_ecentral.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 7:43 AM
To: EL Mail List
Subject: Re: (erielack) ELHS collection

All,

Living in Denver, my access to the ELHS archives is pretty limited.  That
being said, I would strongly support any move of the archives to Steamtown
for two important reasons:

1) In my mind, the center of gravity of the EL has always been in the
NJ/PA/NY area and I would guess much of the membership is located there as
well.

2) The Steamtown people, Patrick McKnight in particular, have shown
themselves to be very professional and dedicated to the preservation of the
history and documentation of the DL&W and would guess they would do a great
job preserving the ELHS archives.

While I have never actually accessed the ELHS archives, I have been a
member
of the ELHS for many years and provided additional donations to the
archives
over the years.

My likelihood of ever visiting the archives in Arkon are close to zero,
whereas being from the NJ area, I do have occasion to visit the NJ/PA area
and would definitely consider a trip to Scranton to access the archives.

Bill Botkin
ELHS#1377


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