A beer-can collection
from the 1970s, a 1937 Waxhaw Eagles letterman’s jacket, a century-old pair of
women’s bloomers and a plaque marking the opening of the 300th Little Caesars in
Charlotte.
Historic artifacts?
It’s debatable, but such oddities are among 15,000 items preserved and kept in expensive, climate-controlled conditions at the Charlotte Museum of History.
That’s about to change, however.
The financially troubled museum’s staff is working to cut costs, and that includes culling thousands of artifacts that aren’t related to its mission of telling the county’s pre-Colonial and Colonial history.
Historians are positive the era didn’t include Pabst Blue Ribbon and Little Caesars.
Equally out of place are such things as a 25-year-old sock monkey, a 1970s console stereo the size of a deep freezer and a Victorian couch.
The list goes on and on, and includes some valuable items now on display that simply don’t fit the institution’s mission, says Kathy Ridge, the museum’s interim director.
She guesses that,moncler jackets for sale of the 15,000 items, fewer than 200 are truly needed to tell the story of Charlotte’s origins and the history of the Hezekiah Alexander Home site on the museum’s property. It is the county’s oldest standing residence, built in 1774.
“We have a huge part of the museum devoted to locked storage, with special heating, air control and lights,Canada Goose Calgary Jacket and do you want all that for something commemorating the opening of a pizza place?” Ridge asks.
“You have to ask yourself: How did we get all this? I’m sure it’s primarily things donated to us. To be honest, I don’t get the significance of some of it. I just know we need to be more deliberate about what is here and why it’s here.”
As much as $150,000 a year in utility and building expenses could be saved if the collection were trimmed to a more manageable size, she says.
However, Ridge is quick to note the site is not “holding a yard sale.”
Selling the items is not permitted, because they were donated to be held in public trust, she said. It would also be disrespectful to the many donors, which include the mayor’s office of Charlotte.
Instead, the museum has quietly contacted a dozen regional historic sites and museums and asked if they’d like to acquire any artifacts related to their displays.
The Mint Hill Historical Society, for example, is seeking the Cyrus Stinson loom now in storage, one of at least two looms in the museum’s collection.
Union County’s Museum of the Waxhaws is asking for multiple items, including World War II uniforms worn by a Union County nurse and that Waxhaw Eagles letterman’s jacket. “It’s like Christmas morning,” Sandra Secrest Glenn of the Waxhaw museum said as she toured the collection last week. “There’s just so much of it we’d love to have.”
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has already won the largest part of the collection: 7,500 documents and images dating as far back as the 1770s, which will be transferred by the end of the year to the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room.Specialized Cycling
Joyce Reimann of the library says the collection counts as the largest and most significant donation ever received by the Carolina Room, which is one of the state’s most comprehensive genealogical and local history departments.
Museum officials say moving the thousands of letters, historical photos, postcards and aerial maps is in the best interest of the community. “Rather than hoarding this stuff in a locked room where nobody can see it, we now have a chance to put it right out there with the public,Canada Goose Whistler Parka” Ridge says.
The museum on Shamrock Drive is a nonprofit run by an independent board.moncler down coats It had a budget of about $1 million, supplied mostly by private donations. The museum was temporarily closed from May to September because of mounting debts.
Closing saved more than $100,000 in expenses, officials said, and gave the museum board time to craft a better business model. It also gave the staff time to inventory the collection and determine which items aren’t relevant to colonial Mecklenburg County.
Historic artifacts?
It’s debatable, but such oddities are among 15,000 items preserved and kept in expensive, climate-controlled conditions at the Charlotte Museum of History.
That’s about to change, however.
The financially troubled museum’s staff is working to cut costs, and that includes culling thousands of artifacts that aren’t related to its mission of telling the county’s pre-Colonial and Colonial history.
Historians are positive the era didn’t include Pabst Blue Ribbon and Little Caesars.
Equally out of place are such things as a 25-year-old sock monkey, a 1970s console stereo the size of a deep freezer and a Victorian couch.
The list goes on and on, and includes some valuable items now on display that simply don’t fit the institution’s mission, says Kathy Ridge, the museum’s interim director.
She guesses that,moncler jackets for sale of the 15,000 items, fewer than 200 are truly needed to tell the story of Charlotte’s origins and the history of the Hezekiah Alexander Home site on the museum’s property. It is the county’s oldest standing residence, built in 1774.
“We have a huge part of the museum devoted to locked storage, with special heating, air control and lights,Canada Goose Calgary Jacket and do you want all that for something commemorating the opening of a pizza place?” Ridge asks.
“You have to ask yourself: How did we get all this? I’m sure it’s primarily things donated to us. To be honest, I don’t get the significance of some of it. I just know we need to be more deliberate about what is here and why it’s here.”
As much as $150,000 a year in utility and building expenses could be saved if the collection were trimmed to a more manageable size, she says.
However, Ridge is quick to note the site is not “holding a yard sale.”
Selling the items is not permitted, because they were donated to be held in public trust, she said. It would also be disrespectful to the many donors, which include the mayor’s office of Charlotte.
Instead, the museum has quietly contacted a dozen regional historic sites and museums and asked if they’d like to acquire any artifacts related to their displays.
The Mint Hill Historical Society, for example, is seeking the Cyrus Stinson loom now in storage, one of at least two looms in the museum’s collection.
Union County’s Museum of the Waxhaws is asking for multiple items, including World War II uniforms worn by a Union County nurse and that Waxhaw Eagles letterman’s jacket. “It’s like Christmas morning,” Sandra Secrest Glenn of the Waxhaw museum said as she toured the collection last week. “There’s just so much of it we’d love to have.”
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has already won the largest part of the collection: 7,500 documents and images dating as far back as the 1770s, which will be transferred by the end of the year to the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room.Specialized Cycling
Joyce Reimann of the library says the collection counts as the largest and most significant donation ever received by the Carolina Room, which is one of the state’s most comprehensive genealogical and local history departments.
Museum officials say moving the thousands of letters, historical photos, postcards and aerial maps is in the best interest of the community. “Rather than hoarding this stuff in a locked room where nobody can see it, we now have a chance to put it right out there with the public,Canada Goose Whistler Parka” Ridge says.
The museum on Shamrock Drive is a nonprofit run by an independent board.moncler down coats It had a budget of about $1 million, supplied mostly by private donations. The museum was temporarily closed from May to September because of mounting debts.
Closing saved more than $100,000 in expenses, officials said, and gave the museum board time to craft a better business model. It also gave the staff time to inventory the collection and determine which items aren’t relevant to colonial Mecklenburg County.
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