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Re: Jackie Kennedy's Pink Dress
Guardians of "good taste" no, but how about respecting the wishes of you r
donors and their privacy
We have many collections wherein we take steps not to make available for
public viewing documents that are personal or sensitive for a donor (e.g.,
his bank account statements).
Perhaps your visitor had a sailor relative who was burned; how many have had
a family member murdered in broad daylight?
BTW, I visited your museum on 3 July & enjoyed it very much - the ships and
the interior exhibits
Allan Goodrich
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Angelo <mangelo@INDSM.ORG>
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2000 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: Jackie Kennedy's Pink Dress
>I am sure we are all well aware of issues that involve donor restrictions,
>historic value, and public pruience. But I am also concerned that we step
>back a moment and reflect on "just who do we think we are?!" Where in the
>Archivist's Oath does it require us to be guardians of (subjective) good
>taste? Why do we gravitate toward assuming "the public" need archivists to
>license their interests and censor their viewing habits? I once had a
>archives visitor who needed to look at photos of burn victims. I came to
>believe that it may have helped her deal with a horrifying death in their
>family. I don't believe that visitors to the Holocaust Museum are all
>motivated by grisly baseness. Although I wouldn't want to have the Pink
>Dress on display in an exhibition titled, "Murder and the Presidency!!", I
>must say, it does hold a lot of poignant and tragic power for me. One of
>millions, I have never come to grips with the JFK assassination which was
my
>childhood introduction to grief and loss. There IS an area between
>gratutitous pandering and a lockbox for ever. After all, we ARE here to
>make information available and NOT just under those conditions that satisfy
>our personal sense of decorum.
>
>f. michael Angelo
>library director
>independence seaport museum
>211 s. columbus blvd.
>philadelphia, pa 19106
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU]On
>Behalf Of Eva Krusten
>Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 2:21 PM
>To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
>Subject: Re: Jackie Kennedy's Pink Dress
>
>
>Do the people who feel that they have some kind of right to see Jackie
>Kennedy's blood stained pink suit also feel that they have the right to
hear
>tapes dealing with the deaths of the astronauts in the Apollo (204) launch
>pad fire in January 1967, or the Challenger shuttle craft? Someone asked
>why an archives would preserve something if it was not displayed. Just
>because an archives has such material and preserves it for historical
>purposes, does not mean that every portion of it can and should be released
>to the public.
>
>Eva Krusten
>(Stated as personal opinion rather than in a professional capacity)
>
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>
>A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
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>Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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>Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>