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Re: NYTimes Article



Upon reading the statements on this list I feel I should comment on the situation at Boston University.  Dr. Gotlieb was, at first,  scoffed at for wanting to collect people who were still alive.  Today,  many institutions do the same.  The whole point behind his creation of the archive was to try to ensure that all materials pertaining to a particular person or organization remain in one institution.  How many of us have dealt with researchers that have been bouncing all over the country trying to find materials for their research (Abraham Lincoln is one example).  It makes perfect sense to keep these items together.  As far as the type of collections housed in the archive,  it is definitely diverse.  The mission for the Department is to collect anyone of influence or impact during the 20th century and now beyond.  We do possess historical manuscripts (I put up an exhibit of Abe Lincoln in Feb.) as far back as the 16th century.  But the main focus is the present.
    The Department started out with Dr. Gotlieb literally asking people to DONATE, not sell their collections.  He has continued this practice ever since. 
Example: Gotlieb wanted to collect Bidu Sayo (world famous soprano during the 1930's-1940's).  He wrote birthday and holiday cards every year for 30 years.  He never received any communication back from her until she died this past year.  In her will she had left the Department her collection of photographs, correspondence,  albums,  memorabilia,  scrapbooks and other items.  We knew nothing of this until the lawyers contacted us.  Dr. Gotlieb has used this technique for over 25 years.  However collecting archives in this manner also poses problems.  There are some collectees that produce award winning pieces of literature and then never produce anything ever again.  Gambles are taken and sometimes they produce with great effect.  Another example would be that of  Peter Benchley.  The Benchley collection was started in an effort to retain the archive of the whole family starting from the famous father Robert and including his sons and relatives.  The collection started to arrive and then Peter wrote a little script titled "Jaws" that struck the fancy of Hollywood.  So as you can see,  Dr. Gotlieb  does not just look for the famous or infamous.  In fact most our collections have never been heard of by the average American.  Has anyone heard of Leo Cherne?  He created the International Rescue Committee and was an economic advisor to many top governmental brass.  Or Charles Keil who is a ethnomusicologist and an expert on African and Polka music.  These are people most would never have known about unless a researcher is deeply involved in the particular genre.  The advantage is when one collectee wants to donate money, others will as well,  amounting to a snowball effect.
    Yes,  the celebrity names do make good press but at the same time, they amount to such a small portion of the ever increasing archive.  The "collecting focus" that Daniel Sokolow refers to is multifaceted.  The focus is by genre:  Technology,  espionage,  music (contemporary, classical,  jazz),  literature, politics,  economics,  civil rights, the History of Nursing (over 190 Nursing collections),  Hollywood (directors,  producers,  actors).  These areas of study spanned the entire world.  In short the archive is macro in nature,  not micro.  We do maintain the B.U. archive as well, but why stop there? This note is just a quick answer to a very detailed question.
Sincerely,
Alex Rankin
Assistant Director for Manuscripts
Department of Special Collections
Boston University

Peter Kurilecz wrote:

Dr. Gotlieb receives some excellent press. Listed below are links to previous
postings with stories about him. Starting in 1997 there has been a story each
year at this time about him and the BU Collections. He does get publicity
which may make it easier to approach potential donors. Other archivists
should follow his lead of cultivating a relationship with the local press.
Such a relationship will probably possibly hopefully develop in to new
donations to your institution as well as raising public awareness

http://listserv.muohio.edu/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind9712B&L=archives&P=R6142

http://listserv.muohio.edu/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind9812B&L=archives&P=R4986

http://listserv.muohio.edu/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind9305B&L=archives&P=R3317

http://listserv.muohio.edu/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind9605D&L=archives&P=R2508

Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
Richmond, Va
pakurilecz@aol.com

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