Wait. What?
Thursday, Jan 24, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* December 6, 2018 press release from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum…
Media personality, author and political commentator Glenn Beck is helping to ensure that one-of-a-kind Lincoln artifacts remain accessible to visitors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The library’s executive director, Alan Lowe, announced Thursday that Beck’s charity, Mercury One, has gifted $50,869.
“We are extraordinarily grateful for the generosity of Glenn, his listeners, and Mercury One donors,” Lowe said. “Glenn contacted us as soon as he heard of our challenge and asked how he could help. The donation from Mercury One, as well as Glenn’s continued call for his audience to protect Lincoln’s legacy, is inspiring.”
The money was then donated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, which is deeply in debt because it paid one of its board members millions of dollars for artifacts - one of which (Lincoln’s alleged hat) may not even be authentic.
* Bruce Rushton found something that wasn’t included in the press release…
The ALPLM last June loaned [Beck’s] Mercury One some of its most precious possessions, including a copy of the Gettysburg Address, a key to Lincoln’s house, a letter he wrote and a nameplate from his home informing passersby that A. Lincoln lived there. The 2018 loan was the third time ever that the Gettysburg Address has left the Springfield institution. It was Mercury One’s opening weekend as a museum.
The museum doesn’t charge money to loan artifacts.
* More…
(T)he person who keeps [things safe at Beck’s Mercury One] is Courtney Mayden, who was hired in the fall of 2017 as an associate curator at the Dallas-area facility. Before that, she was a server at Pluckers Wing Bar in nearby Addison. She also has a degree in art history and had served as volunteer docent at a Fort Worth art museum and worked as a gallery attendant at a Dallas art museum.
Um.
* More…
It was Mayden’s job to ensure that humidity, temperatures, security and other details were up to snuff to protect Abe’s speech and other relics. She helped unpack the ALPLM artifacts, according to emails, and repacked them for the return trip to Springfield. ALPLM director Alan Lowe made the trip, with plans to be interviewed by Beck for a television program.
The Gettysburg Address is so cherished that the five existing copies are kept in near darkness within vaults where temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees and relative humidity is between 40 and 48 percent, according to a 2013 story in Popular Science. A fingerprint is cause for consternation because oils left from human skin attract contaminants that speed decay. The ALPLM measures its copy, according to the 2013 story, to determine how its dimensions change in different conditions.
* And the end…
Wills says via email that Lowe was present when artifacts were unpacked and put on display, and he notes that everything was returned safe and sound. “We appreciate your interest in this textbook example of how to properly handle the loan of a historic document,” Wills wrote.
Textbook? Shipping arrangements were made before a loan agreement was signed with an outfit that had never before held an exhibition. The Mercury One website is festooned with “Donate Now” buttons, the charity’s collection is a hodgepodge that includes Hollywood memorabilia, an exploding rat and sundry other items, with a Thomas Paine letter and a few other historic documents thrown in. Mayden seems earnest in emails, but she was just getting started as a professional conservator. It sounds like a lot of stuff got slapped together at the last minute, compared with prior loans and how they roll at the Library of Congress.
Sounds a bit risky to me.
* But this is from the library…
We found that Mercury One had excellent security, appropriate climate controls and a knowledgeable curator who was willing to work with us at every step. Mercury One covered all expenses for the loan, including special, high-security shipping. Our director was present for its installation.
The Address did not leave the ALPLM until our experts were satisfied it would be perfectly safe – which it was. It returned to the presidential library five days later in pristine condition.
The ALPLM staff are to be commended for their attention to detail, and we thank the Mercury One Foundation for handling this document with such care and respect as they shared it with a new audience. […]
The ALPLM cannot know the work history of employees at institutions that borrow material from us. Their previous jobs are not relevant. What’s relevant are the institutions’ procedures and professionalism. We did our due diligence to ensure that Mercury One met all requirements. The outcome was a positive experience for both the ALPLM and Mercury One.
The ALPLM staff is dedicated to protecting every item in our collection. No one would have hesitated to speak up if there had been any hint of a problem with the circumstances of this loan. Everyone was satisfied that the objects would be in safe hands – which was indeed the case. All the items loaned to Mercury One came back in perfect shape.
* From Chris Wills…
The Illinois Times article mentioned that this is only the third time we have loaned out the Gettysburg Address. What it failed to include is that this was only the third time anyone has ever asked the ALPLM to borrow the address. It’s not like we routinely turn down request after request but made an exception in this particular case.
Thoughts?
- Precinct Captain - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 2:56 pm:
Quick, call Sean Hannity!
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:00 pm:
===Before that, she was a server at Pluckers Wing Bar===
Sounds legit to me.
- Reality Check - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:01 pm:
Hi Chris,
Mind if I take your Gettysburg Address for a spin?
Thanks,
R.C.
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:01 pm:
If Beck gets to borrow the real Gettysburg Address, I’d like to borrow the fake Lincoln hat and wear it to work for a couple days.
- Chris Widger - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:03 pm:
==Sounds legit to me.==
Everyone loves the working class until they get in the way of the agenda.
- Norseman - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:04 pm:
Keep the address, loan them the hat. We only have one of the five copies. That is such a landmark item, why is it leaving at all.
- DuPage Saint - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:05 pm:
That is just not right. They should not be allowed to own a copy of the Gettysburg Address
But then who knew that you could ask to borrow it. Asked for only 3 times and loaned out three times. Seems like they are very generous
- Stu - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:07 pm:
A fingerprint is cause for consternation because oils left from buffalo wing sauce attract contaminants that speed decay
- Can - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:08 pm:
Can we get off the Pluckers Wing Bar thing? I used to wait tables and bartend. A lot of us have. What is the big deal?
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:10 pm:
Does anyone at the Lincoln Museum have a degree, certificate, or online course receipt in Museum Studies?
- ILPundit - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:12 pm:
Why are we making it an issue that the assistant curator in Texas was once a waitress? Seems like someone is being a little bit sexist. At least the Illinois Times story pointed out that she actually has a relevant degree From NYU. Perhaps Rich could highlight that?
- JoanP - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:12 pm:
An exploding rat? Maybe they could reciprocate and loan that to us?
@47th Ward -
I don’t know the young lady. But I do know that a lot of young people take jobs like that because they have student loans to pay off, even if they also have a “real” job in their field.
True story: a lawyer in a government agency I worked for moonlighted making pizzas to support his family. And he wasn’t the only one.
- SAP - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:12 pm:
If my math is right, the museum foundation would only have to lend the Gettysburg Address out 193 more times to pay off the museum foundation’s outstanding debt on that stovepipe hat boondoggle.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:13 pm:
===What is the big deal?===
Not disparaging an industry and noble profession, simply wondering if any of the standard employee training at Pluckers includes how to handle rare documents. She also had an Art History degree, but again, this sort of training is pretty high-level. Didn’t you ever see National Treasure?
“The Gettysburg Address is so cherished that the five existing copies are kept in near darkness within vaults where temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees and relative humidity is between 40 and 48 percent, according to a 2013 story in Popular Science. A fingerprint is cause for consternation because oils left from human skin attract contaminants that speed decay.”
- Steve Rogers - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:15 pm:
Can, there’s nothing wrong with waiting tables and bartending. That’s not the issue. The issue is that THE most treasured item in the ALPLM collection was handled by a person with almost no experience in curating. She could have been a truck driver, a police officer, a mechanic. Hell, she could have been president of the United States. None of those jobs give her the requisite experience to handle a priceless document.
- Captain Obvious - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:16 pm:
What is the point of owning this document if it is to be forever kept in a dark room out of sight? The purpose of the library is to share Lincoln’s legacy with the public. Occasional public viewings of the GA should be encouraged, particularly if they generate large donations to pay off the foundation’s debt. I imagine much of the consternation about this loan is due to the organization to which the loan was made. Get over it. Should the library have taken more care in ensuring the safety of the GA while on loan? Kind of looks that way, but it looks like no harm was done. Future loans should be better administered as were the first two.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:51 pm:
Where are the snarky comments about Glenn Beck?
CapitolFax readers are not living up to their reputation
- Amalia - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:53 pm:
New management, please take note and create policies and procedures to handle things with museum standards.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 3:58 pm:
===Everyone loves the working class until they get in the way of the agenda.===
What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with the associate curator, who appears to be less than qualified to handle rare documents, and everything to do with the Foundation putting its most valuable asset into an unqualified Glenn Beck fundraising front cum “museum.”
It’s negligence and more reason for somebody to clean house over there.
- Professor - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:00 pm:
The ALPLM staff needs a careful examination. Most of the key people came during the last 4 years. Enough said.
- LakeCo - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:05 pm:
I dunno, renting the Gettysburg Address to Glenn Beck for a weekend just seems icky to me. And another layer of ickiness is that he was charging people $750 for tours at his shindig. That copy of the GA belongs to the people of Illinois - why should Beck be allowed to fundraise off it?
- LakeCo - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:08 pm:
In defense of the curator - the museum field is competitive, and a lot of people with humanities degrees end up waiting tables until they can break in.
On the other hand, based on her qualifications, the ALPLM wouldn’t have let her handle the Gettysburg Address if she’d been on their own staff. And art history degree does not necessarily translate into experience in the care and handling of rare manuscripts.
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:20 pm:
Working on my “can I borrow an electric eel for the weekend” request to Shedd.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:27 pm:
==are kept in near darkness within vaults where temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees and relative humidity is between 40 and 48 percent==
Aren’t those the same conditions as in Madigan’s office?
- Radio rod - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:32 pm:
Beck paid in gold I assume??
- Klaus VonBulow - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 4:52 pm:
Was this loan done by the foundation or Library / Museum director or it’s chief of staff staff?
- downstate hack - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 5:37 pm:
Glenn Beck should be lauded for his fundraising.
- theCardinal - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 7:33 pm:
In reality don’t care who it went to, but we should all be very concerened with how cavalier they were with one of Amercas greatest artifacts. Under the catergory of can we get any goofier in the once Great State of…Oh wait sure we can.
- Enemy of the State - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 9:25 pm:
I want to know if that wing restaurant served only wings from the right side of the chicken.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 11:35 pm:
Everyone here acts as if they are museum curators in their spare time.
- Art Student - Thursday, Jan 24, 19 @ 11:48 pm:
Having an Art History degree doesn’t qualify you for a job as an Art Conservator, that usually means having at least a master’s degree and for something as delicate and valuable at the Gettysburg Address would also need a good bit of experience as well.
- Cheryl44 - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 9:03 am:
I don’t think loaning one of the most precious artifacts the museum owns is a good idea at all. I don’t care the curator used to wait tables, I don’t care Glen Beck is a word Rich won’t let me use. The GA should be left in it’s climate controlled case.
- allknowingmasterofraccoodom - Friday, Jan 25, 19 @ 1:52 pm:
Slow news day huh Rich?