Manson letters sent to Lincoln museum

[Steve]

All I have to say about this story is... why? why?

https://nypost.com/2017/11/28/charles-ma...ln-museum/

[L Verge]

(11-28-2017 07:59 PM)Steve Wrote:  All I have to say about this story is... why? why?

https://nypost.com/2017/11/28/charles-ma...ln-museum/

It would seem that the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in D.C. would have been the logical repository for these letters. However, it closed down in September and is searching for a new home.

[Steve]

But one would think that the material would be donated to a museum or archive at least tangentially related to the subject.

I can understand wanting to keep the Manson material away from "fans", but if the reporter wanted to do that than he should've considered the possibility, that after holding the material for several decades, a museum or archive that has no focus on the subject might be tempted to auction off the material if it desperately needed money.

[Gene C]

I'm with you Steve..... why?
I think a facility in California, where the crimes occurred, would be a more appropriate choice.
Perhaps a school or institution that teaches about the criminally insane, and has a more controlled access to the documents.

[Dennis Urban]

Why would such a revered museum even want to consider accepting such garbage? They should reject them. Can this story really be accurate?

[L Verge]

That was my first thought also, Dennis. Museums are not obligated to accept any offers, and reputable ones have mission statements and acquisition guidelines that spell out what their chief focus re: collections should be.

[JMadonna]

The way history is being taught its easy to predict that a century from now a researcher will find a link between Manson and Lincoln. And be believed!

[davg2000]

I doubt that the decision to accept Manson's letters to Peoria Journal Star reporter Phil Luciano was made lightly.

Here is ALPLM's Mission Statement: "The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum interprets the life and times of our nation’s greatest president and its relevance to modern America: it fosters scholarship, preserves the documentary and visual history of Illinois and supports historical literacy through an ambitious agenda of changing exhibits, theatrical performances, conferences, lectures, educational programs and on-line content."

The name of the museum and library can be confusing because it suggests that the museum deals mainly (only) with Lincoln-related material. But ALPLM is really the main historical library of Illinois; it considers accepting material that has only to have some kind of Illinois connection. Charles Manson spent time in Peoria, IL, in 1949. So, apparently, his letters qualify, no matter how odious, under the "the documentary and visual history of Illinois" clause of the mission statement.

One may disagree that the letters deserve inclusion, but there is a written rationale for it.

Manson's letters will never be on display in the Museum or the Library. They will not be auctioned off or sold because Illinois may need money. (Actually, Illinois will always need more money, but the funds won't come from the sale of these letters.)