Thank You, Joan Chaconas!

[wpbinzel]

I was tracking down an article when I came across the November-December 1982, Volume 1, Number 2, issue of The Lincolnian, published by the Lincoln Group of Washington, D.C. There on the front page was an article written by Joan Chaconas entitled "The Oldroyd Collection." The article provides a brief overview of Osborn H. Oldroyd's efforts to collect Lincolniana; the purchase of the collection in 1926 by the federal government; and the collection's relocation to Ford's Theater in 1932 where it was displayed until 1964, when Ford's underwent restoration. Only a portion of the collection went back on display in 1968 and the remainder went into the "vault" of the National Park Service at Union Station. At the time the article was written, Union Station was in disrepair and the building was considered unsafe. The NPS moved out of the building, but left the remainder of the Oldroyd Collection behind.

Joan wrote:

"Why is the NPS allowing this collection to fall by the wayside, perhaps to rot away? This is a case where 'ashes to ashes and dust to dust' should not apply! Alas, we are faced with the age old problem of 'no money' and bureaucratic priorities. However, there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. As a result of the on-going investigation and public interest in the Oldroyd Collection, the NPS has given serious thought once again to the future of these relics. They hope that by the end of this year, 1982, these bits and pieces of Lincolniana will have been placed in the NPS facility in Greenbelt, Maryland. They plan to make everything accessible to serious Lincoln researchers. Plans are also being considered that will alter the present Lincoln Museum at Ford's to accommodate a larger representation of the Oldroyd Collection.

"It is hoped that the plans, as set forth by the NPS, will come to fruition. Unfortunately, only time will tell, and the passage of time is indeed the cruelest and most ruinous enemy to the Oldroyd Collection. Paper crumbles, fabric molds and disintegrates, paintings crack and warp and photographs fade. To the NPS we can only convey our belief 'that History is the ship carrying living memories to the future.' May you, sail on, Oldroyd!"

In addition to so ably expressing a sentiment that we all share, Joan's article serves as a reminder of the considerable time and effort that she and others have spent over the years to keep "the ship" afloat and moving forward. Thank you for your dedication to the history of Lincoln. We owe you a great debt of gratitude.

[RJNorton]

Thank you, Bill! Well said.

John Fazio paid tribute to Joan in his book Decapitating the Union. John wrote, "These include Joan Chaconas of the Surratt Society, a lover of truth, whose discovery of George Atzerodt's Lost Confession, of May 1, 1865, rivals in importance anything ever found in connection with the assassination."

[L Verge]

It was a lucky day almost forty years ago that Joan Chaconas happened to be working as a guide at Surratt House on the very day that descendants of Atzerodt's laywer, William E. Doster, came for a visit. Joan and I would likely have been the only guides at that time to recognize the name Doster. That visit resulted in Joan traveling north to see Doster's old papers - and the discovery of the original, handwritten copy of Atzerodt's confession of May 1, 1865.

That confession had not been entered into testimony in 1865. However, we had seen it printed in an 1869 issue of the Baltimore American newspaper. I believe we have a copy of that in the museum archives. I have often wondered how the newspaper got access to the original. Did Doster give them a copy and permission to publish?

A tidbit on the Oldroyd collection et al and its preservation: In the early-1980s, I kept reading about the "Lincoln Library" at Ford's Theatre. At that time, I was going through a divorce and working three jobs, so Joan did my sleuthing for me and found that the "library" was more extensive.

She was directed to a National Park Service ranger named Mike Harmon, who literally stood guard over the collection, which had been moved into storage on the top floor of DC's wonderful, old Union Station -- where the roof leaked. James O. Hall, John C. Brennan, and Betty Ownsbey were some of the first of our Boothies to use that collection while it was at Union Station and later in a new building in Greenbelt, Maryland. There is now an even better storage facility in Landover, Maryland.