Museum of the Confederacy's future threatened
by de-consolidation plans
The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond holds the world's finest collection of Confederate art and artifacts; it's future is in serious doubt. If rumored changes come to pass the MOC's collection as well as the historic White House of the Confederacy which it owns and manages, may simply cease to exist.
Right now, some in the MOC leadership have cooked up a plan to distribute the MOC's incredible collection among several different Richmond-area groups. Included in that list are the Virginia Historical Society and the historic site at Tredegar Iron Works. Neither of these can be considered Confederate-friendly.
The Museum of the Confederacy holds an important trust as the repository of the world's finest collection of Confederate memorabilia. Recent reports from well-informed sources indicate that the museum's leadership is rapidly moving forward with a plan which, in addition to dispersing the collection, will also sell its building in downtown Richmond.
Once the collection is relocated and the building sold, the now-nearby White House of the Confederacy will be isolated in an urban canyon surrounded by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and virtually lost to tourist traffic. To think that it will be bale to sustain itself financially in that condition is difficult to imagine.
I'm writing to you because we need to act quickly.
The SCV strongly opposes this plan and is actively urging the Museum of the Confederacy board to reconsider. While no doubt well-intentioned, this course of action will seriously jeopardize the integrity of this collection which is so important to our Southern heritage.
Generations of Southerners, including many of the veterans themselves, contributed a king's ransom to the Museum of the Confederacy in the form of priceless antiques, family heirlooms, and relics of the Confederate cause of incalculable value. They made these contributions with the express intent that these antiquities would be carefully preserved and honorably displayed. That's how the Museum of the Confederacy's collection grew to be the trustee of the single largest collection of the treasures of the late Confederacy. To scatter these precious treasures across several venues and organizations will permanently diminish its importance.
The Museum of the Confederacy is technically owned by the Confederate Memorial & Literary Society and is a private organization. They are under no obligation to listen to the SCV or to take advice from anyone. But, we believe they are reasonable people who by and large want to do the best they can under the circumstances .
I have been calling everyone connected with the MOC but I would like for them to hear from you as well.
Please contact these folks today and POLITELY let them know how important it is that the Museum of the Confederacy's collection remain intact as a permanent tribute to those proud soldiers.
Please urge your Compatriots and anyone who shares our view of this important issue to let their voices be heard so that the Museum of the Confederacy can return to being the home of the Confederacy's most important artifacts.
Michael Givens
Commander in Chief
Contact: [contact info]
Mr. Matthew G. Thompson, Jr. (Chairman)
Mr. Carlton P. Moffatt, Jr.
The Hon. Daniel T. Balfour
