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Archiver > APG > 2007-07 > 1184517713


From: "Melinde Sanborn" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Why do genealogists disenfranchise themselves?
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:41:53 -0400
In-Reply-To: <200707111445.l6BEjP3k011651@mail.rootsweb.com>


NYG&BS does not have a Judith Avery, who gave what I consider the most
significant donation of all time to a genealogical manuscript collection and
brought it out of the dark ages (but did not save parts of it from being
sold off, unfortunately). NYG&BS does not have a Ruth Bishop, whose
endowment of the NEHG Register will keep it safe from budget cuts for years
to come. NYG&BS does not have an Ethel Farrington Smith who made a record
donation to NEHGS. NYG&BS does not have a Dean and Roberta Smith, who
covered the full cost of the creation of the NEHGS Technology center on the
4th floor of their 101 Newbury Street structure (an old bank much
renovated).

My bicentennial history of NEHGS will chronicle the outstanding job done by
Ralph Crandall, a man with a sports history background and zero fund raising
experience, who with barely a quarter million dollars left in the bank in
the early 1980s, built the endowment well into the eight figures by 2003
when members were disenfranchised.

As far as I can tell, no leader has appeared on the NYG&BS scene, nor is
there one on the horizon. Leaders build, they don't destroy. If NYG&BS is to
have a new future that serves the public, it needs its members to step up.
Smacking us in the face with our insignificance is not the tact I'd take.

Melinde

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