Manuscript Preservation?

Question

I have some extremely historical documents from the Revolutionary War but I need money to preserve them. I would eventually like to share my collection with the world but I first need to preserve these items before they become lost forever. I DON'T WANT TO LOAN THEM! Do you know an organization that would make a generous donation towards my preservation? I can convince them, just give me some ideas for groups. Thanks

Answer 1

You REALLY SHOULD consider LOANING.

An institution will gladly preserve them FOR you in exchange for the chance to study them. They would ONLY be on loan. And YOU can set a time date.

Preserving historical documents is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE and can only be properly done by EXPERTS.... who work for institutions.

I completely understand your feelings of possession and the possibility to make a nice sum of money from them BUT these ARE Revolutionary documents and should have been properly persevered YEARS ago.

You should have had them verified by experts long ago also.

There are TONS and TONS of extremely realistic looking fakes out there, if you have watched History Detectives and Antiques Road Show. Even THEY have to use high powered microscopes to find the fakes.

I just saw a show of History Detectives about fake Abraham Lincoln memorabilia. They passed EVERY test UNTIL they put them under a high powered medical microscope. It was quite obvious even to the untrained eye that they were fakes. Damned good fakes, documented, signed off on, complete with a history..... but still complete fakes.

And please, keep in your mind, the reason the Smithsonian Institution museums are FREE, is because American History BELONGS to the American People.

The verification and preservation of old historical documents is extremely time consuming and expensive and unless you have a close relative with that kind of expertise to do it for you, you simply aren't going to find an organization to do this highly skilled service for free or little money.

If I were YOU, I WOULD contact History Detectives with PBS to see if they would "bite" and get at least a free professional document verification for you. You will need that before you do anything. I've added their website below for you.

Good luck with them, friend, and I hope to one day see your documents!

Answer 2

I'd contact a museum for advice, perhaps even the Smithsonian.