[Rockhounds] Academy of Natural Sciences Vaux collection

[Pmodreski at aol.com]

A few more details on the story about the Vaux collection, I "googled" the  
article title and came up with this blog commentary online that discusses it  
further, including links to the newspaper stories and a press release from the  
Academy.
 
Pete Modreski
 
(if you go to the link below, scroll down through the first part of the  
column to get to the part about the Academy, which I've reproduced below)
 
 
_http://paelderestatefiduciary.blogspot.com/2007/06/philly-rocks-stay-home-pai
ntings-too.html_ 
(http://paelderestatefiduciary.blogspot.com/2007/06/philly-rocks-stay-home-paintings-too.html) 
 
Just last week, the _Academy of Natural Science_ (http://www.ansp.org/)  in 
Philadelphia announced in a _Press Release, dated _ 
(http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/taon-avt061507.php) _June 15, 2007_ 
(http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/taon-avt061507.php) , entitled "Academy vows to 
retain mineral  collection", that "[t]he Academy of Natural Sciences has no 
intention of  giving up its historic William S. Vaux mineral collection."

President and CEO Dr. William Y. Brown,  in an affidavit signed today in the 
Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of  Common Pleas, makes those intentions 
crystal clear. According to Brown’s  testimony, if the proposed sale of the 
7,300-piece collection is not approved  by the court, the Academy is “prepared 
to keep and properly care for the  collection.”

In preparation, the Academy has developed a multi-year  plan that addresses 
the measures taken to ensure the collection is in top  condition. * * *  
"The Academy looks forward to caring for the Vaux Collection and providing  
access to it along with the earliest minerals collected in the Americas by the  
Lewis & Clark expedition and others," said Brown.
“The vast and seminal collections of the Academy, including these, date  from 
the dawn of science in this hemisphere. We have no higher priority than  
their stewardship.”
For newspaper reports regarding this  development in the maintenance of the 
Vaux Collection and the proceeding before  the Orphans' Court Division, of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia  County, PA, see: _"Academy will not 
sell historic mineral  collection"_ 
(http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-51/1182014956306990.xml&storylist=penn) , published on  June 16, 
2007, by The Associated Press, and posted online by  PennLive.

The Academy of Natural Sciences  has abandoned a controversial plan to sell a 
historic mineral collection.  Academy president William Y. Brown  signed an 
affidavit Friday saying the institution "is prepared to keep and  properly care 
for the collection." * * * 

The proposed sale of the William S. Vaux  collection generated months of 
debate among local advocates and in the  national mineralogic community when it 
was announced last year. Some felt it  would be close to sacrilege to sell the 
7,300-piece collection, which probably  would have led to its being broken up. 
It was amassed in the 1800s, when  Philadelphia was considered a cradle of 
mineralogy. * * *

But court approval was needed for the  sale because Vaux, a Victorian 
gentleman and academy officer, had specified in  his bequest to the institution that 
the minerals remain on view there. That  bequest already had been violated, 
since the collection had for years been  locked away, unavailable for either 
display or study. With no full-time  curator, some specimens had deteriorated. 
Some had been  pilfered.

Vaux's  great-great-niece, Trina Vaux of Bryn Mawr, who opposed the sale, 
submitted a  plan at a court hearing last spring to have Bryn Mawr College and 
the Wagner  Free Institute of Science take the collection. With no money to be 
made in such a transfer, and  indications that the court would rule against the 
sale, the academy decided to  have Brown sign the affidavit, which is 
expected to be filed Monday in  Orphans' Court. * * *

See also: _"Local Museum Decides Not to Sell Collection",_ 
(http://cbs3.com/topstories/local_story_167135517.html)  posted by _KYW  News_ 
(http://cbs3.com/)  on June 16, 2007; and _"Rock on:  Academy won't sell collection"_ 
(http://www.philly.com/philly/
health_and_science/20070616_Rock_on__Academy_wont_sell_collection.html) , by Sandy Bauers, published on June 16, 2007, in  the 
_Philadelphia Inquirer_ (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/) .

[Academy President William Y.] Brown took over the presidency in February  
and seemed to be a clear advocate for the collections.  
"I feel very strongly that the Academy of Natural Sciences needs to, in  
general, stand ready to care for its entire collection," he said yesterday. "I  
think that's expected of us by the people of Philadelphia and people  throughout 
the world that know the  academy."




************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
---