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Post by jshuey on Oct 20, 2021 11:00:16 GMT -8
There are trends that scare me, and give cause for concern considering where a collection might be donated. Although it's art, not insects, this makes me wonder what level of care and collaboration will be lost: www.dailywire.com/news/famed-art-institute-of-chicago-fires-all-docents-primarily-white-women-critics-charge-racismIn the past decades, we've seen anthropological specimens "returned" to native tribes and buried, rendering them useless. With Leps, some museums don't want Ornithoptera for fear of USFWS. How long until volunteer entomologists are booted because they're white? Until museums want to return specimens to third-world countries? Until dead bugs are politically incorrect? Chuck First - I want to be clear that I see the world in shades of gray - there are generally no true right or wrong answers. In that light - there are many things worth commenting about in this post. First, the Chicago Art Institute story already has us talking here at work (I work for a non-profit that depends on charitable giving). In the non-profit world, there is incredible pressure to become more relevant to a wider swath of humanity. If an organizations wants to remain relevant to society, it needs to embrace society as a whole. Otherwise, I'd expect the group to decline as it becomes irrelevant to the future. That said, most non-profits depend today on the generosity of their "effluent volunteers" to pay the bills. The Art Institute's radical approach certainly alienated a demographic that was firmly committed to them (and wealthy!). Why would they do that? A more gradual approach to increasing the diversity of their constituency seems better suited to an organization that needs to both maintain current support while growing its relevance to other portions of society. In other words, I think they acted stupidly, but in pursuit of a worthy cause. Based on what I hear from others, that seems to be the consensus that is forming about this action. Second, the anthropological issues raised above are very different when viewed from different cultural perspectives. I grew with "science" and 30 years ago would have firmly bought into this logic. But I've seen enough of the world, and more importantly, talked with enough people who feel differently that I too see the issues differently now. It's against the law for me to go to a cemetery and dig up a few coffins, yet many anthropologist do exactly that and somehow think that it's different. Interestingly, I personally don't care if someone has my ancestor's bones in their house, but many religions believe that the integrity of the remains are critical to afterlife. To them it is simple grave robbery. If I believed that someone screwed with my father's soul by taking disturbing his grave - them I would indeed be pissed. I'd want his soul restored. Likewise, it irritates me when I see major artifacts in Washington, Paris or London that were plundered in the name of "science". It really pains me that I saw the famous Maya lintels of Yaxchilan in London - not at the actual site that they were created. At this magnificent site, these are simply "gone missing". It even bothers me a bit that many of the finest Maya monuments are in Mexico city - not among the Maya - many of which still have connections with the old religion. It's like if someone moved the alter of the Sistine Chapel to Naples. The Pope would be Pissed - right? By the way check out this article about a guy who collected artifacts (and who happened to live about 15 miles from me) www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/10/how-the-fbi-discovered-a-real-life-indiana-jones-in-indiana. ; When I first heard about the story, I had quite a bit of sympathy towards his dilemma -- a collector targeted by feds. But over a decade has passed, I've heard more of the real story from locals who knew him (mostly accurate in the linked article) and I've changed my mind. He was a criminal - plain and simple. Ok..., bringing this back home to bugs - yes, museums want legally collected specimens. There are lots of reasons not to want more bred birdwings that may or may not have been exported legally. But as long as a collector has the paperwork, I don't see reparations of dead insects as a big issue. In fact - given the impending ecological crises facing the world, museum collections may have an outsized role to play. Dead bugs will play a role in determining range shifts, genetic impacts, and of course, extinctions. Just my shades of gray..., John
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mikeh
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Post by mikeh on Oct 20, 2021 16:38:51 GMT -8
First, the Chicago Art Institute story already has us talking here at work (I work for a non-profit that depends on charitable giving). In the non-profit world, there is incredible pressure to become more relevant to a wider swath of humanity. If an organizations wants to remain relevant to society, it needs to embrace society as a whole. Otherwise, I'd expect the group to decline as it becomes irrelevant to the future. That said, most non-profits depend today on the generosity of their "effluent volunteers" to pay the bills. Maybe it was supposed to be affluent volunteers?? Or maybe not. image upload
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2021 18:14:39 GMT -8
Interesting topic…….
In my earlier years, I was planning on giving my collection to some major insect facility. Putting aside the horror stories I’ve read abt neglected collections wasting away, I was asked by an older collector some years back if I’d consider absorbing his collection into mine as he was in failing health. Wow…..that worked out great. I even spread the wealth of specimens from him to my serious collector friends. Part of his life’s work lives on to this day and his material is being both taken care of and cherished.
Now I’m getting up there in years myself and I’ve decided to do the very same thing with mine. In fact, I’ve already lined up a young collector whom I respect to deal with the US stuff when the time comes. I much prefer doing this now so as to prevent my wife from having to deal with all the collections, stuff, books, etc. If this young man should elect to spread out my collected material among other collector friends of his, then fine. I just want the specimens to be cared for and appreciated much like specimens I got from Norm Seaborg some twenty years ago. I’m sure he passed more comfortably knowing his lifelong collection would be appreciated for decades to come.
I’ve contributed to numerous scientific projects with my specimens and I’m sure my young collector friend will do the same. I requested (and he agreed) that the specimens not be merely sold. They may be traded or even given away as he deems appropriate. My collecting equipment/books/drawers etc could, of course, be sold.
This is just my take on how I’d like my lifelong USA collection to be dealt with and I’m sure others have differing opinions or plans. My foreign material will be sold off as I’ve arranged for a trustworthy friend/insect person to visit after my passing to buy up at fair prices my foreign insects and pay my wife.
Lastly…..I hope to be around for a long while, but making such plans has put my mind at ease should/when that time comes. When my young collector does get the collection, work from my father, Norm Seaborg, and me will live on and become a part of future collections….so cool.
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Post by jhyatt on Oct 21, 2021 6:25:27 GMT -8
Billgarthe,
Norm Seaborg's skippers are still a cherished part of my collection, and I think of him and you whenever I open one of those drawers. Thanks again! They will eventually make their way into some other collection, but in the meantime, they're being taken good care of.
Cheers, jh
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2021 7:28:02 GMT -8
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Post by jshuey on Oct 21, 2021 10:14:21 GMT -8
First, the Chicago Art Institute story already has us talking here at work (I work for a non-profit that depends on charitable giving). In the non-profit world, there is incredible pressure to become more relevant to a wider swath of humanity. If an organizations wants to remain relevant to society, it needs to embrace society as a whole. Otherwise, I'd expect the group to decline as it becomes irrelevant to the future. That said, most non-profits depend today on the generosity of their "effluent volunteers" to pay the bills. Maybe it was supposed to be affluent volunteers?? Or maybe not. image uploadIn my defense - I used to work in water quality - so effluent comes naturally from me. I also remember that in a draft report I once sent to EPA, that they pointed out that riffraff are the people that live below the bridges, next to the riprap that we sampled from. j
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Post by trehopr1 on Oct 21, 2021 10:22:51 GMT -8
That curious observation and mention by mikeh is priceless !
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 21, 2021 11:09:05 GMT -8
Effluence starts in the home.
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Post by trehopr1 on Oct 21, 2021 11:17:31 GMT -8
Oh' it certainly can without proper guidance and sound reasoning (applied regularly).
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 21, 2021 12:10:27 GMT -8
I appreciate John's discussion, while I disagree with some of it. I'm not a fan of repatriating to 3rd world countries that cannot care for the artifacts. In many cases, it's being repatriated to...who? Not the country of origin, that no longer exists; not the people either. If you want to repatriate a mummy from the 25th Pharoahic Dynasty, sending it to Cairo wouldn't do it since they're Arabs; there's nobody in Memphis to receive it; I suppose it should go to Sudan. Who would send anything to Sudan? And sending anything to PNG is a waste of time.
Word is there is a requirement(?) to repatriate insects to Brazil. Screw Brazil. They've burned up four museums in five years, are wrecking their rain forest, and won't allow entomologists without the highest connections. While we're at it, screw India too. I won't donate my collection to any organization that's repatriating anything. And removing Darwin exhibits like BMNH? They're pretty much off the list. And AMNH removing Roosevelt's statue? It sounds outrageous, but I wonder if those poor, dead insects might all be destroyed out of respect for something or other.
I suppose it doesn't make sense to analyze too deeply. Nobody expected the museums of Berlin and Dresden to be burned to a crisp. Make the best plans, and they fail.
Anyway, I think I've got Bob's collection narrowed down.
Chuck
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Post by trehopr1 on Oct 21, 2021 14:06:17 GMT -8
My, that last post was pretty darn scathing !
The "negative waves" overfloweth...
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 21, 2021 16:57:27 GMT -8
My, that last post was pretty darn scathing ! The "negative waves" overfloweth... I’ve been stung over 4000 times. Shot at twice. Malaria thrice. Dysentery. Giardia. Salmonella more time than I can count. Sweat and blood to gather and study insects. All on my dime. The results of my efforts deserve better than to be thrown away to satisfy knee jerk societal swings.
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Post by vabrou on Nov 26, 2021 14:26:03 GMT -8
I have approached this matter of ultimate disposal of my life’s work from very early on - more than a half century ago. I began continuously operating high-wattage light traps at my home property in Louisiana in 1969. I made my first donation of 1,110 pinned, spread, labeled Lepidoptera of Louisiana in 1971. This was a small number of duplicate captured specimens. That first donation was made to the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, and was independently appraised, value $666.00. We continued to make annual donations of our duplicate captures over the past half century. Along the way we added numerous traps (450-500) of many descriptions, bait traps, dung beetle traps, flight traps, semiochemical lure traps, and many more light traps.
At this point (2021), 55 times we have officially donated additional insects, totaling in excess of 348,829 mostly Louisiana insects to museums in the United States alone for which we have independent written appraisals. These were independently appraised in order to utilize these donations as annual tax write offs over the past half century. The appraised value of those 348,829 donated specimens amounted to a grand total of $599,145.00. Though if donated entirely at today’s values, the value of this same materials would far exceed $1,000,000.00.
Also we have lost/misplaced our records for an additional 17 large donations during the past half century, so we cannot include these (both numbers donated and related values) among our stated accomplishments here.
Additionally we have placed ~700,000 additional specimens of Louisiana insects in museums and private research collections in dozens of countries out of the USA and across the world. There was no benefit to us to pay for appraisals of these specimens.
Our already donated specimens can be found, among many others, in these museums: Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM), Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), American Museum of Natural History(AMNH), National Museum of Natural History (NMNH/Smithsonian), Los Angeles County Museum (LACM), McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity (MCL) , Carnegie Museum, Prague Museum, Canadian National Collection (CNC), The Natural History Museum-London (NHM), Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM), Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Museum, Louisiana Nature and Science Center, Audubon Zoological Gardens, Audubon Insectarium, and many others worldwide.
An additional (~450,000) specimens (primarily lepidoptera, and some coleoptera) are currently in our personal scientific research collection of Louisiana insects located at our home in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Additionally, we have a Collection of world Eudocima (approx. 10,000 + specimens) 42 species from 42 countries of the world and many island locations currently housed at Abita Springs, Louisiana.
Additionally, 34 years ago, we also sold a Collection of world Sphingidae (approx. 40,000 specimens) 800+ species from 120 countries of the world. -- Sold 1987 so I could return to college and obtain a second degree. The purchaser has since died, and these specimens are currently located in the McGuire Center, Gainesville Florida, USA. Also, we have sold hundreds of thousands of many orders and families of insects, (pinned/spread, papered) lepidoptera, pinned/spread and/or in Isopropyl alcohol) coleoptera, hemiptera, hymenoptera, odonata, orthoptera, homoptera, diptera, etc., to help defray equipment and collecting expenses.
All along through the past half century, I have been in discussions with various museums and universities across the world who have either expressed interest in my collection or as in several cases have repeatedly ask for me to ultimately place my insect collection in their museums/universities. I personally consider the greatest value of my scientific research insect collection of mostly Louisiana insects to be useful to future workers here in Louisiana. It has always been my intention from the beginning of my research to place my collection in the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum. And on that note, I have all along been making occasional annual donations to the LSAM, so far about ¼ million specimens to this day. Eventually, our future plans are to also place these remaining ~450,000 specimens currently at our home, at the LSAM.
You could say I planned far ahead as to the eventual legacy of our (Charlotte and Vernon Antoine Brou Jr. half century insect collection) Consider the real value of our collection is that our material represents new first time state records for over 3,000 species of moths alone, of which over 400 new moth species are discoveries new to science. Additionally, our collection contains hundreds of thousands of insects (non-lepidoptera) including numerous thousands of species representing new first time state records, and also some new undescribed species.
Not forgetting the accoutrements we leave behind associated with these collecting endeavors. We leave also 17 storage cabinets, ~650 Cornell drawers, 120 wooden Schmidt boxes, numerous hundreds of other storage containers, 120,000 unopened insects pins, thousands of reference books worth hundreds of thousands of $$$, (450-500) insect traps, several high wattage generators, vehicles, tractor (used to run trap line daily), field camping equipment, cases of numerous dozens of spare lamps and bulbs and other electrical spare components for light traps (ballasts, starters, bi-pin lamp holders starter holders, etc., etc.), 1,000+ feet of electrical cords, rolls of electrical wire, numerous chemicals e.g., (3) 200 kg drums of Sodium Cyanide, drums and cans of Ethyl acetate, various other chemicals: xylene, isopropyl alcohol, paradichlorobenzene, solvents, glues, epoxy pains, other paints, riveting tools, sheet metal brake and sheet metal hand tools, electrical saws, and various electrical tools, and hand tools, collection storage building, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, highway field trip cargo trailer filled with collecting equipment, on and on and on.
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 27, 2021 19:59:48 GMT -8
For the record, I started this about MY reference collection. Meanwhile, it came that I was to coordinate final disposition of the Iveson collection of 14,000 leps. I discussed it with private collectors and trusted leaders at several potential facilities. Ultimately it went to Cornell University.
I must say, I’d expected contention for the collection. I’d also expected the professionals to refrain from speaking potentially negatively about other organizations. In fact, I found the pros to be completely transparent about their own organizations and others, good and bad. I was rather impressed.
Having been invited to see and use the Cornell collection what struck me as shocking is what they don’t have. With seven million specimens I’d expected they’d have everything. They do not. I noted species missing for which I had two dozen specimens. I now assume other organizations are in a similar position. So what I may do is start parting out my private reference collection, sending “care packages” to select collections.
One thing I do know it one shouldn’t leave disbursement of a collection until years after one cannot care for it. When is that? Good question. I’m old but still log more field miles than most. I hope to have two decades to continue but what’s reality? I suppose it’s best to start well ahead of time.
Chuck
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