Exciting News on the McRae Collection

[Allen Roberson]

We are heading to 3rd in our attempt to preserve the McRae Archival Collection. Our next to the last payment of $50,000 is due at the end of January 2008, leaving only one remaining payment of $50,000 due in July.

Our initial committment with our authority, the SC Budget & Control Board in October of 2006, was that if we could raise half of the $250,000 purchase price through private and corporations, then the State would match that amount. So far, we have committments and donations totaling $114,653! We are within $10,500 of our goal which has to be met by July 2007!

The Museum staff really appreciates the support of the members of the Authentic Campaigner (see our posted recently thank you under the fundraising section of this website), but we hope that your support will continue and can see us to the end of this wonderful project! Please help us meet our upcoming payments at the end of January and July of 2008! Thanks so much for all your support!
PS. I have some exciting, upcoming news regarding this collection which I will continue in another post very soon! Thanks again!

[Jimmayo]

Originally Posted by Allen Roberson

We are within $10,500 of our goal which has to be met by July 2007!

Is 2007 the correct year or is it 2008?

[Iron Scout]

Jim,

I'm sure Allen means 2008. Folks, this is a very important project; let's contact Dusty and help out this fine institution. Much more will be forthcoming soon too!

Neill Rose
PLHA

[Allen Roberson]

My apologies! Neill is correct the next payment of $50,000 is due at the end of January 2008 and the final payment at the end of June 2008. At that time the collection will officially belong to the museum!

Re: our exciting news: on January 2, 2008, Curator of History, Krissy Dunn and PR Specialist Jai Shaiman, will post a brand new document from the collection on the Authentic Campaigner website, one of the longest in the collection, 7 -8 pages, with a major amount of new information. Also, on that day we will also post the Museum's processing schedule for the McRae collection and the Access policy that have just been developed during the month of December.

Also, Neill Rose and I are discussing hosting a major living history event at the museum on Saturday, June 14, focussing on an impression of Confederate soldiers with English weapons, uniforms of English cloth, and English accoutrements. During this event we will also celebrate (I hope!) the final payment being made for the purchase of the collection, the Museum's then ownership of the collection, and the opening of the McRae Papers for use by researchers, living historians, etc. We will also have an exhibit on the collection, with selected documents on display! The staff of the SC Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum believes that this could be an exciting and nationally publicized event. All depends on whether we can raise funding for these final two payments, particularly the July 2008 payment. We welcome support from the members of the Authentic Campaigner to help us reach this goal and hope you would consider attending or participating in this event! Thanks again for all your support!

[paulcalloway]

Allen -
Thank you for your continued updates about this very important preservation project. I'm thrilled that we could play some small role in fund-raising and awareness-raising about this collection.

Thanks again and we look forward to more updates!

[Allen Roberson]

I wanted to alert interested CW historians and anyone interested in the McRae Papers that the museum received on Dec. 31, a $10,000 donation, the second installment of an original $25,000 corporate pledge. Add to this the recent Authentic Campaigner donation and the generous donation of $1700 in memory of David "Duke" Culberson, a well-known and respected living historian, by his compatriots in the "Rowdy Pards," and the Museum is within $16,000 of its original, minimal goal of raising at least half the purchase price of the $250,000 cost of the McRae Papers (there is also a remaining $5000 corporate commitment). We hope to raise at least $10,600 by June 2008 to complete the purchase of the McRae Papers and finally insure the preservation of this great and previously unknown collection! Thanks again for your support!