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Old 02-04-2004, 01:07 PM
TSteven TSteven is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Left Coast
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Question What to do with GLO items

I'm not sure how to explain this predicament, so please forgive the length of this post. Any suggestions y'all can give is greatly appreciated.

My Mother was a charter member of her GLO (I will call ABC) on her campus (in our hometown) back in the 1940s. ABC was also the first GLO on campus. My sister is also a member of ABC having been initiated into the same chapter. When my Mother passed away, all of my Mother's ABC items went to my sister - her only daughter - with the hope that my sister might have a daughter(s) and she too might be an ABC. Thus Mother's ABC items would be passed down to her.

It turns out that my sister never had a daughter. Recently, my sister has started thinking about what to do with all the original ABC items. And by items, I mean my Mother's badge; her person notes regarding the chapter's founding; her original pledge and other handbooks. Ribbons and I'm not sure but maybe her pledge badge or something like that as well. Also, ABC song books and other sorority related items. I believe there is correspondence from the ABC national headquarters as well.

So here is the predicament. Being the "good" Southern family that we are, we believe in passing down Mother's stuff to the women of the family. While my sister does not have any daughters, we do have two nieces. Our Mother's granddaughters. Our brother's oldest attends, and will graduate this spring from, a college that did not have any GLOs. His youngest daughter will be entering college in three years. Her mother is a XYZ so she is a legacy of both ABC and XYZ. At this time, we don't know where she will attend school or if there will be an ABC and or XYZ chapter on her campus. Or if she will even pledge either at all. My "personal" guess is that if there is an ABC and XYZ chapter on her campus, and all things being equal, our niece will follow her Mother and be an XYZ. But if she ends up being an ABC, then my sister would love for our niece to have her Grandmother's ABC items.

I should add here that my sister would have a hard time "giving up" any of our Mother's items. And I do not blame her. However, since most of the items are paper related, and over 60 years old, my concern is that with natural deterioration, we - the family - may loose some or all of them.

My suggestion was that our Mother's ABC items be "loaned" to the college's - now university - history museum. My understanding is that they would be able to provide the necessary care to ensure that the papers/items are preserved. There is a wing dedicated to personal items of college students over the years which includes other GLO items related to the campus. Many of the items are on what I believe is called something like "Personal Loan". In other words, the items are at the museum, but belong to the person, family or estate.

A good friend of mine from high school is the curator of the museum. She would LOVE to have Mother's items in the museum. She was an active undergrad and now graduate member of DEF sorority on campus and knows well the groundbreaking history of ABC on the campus. She is someone I trust to ensure that our Mother's personal items are treated with the respect they deserve. Note, there is no guarantee that the items will be displayed until my friend sees the items. But even if they are not displayed, they will be taken care of at the museum and we would still have access.

A few more wrinkles in this. The local ABC chapter is still active on campus so giving these items to the chapter is a possibility. For what it is worth, most of us - brothers, in-laws, cousins - are members of GLOs as well. So we all understand and respect the importance of these items to the local ABC chapter. Our concern is that with the local chapter, these items may not be in the best hands. By that, I mean that the chapter may not have the resources for the upkeep of 60 year old papers and such.

Of course, we can check with the national headquarters about them housing our Mother's items. But with the national headquarters, our concern is that the family may "loose" any access to our Mother's items. For example, my understanding is that my Mother's badge "belongs" to ABC. Plus the headquarters is not located near family.

Our family understands that this is really my sister's decision. And we understand my sister's desire to pass down to, and keep the items in, the family. Frankly, she is doing a good job taking care of these items. However, they are getting old. Personally, I would really like to be sure that my Mother's items are taken care of properly now that they are getting really old. Which is why I am in favor of the university museum taking care of the items now. Since we still "go home", an additional benefit is that more family members would be able to have access/view them if they are housed in the museum. And my Mother's and sister's ABC chapter would be able to view these items.

So, do we wait until our niece is enrolled in college to see if there is an ABC chapter? And if so, she would receive the items. If we wait, my friend at the museum may not be there years later and thus no guarantee that the museum will take them later if she is not there. So do we loan the items to the university's museum now with the understanding that our niece - or others - may "use" any of the items? For example, our niece is pinned with her Grandmother's badge as was my sister. Do we give or loan to the local chapter? Go with the national headquarters?

Thanks for reading this extremely long and rambling post. My sister is really having a hard time with what to do. Surprisingly, my sister will listen to me - her youngest brother - so any suggestions or help you can give us is greatly appreciated.
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