GDG- RE: Family to get credit for CW artifacts

[Margaret D. Blough]

David,

If we were talking about a new donation, I'd agree with you.  Donors and donees negotiate about the terms of the gift all of the time.  In some instances, donations have actually been declined if the terms that the donor places on the gift are unacceptable to the institution.  The problem is that the donation, in this case, took place about 36 years ago. As I said in an earlier post, 
the donation of the artifacts was part of a complex deal between the Rosensteel heirs and the NPS.  Four months before the donation of the artifacts around 1971, the Rosensteel heirs sold a 6.7 acre tract on Taneytown Road (including the former family-run museum, now the current VC) to the NPS for $2.35 million and the family later sold additional land within the park to the NPS for $300,000.00. In addition, the NPS employed Angela Rosensteel Eckert's husband, Lawrence, for many years after that.  The original NPS intent was to tear down the building and build a new visitors center (those plans fell through for decades).  When it became clear that that was the NPS intent during the proceedings leading up to the current park General Management Plan, the family filed suit trying to either get the artifacts back or force the  NPS to upgrade the current VC and keep the artifacts there.  Angela Rosensteel Eckert, who was family spokesperson at that time, made it very clear that her pers
onal objective was to prevent the NPS from building a new VC and from tearing down the current one. 

As I also said in that post, when the current Rosensteel spokesperson spoke at the recent advisory commission meeting, he did not dispute that the settlement of the lawsuit (which wasn't really any concession on the part of the NPS since the NPS pretty much agreed to do what it had planned to do anyhow) did not include a requirement that the plaques, which have long been on display (which the Rosensteels had erected before selling the building to the NPS) at the current Visitor Center, be displayed.  The precise language of the settlement regarding the plaques is, "In addition, the current Visitor Center plaques commemorating Joseph Rosensteel, George Rosensteel, and Emily Rosensteel will be moved to the new Visitor Center and Museum."  BTW, the settlement does not mention the Electric Map at all.

I support giving credit where credit is due but I do have problems with a donor who after negotiating the terms of a deal not once but twice tries to use public pressure and emotional pleas to try to force the NPS to add terms that the donor did not bother to include in the original agreements.

Regards,

Margaret

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Smith, David [USA]" <smith_david_g at bah.com> 

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