Donations

It’s that time of year, holiday decorations are up, festive music is in the air, and thoughts often turn to gifting.  Many folks choose to donate to charities at this time of year and we salute them.  In that vein, do you realize that the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter, National Railway Historical Society is a federally recognized Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) organization?  Check it out in the IRS’ Publication 78 if you would like!

 

With that said; your Chapter is always willing to accept any cash donations, just mail them to the attention of the Treasurer, Alan Mark at our post office box address: LIST-NRHS, Post Office Box 507 Babylon NY 11702-0507.

 

When it comes to non-cash contributions, there are a few issues that our Board is aware of and you should be to.  The Chapter currently does not have any archive quality locations to store or even display any sort of artifact.  We do have a limited amount of storage space at the Van Bourgondien House, but boxes under the basement stairs that are not in a climate controlled area hardly qualifies.  Chapter President Ed Koehler is also a member of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum; they are about to begin construction of a fully climate controlled ‘building within a building’ to house their historical document collection.  As a result of this exposure, we do have some knowledge of what is needed.

 

There have been two recent donations of materials to the Chapter that I would like to talk about.  The first was a donation of a late members slide collection.  Good stuff you would like to say but because of not having a suitable archival facility, the three bankers boxes of slides have been piled in the living room of Secretary Quigley’s house for about two years.  No access, no determination of what is there, and hopefully these ad hoc storage arrangements have not affected the materials.  Led by Vice President Myers the Chapter has reached out to the Railroad Museum of Long Island who have an archival library at their Riverhead site.  We will be working out a form of loan to RMLI for this material in the future.

 

The second recent donation we received was a brick from the Western Pacific’s Sparks, Nevada machine shop that was being dismantled by Union Pacific.  The City of Sparks, being unable to preserve the structure, held a giveaway of the bricks.  One of our members who lives in the area thoughtfully sent the Chapter one.  This spent some time on Secretary Quigley’s coffee table.  If we brought it to the Van Bourgondien House, it would undoubtedly end up as a door stop!  Not what it deserves.  The Railroad Museum of Long Island passed on this artifact; their policy on such items requires that it has a tie into Long Island regional railway history.  Again, because we do not have a suitable display or archive area the Chapter sought out several locations that we felt might exhibit a better affinity for this brick.  It is currently on loan to the Nevada Northern Railroad Museum in Ely, Nevada.  Perhaps this is not what the donor had envisioned, but it is a pathway that will make sure this brick is seen by the public and does not become a doorstop.

 

To sum up.  If you wish to donate some form of material to your Chapter we ask that you be guided by the following.  First, it should be relevant to the railways of the Long Island region.  Second, understand that for the survival and/or display of the item, this Chapter may place it on loan to a relevant museum.  Third, before donating any item to your Chapter, reach out to the President or Chapter Board to discuss it.  Historical assets have an important value to them, and they should be available to serve as educational items to future generations.  The Board will be guided on the relevancy of the item, how can we store/display it so that it is best preserved, and where should it be preserved.

 

Questions? Comments? Concerns?  Please email President Edward M. Koehler at EdwardMKoehler@NYC.RR.COM or see him before or after the monthly membership meeting.