Compromise Ends Philadelphia Library Suit
By Deborah Fitts
December 2002

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The matchless collection of Union artifacts belonging to the Civil War Library & Museum (CWLM) appears destined to remain in Philadelphia and will be housed in a new building, as the sides involved in a bitter legal wrangle reached an agreement in late October.

State Sen. Vincent Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat, announced an" agreement in principle" Oct. 30 that was expected to preclude a trial scheduled for Dec. 9 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Under the agreement, CWLM's current board of directors will give up ownership and control of the collection to a new 17-member board of governors.

A "new facility" will be established to replace the library's aging and inadequate quarters at 18th and Pine Streets. And there will be" an immediate inventory and condition assessment of all items."

" People are pretty happy with the outcome, and that this somewhat acrimonious fight is over with," said Fumo spokesman Gary Tuma.

Putting money where their mouths are, Fumo and his colleague, state Rep. James Roebuck, also a Democrat representing Philadelphia, have secured a state budget appropriation of $15 million for a new museum.

Fumo had spearheaded an effort to wrest control of the collection from the CWLM board, after the board announced in 2000 that many of the items would go on long-term loan to the planned new Tredegar National Civil War Center in Richmond. The deal, which included establishing a small new facility in Philadelphia, was seen by the board as a way out of serious financial straits.

But Fumo and others raised a cry of alarm at the prospect of the relics leaving the city. CWLM was founded in 1888 by the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), an organization of Union officers, to house their war relics, and the items were given largely by veterans in the Philadelphia area.

There were also fears that the collection was not being monitored adequately to ensure that items did not go missing, or were not being properly conserved.

Tuma said that if the collection had gone to Richmond, "there was a danger that there would not be proper cataloguing and inventorying, and that once the artifacts had left the city they would be hard to recover."

Fumo, Roebuck, and members of MOLLUS collaborated with Pennsylvania Attorney General Michael Fisher last year to bring suit to block CWLM's plans. Michael Schwartz, president of the library board, fought for his board to retain ownership. But in the end he embraced what he characterized as a "compromise" agreement.

" Everybody compromised to a great degree," said Schwartz. 'What we have always wanted was that the people in Philadelphia and the state take notice of CWLM, and if the outcome is a new and more updated facility and better parking, then we're very happy with the outcome."

Under the agreement, the new 17-member board of governors will comprise six members appointed by CWLM, four appointed jointly by Fumo, Roebuck and MOLLUS, two appointed by MOLLUS, and five appointed by unanimous consent of the other 12 governors.

In a press release from Fumo's office, the senator hailed the settlement. "Many parties with many divergent interests came together with the common objective of preserving this magnificent collection in the city of Philadelphia," Fumo said. The Library board" is to be commended for its past dedication to the collection and willingness to compromise and help create a settlement that will allow the collection to assume a prominent place among Philadelphia's many historical treasures."

Fumo said he and Roebuck were "committed to obtaining the funds necessary" to create a new museum, and to operate the current museum until the new one is ready. Besides the $15 million already secured, the two men said they would also help the new library board raise money from other sources.

The settlement calls for fashioning a cooperative agreement with the Union League in Philadelphia, which also has strong Civil War roots, to allow for the display of documents from the CWLM collection at the League. The League's Abraham Lincoln Foundation, which has a Civil War collection of its own, made an abortive attempt several years ago to collaborate with CWLM to create a new museum.

The settlement also calls for creation of an "oversight board" of four individuals - one chosen by the Pennsylvania Historical& Museum Commission, one by Fumo, and two by the present CWLM board - to ensure that the new board is following through on its charge. It calls for "an immediate inventory and condition assessment of all items, along with conservation and restoration work where needed."

And it calls for adoption of loan agreements that would comply with American Museum Association standards.

Fumo's press release stated that: "The continuing mission of the new board would be to ensure that the collection remains a valuable asset to the people of Philadelphia; to provide access to it in a suitable environment for researchers, writers, students, teachers and the general public; to possibly lend artifacts, photographs, books, documents and other materials to qualified institutions such as the Tredegar museum in Richmond and the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg and to receive loans of similar materials; and to arrange exhibits, programs, lectures and other activities related to Philadelphia's rich Civil War history."

Fumo said the board "would be expected to establish an immediate three-year plan for enhanced preservation, use and display of the collection, and to develop and open within five years a permanent museum in a new location" in Philadelphia.

A spokesman for the Tredegar museum project, Harry Warner, said the settlement in Philadelphia would have "no effect" on the museum's plans, since "We weren't counting on it anyhow." Tredegar had expected CWLM to provide the bulk of the Union items for the new facility. But when the suit was filed early last year, "We knew it was getting a little contentious," Warner said. "We pulled out of any agreement at that time."

Warner said he continues to hope that "we can become a borrower" from CWLM. He said organizers of the Tredegar proposal "are looking at" 10 to a dozen museums for potential loans.

The only concrete relationship formed to date is with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, with the Tredegar having status as an affiliate. Tuma, Fumo's spokesman, predicted that it would be "several months" before the new board is ready to assume control - possibly early next year or at least by the first half of the year.

The parties in the suit asked Judge Anne E. Lazarus to suspend the trial for 90 days while details of the settlement are worked out.

Schwartz said the goal of his board "has always been to safeguard the collection" and to make it "available to the public in a way that would most effectively educate the public about all aspects of the Civil War."