John Judge has died

[Peter Lemkin]

Dear Friend Of John ~



Would you like to see John Judge's vision of a Hidden History Library and Research Center become a reality? Will you help?



Here are the summary points of what we need. More details follow. Please respond if you can volunteer to help in any of these areas:



¨ Packing and Collections Preservation

¨ Short-Term Relocation

¨ Longer-Term Location Search

¨ Publicity and Fundraising

¨ Website Development

¨ Program Development

¨ Plan B Alternatives



As you probably know, I inherited John's collection of books and papers when he died in April. I need to decide what is best to do with his life's work. I am willing to explore any suggestion that would accomplish what he wanted: (1) to keep his collection in Washington , DC; (2) to keep his complete collection together; and (3) to make the ideas and information it contains accessible to as many people as possible.



To date, no one has come up with a concrete option that meets all three of these criteria. The only solution seems to be to create our own Library and Research Center in DC. I know that significant challenges exist. Even so, I am willing to take on this project. However, this endeavor can only succeed with sufficient help, support, and contributions of time, energy, and financing from people like you.



This facility would be a project of the Museum of Hidden History, an already-existing 501©(3) non profit. It would probably be formally named the "Hidden History Library and Research Center," but more commonly called the "Hidden History Center." I am an educator by training, so I am especially focused on the third of John's goals: the widest possible dissemination and distribution of Hidden History ideas and information. I would be willing to allow John's collection to be housed in the Hidden History Center, along with other collections the Center might acquire ~ but I need the Center to be more than merely a static library, occasionally visited by scholars. While the Hidden History Center would have a secure area to protect the collections, the Center I envision would also:



¨ have a dynamic, interactive, engaging and intriguing website about Hidden History subjects

¨ conduct outreach offsite, by sponsoring and organizing special functions, and by presenting information at community events

¨ provide opportunities for interns to gain experience working with, organizing, and digitizing the collections

¨ produce and provide activities at the Center that educate the public about Hidden History subjects, such as classes, plays, book discussion groups, and speaker and documentary film presentations

¨ develop traveling exhibits on Hidden History subjects, to be loaned to already-existing museums



I think John would be thrilled with this concept. So now I am turning to you ~ the folks who loved and admired John ~ for your help. Do you want me to simply give his collection away someplace safe, even if that means splitting it up or moving it out of DC? Or do you want to join with me to make his vision a reality? I loved John with all my heart, and I am willing to dedicate as much of my life as I can to this effort. Several other people have stepped forward to back my play. The Board of the Museum of Hidden History is ready to support this project. But our dedication alone is not sufficient. We need your skills and resources.

Here are the details of my seven-point list:



Packing and Collections Preservation

We need people who have experience with the software John has been using to inventory his books. It is called Zotero. We also need people to help inventory and pack John's books during the summer, preferably at least two people every Saturday and Sunday, between 11 AM and 5 PM. These are the dates.

[.....]
Please let me know if you have worked with Zotero. Or, if you can help pack, please tell me which dates you can work.



Short-Term Relocation

Once we get the books packed in boxes, we need
1) someone to comparison-shop, to find the best rate for climate-controlled storage within 10-15 miles of DC.
2) people who have trucks, or someone to find/arrange/manage rental truck(s) for "moving day."
3) moving day volunteers for the physical "heavy lifting" work of carrying all the boxes down the multitude of steps in Johns' house, loading them into the truck(s,) and then unloading them on the destination end.
Please let me know if you can help with any/all of these relocation tasks.



Longer-Term Location Search

We need people ~ perhaps a committee ~ to research where we could locate the Hidden History Center, without paying commercial office space rental rates. This location needs to be approximately 600-1,000 square feet. It could be at a university or church, or within an already-existing non-profit's building, or it could be a donated space. Ideally, we need someone who has a working sense of the DC real estate market and/or someone who is a real estate agent or can interface with local agents who might know of bargain opportunities available through developers, tax sales or enterprise zones.
Please let me know if you have any local DC real estate expertise or can do research in this area.



Publicity and Fundraising

We need people with experience writing grant proposals and researching the best donors to approach. We need people who can identify and seek out ways to publicize the Hidden History Center and seek donations ~ people who have or can obtain e-mail lists that we could tap ~ people willing to table at local DC events ~ someone who can set up a new "gofundme" campaign for the Hidden History Center ~ someone willing to work on a membership campaign, so that folks can become members of the Hidden History Center. We need people with imaginative fundraising ideas and people who know folks with "deep pockets" that we can approach for help.
Please contact me if you want to help publicize and fund raise.



Website Development

We need people with knowledge of Hidden History subjects to provide content for the Museum of Hidden History Website, and possibly set up a special section (or even a new website) just for the Hidden History Center. We need someone who can develop interactive capabilities on our website and can make it dynamic and engaging. I know so little about website design, that I don't even know the correct terminology for what we need, but if you are out there, you know exactly what I mean.
Please be in touch if you can contribute website content and/or implement expanding site interactivity and functionality.



Program Development

It is never too early to begin planning, so we need people to begin brainstorming about what programs the Hidden History Center could implement. What authors or re-enactors could we invite? What classes could we teach? What books could we discuss? What films or plays could we present? What events could we sponsor? Many of you know the Hidden History subject matter much better than I do.
Please send me your list of proposals and ideas for programs you would like to see. If you belong to a group whose history has been hidden, and you would like to give a presentation about it, let me know.



Plan B Alternatives

And finally, in case all our best efforts are not sufficient, we need some prudent, cautious people to explore other options for John's collection. Some say the most practical and sensible thing to do is to find an already-existing facility and donate his collection to be preserved there. This would regrettably deprive us of a valuable chance to educate the general public, but perhaps it is the only financially feasible alternative. If this is your opinion, then we need you to seek out those options. Is there anywhere in DC where John's collection could be donated and still be kept together? Or perhaps his collection needs to be split into parts by subject matter and donated to three or four different places. Maybe it would make sense to either store or dispose of most of his books, but preserve his papers by digitizing them. This would allow us to operate in a much smaller space. What are our Plan B alternatives?
If you have Plan B ideas or would like to look for some, please write to me.



Obviously, with enough money, we can buy all of the services I've listed. So, if you have no time to help, you can always donate. Please either make a donation through PayPal at the Museum's website or send a check to the Museum of Hidden History at P.O. Box 772, Washington, DC, 20044.

If you are a person of substantial means ~ and I know there are some of you on this list ~ please consider making a major contribution to jump-start this very essential project. The education of a new generation may depend on what we do here and now with this unique opportunity.



I hope my inbox will very shortly be inundated with offers of help. Please respond ASAP and let me know what you can do. I hope to have a huge spreadsheet full of names. I have lots of dedication and enthusiasm, but I am not a miracle worker. The Hidden History Center will only happen if you help.


Thanks for being there ~ Marilyn Tenenoff


[My note: contact me by PM if you need Marilyn's email address - P.L.]




The Museum of Hidden History website is at



Museum of Hidden History | a museum about the history you never knew.


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