Creating Collections Conundrums #museummonday

The United Daughters of the Confederacy’s decision to send the collection to Raleigh has had long-term ramifications. 

The first and most obvious one was that, for more than a decade, the city didn’t have a museum and the UDC’s Confederate collection remained in Raleigh and the Hall of History.

That situation began to change in the late 1920s. 

In December 1928, the Rev. Andrew J. Howell, in his role as chair of the local New Hanover County Historical Commission, called together representatives of local government and key women’s groups to discuss organizing a Museum.  

Among the attendees were  Louis T. Moore, secretary of the chamber of commerce, and chairman of the county commissioners, Addison Hewlett.  The vast majority of the attendees at the meeting were women, representing a range of local groups –  the Colonial Dames, The Daughters of the American Revolution, Sorosis, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.   

There were two married couples in the room, suggesting the town was close knit and small.  Reverend Howell’s wife, Gertrude Howell, attended as president of the UDC. Louis Moore’s wife represented the local chapter of the Colonial Dames.

At the December 1928 meeting, the county commissioners agreed to provide space in the Court House Annex for a Museum. 

The Museum was housed in two rooms of the County Court House Annex

Gertrude Howell, in her role as president of the U.D.C.  wrote to Raleigh and asked for the Confederate collection back.   She sent a letter in February 1929, stating that “…at the last meeting of Cape Fear Chapter, U.D.C.. it was moved and carried that the Chapter relics, now in the State Museum, should be placed in our own local Museum, where they, of course, rightfully  belong.” 

Colonel Olds agreed to return things to Wilmington, and the Reverend and Mrs. Howell went to Raleigh to retrieve two boxes of “relics” for the revitalized local Museum. 

A Museum Collection on the Move #Museummonday

In 1918, the Museum had been in operation for 20 years in the Wilmington Light Infantry building.  

But things were about to change.  Over the course of a few months, the chapter decided to send the Museum’s collection to Raleigh.

First came a leak in the roof. Then came a committee to investigate the situation.

The committee made the decision to consult with General James I. Metts.   Metts was actively involved in the local Confederate veterans camp and in the state-wide Confederate veterans organization.  

CFM 2002.008.1047

James I. Metts' application to join the UCV

February 6, 1901

Metts told the ladies in  April “…that he thought the museum should be moved to Raleigh, both on account of its better preservation and of the larger number of people who visit there.”

The decision to send the collection to Frederick A. Olds at the Hall of History was not unanimous: some of the ladies argued the room could be repaired.

A later letter from Metts to Olds suggests there may have been another factor at work in the decision to move the collection to Raleigh: Metts wrote a letter stating "The Military Company guarding the town has moved into the W.L.I. Armory and need the room the relics are in..."

     

CFM 2002.008.0506

UCV Chapter Membership certificate

May 22, 1893

Regardless of whether the desire of the WLI to reclaim their space, concerns about conservation, or the wish that more people would see the collection motivated the decision, the chapter decided to do as Metts suggested, and move the collection to Raleigh.  

The Wilmington Morning Star announced on May 4, 1918 that “on account of unfavorable conditions attributable to the war,…it was deemed advisable that they [the artifacts] be loaned to the museum at Raleigh, where there are better facilities for their preservation and where the public will appreciate viewing them.”