This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_914980070_boundary Content-ID: <0_914980070@inet_out.mail.aol.com.1> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII --part0_914980070_boundary Content-ID: <0_914980070@inet_out.mail.compuserve.com.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline Return-Path: <113642.2533@compuserve.com> Received: from rly-yd05.mx.aol.com (rly-yd05.mail.aol.com [172.18.150.5]) by air-yd03.mx.aol.com (v53.29) with SMTP; Sun, 27 Dec 1998 16:17:48 -0500 Received: from arl-img-2.compuserve.com (arl-img-2.compuserve.com [149.174.217.132]) by rly-yd05.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with ESMTP id QAA26631; Sun, 27 Dec 1998 16:17:47 -0500 (EST) Received: (from root@localhost) by arl-img-2.compuserve.com (8.8.6/8.8.6/2.17) id QAA22525; Sun, 27 Dec 1998 16:14:42 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 27 Dec 1998 16:14:18 -0500 From: Jeremy Bangs <113642.2533@compuserve.com> Subject: Copy of: Copy of: Leiden American Pilgrim Museum under threat of closing Sender: Jeremy Bangs <113642.2533@compuserve.com> To: augcook <AUGCOOK@aol.com> Cc: "P.&T. Carlson" <phillipca@aol.com>, "B. Carlson" <bcarlson@paccar.com>, "f. carlson" <fawnia@earthlink.net>, ben heffer <bheffer@sopris.net>, chad moncy <charles_moncy@t-t.com>, "M. Moncy" <mmoncy@juno.com>, Nashes <nashes@ptialaska.net> Message-ID: <199812271614_MC2-64D6-B800@compuserve.com> Content-Disposition: inline Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: Jeremy Bangs, 113642,2533 CC: augcook, INTERNET:AUGCOK@aol.com carl o. bangs III, INTERNET:bangs@cet.com csds, INTERNET:csds@dataplusnet.com Jane Fiske, INTERNET:JFISKE@NEHGS.ORG emilie greene, INTERNET:greeneb@massed.net S. Maddock, INTERNET:70263,2237@compuserve.com Peter Mayhew, INTERNET:pjm19@york.ac.uk mrpxx, INTERNET:mrpxx@aol.com j newsome, INTERNET:jnewsom7@airmail.net Joan Powers, INTERNET:JPowers849@aol.com Paul Spooner, INTERNET:PaulSpooner@compuserve.com Robert Walker, INTERNET:rwalker@cco.net DATE: 12/26/98 11:44 PM RE: Copy of: Copy of: Leiden American Pilgrim Museum under threat of closing ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- From: Jeremy Bangs, 113642,2533 TO: jeanne kasten, INTERNET:jekasten@hotmail.com CC: Peggy Baker, INTERNET:pegbaker@ici.net Carl Bangs, INTERNET:cobangs@juno.com Debbie Carleton, INTERNET:FirstCliff@aol.com Mary W. Elings, INTERNET:melings@library.berkeley.edu Eric Marr & Tina Grabows, INTERNET:emarr@ushmm.org Ben & Sue Heffer, INTERNET:benh@rof.net Caleb Johnson, INTERNET:Mayfloweb@aol.com Lucas Ligtenberg, INTERNET:lucasl@pipeline.com eric marr, INTERNET:emarr@osprey.smcm.edu Mike Paulick, INTERNET:Mrpxx@aol.com CNN Planning Producer, INTERNET:CNN.FEEDBACK@CNN.COM Elizabeth Schmidt, INTERNET:ehowardschmidt@erols.com Bob Schnucker, INTERNET:rvs@truman.edu DATE: 12/26/98 1:35 PM RE: Copy of: Leiden American Pilgrim Museum under threat of closing AN APPEAL FOR YOUR LETTERS OF SUPPORT TO KEEP THE LEIDEN AMERICAN PILGRIM MUSEUM OPEN! BACKGROUND: By a decision dated December 18, 1998, the Ministry of Justice of The Netherlands has refused to grant a new residency permit to Dr. Jeremy D. Bangs, Director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, and has demanded that he leave the country in four weeks' time (which runs out on January 15, 1999). Two reasons only are given: Dr. Bangs carries out his research and museum work entirely on a volunteer basis, but the Ministry of Justice says that a work permit for the unpaid activities as museum director is required, and that Dr. Bangs himself cannot request such a permit as Director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum Foundation because for purposes of their official forms he is the employee and therefore not the employer. Secondly, the Ministry of Justice refuses to count the reimbursement of expenses (for rent, medical insurance premiums, and trave= l expenses, all covered by the New England Historic Genealogical Society) in calculating whether Dr. Bangs has adequate financial resources to live in The Netherlands. They do not comment on the fact that Dr. Bangs has now done so for more than two years without becoming a burden on Dutch society= . The result of this decision, which will be appealed, is that the Dutc= h government effectively is attempting to close down the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, by making its continued operation impossible. This museum is an initiative of Dr. Bangs, who is well-known as the leading scholar on the topic of the Pilgrims' Leiden years, and who has previously been curator of the Leiden Pilgrim Documents Center, Chief Curator of Plimoth Plantation, and Visiting Curator of Manuscripts of the Pilgrim Society. Th= e Leiden American Pilgrim Museum was opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1997 by United States Ambassador, the Hon. K. Terry Dornbush. In its first year (opening hours Wednesday through Saturday, 1 -5 p.m.) the museum had more than 2600 visitors. The museum was created to provide a cultural and educational focal point for visitors interested in the twelve years of exile the Pilgrims spent in the Netherlands at Leiden before their migration to Plymouth Colony in New England in 1620 on the "Mayflower." It has received positive publicity in newspaper, magazine, radio and television reports around the world. This museum was set up with generous donations of money and assistance from American historical societies including the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Pilgrim Society (Pilgrim Hall Museum). It replaces an exhibit at the Leiden Municipal Archives (of which Dr. Bangs had been curator from 1980 to 1985), which was closed five years ago when space for it was not included in a new building that replaced its location, and when the town archivist expressed the opinion that if Americans wanted a museum on the topic they would have to pay for it themselves. Now that the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum exists, the Ministry of Justice has decided to make its continued existence impossible by refusing a residence permit to the director, Dr. Bangs. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please write a letter (text suggestion is below) expressing your feelings about this matter and send it to: Her Majesty, Queen Beatrix c/o Mr. Joris Michael Vos, Ambassador Royal Netherlands Embassy 4200 Linnean Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20008 District of Columbia U.S.A. It will be helpful if copies are sent to: Mr. J. Cohen, Secretary of State Ministry of Justice Schedeldoekshaven 100 2511 EX The Hague The Netherlands The Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 2594 AC The Hague The Netherlands Kabinet der Koningin Postbus 20016 2500 EA The Hague The Netherlands Council of State Raad van State Kneuterdijk 22 2514 EN The Hague The Netherlands Mr. J. Th. Hoekema Satijnvlinder 16 2317 KJ Leiden The Netherlands SUGGESTED TEXT: Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands Your Majesty, In 1920 your grandmother Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina graciously became the patroness of the Leyden Pilgrim Fathers Society, which by various projects aimed to promote the investigation of the history, principles and literature of the Pilgrim Fathers and to promote good understanding between the nations. This organization was disbanded during the occupation, but after liberation eventually some of its assets were recovered, and these were eventually turned over to the City of Leiden to subsidize publications about the Leiden period of exile of the Pilgrims, who lived in that city for eleven years before their famous emigration to New England on the "Mayflower" in 1620. In 1958 an exhibit was created at the Leiden Municipal Archives, visited over the years by thousands of tourists. Through an inexplicable oversight this exhibit was closed five years ago when no space was incorporated for it in a new archive building which replaced the building formerly housing the Pilgrim display. In 1997 the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum was opened officially in a new location by U.S. Ambassador K. Terry Dornbush. This museum was an initiative of Dr. Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, a scholar well known for his numerous publications of new material he has found about the Pilgrims and about Dutch history in the 16th and 17th centuries, and who had previously been curator of the exhibit at the Leiden Archives (1980-1985), Chief Curator of Plimoth Plantation (1986-1991), and Curator of Manuscripts of the Pilgrim Society at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts (1994-1996). Dr. Bangs' current research has revealed that one of the Pilgrims, Edward Winslow, was appointed by the Estates General and by the English government to be the chairman of an international committee which was to settle the differences remaining between England and The Netherland= s after the First Dutch-English War; this new discovery reveals how importan= t the Pilgrims were to both countries in the seventeenth century, an importance deserving of commemoration through publications and in museums.= In its first year, the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum welcomed more than 2600 visitors, including recently the new United States Ambassador, Dr. Cynthia Schneider. We are informed that Hillary Rodham Clinton has let it be known that she would like to visit the museum during her visit to The Netherlands in February. In 1981, Dr. Bangs had been asked by Prof. Dr. J. N. Bakhuizen van den Brink, the last secretary of the Leyden Pilgrim Fathers Society, to ensure the continuation of that organization's goals through research and exhibitions. This he has done in a way worthy to be considered a continuation of the activities of the original Leyden Pilgrim Fathers Society. The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sciences has stated to the Ministry of Justice that Dr. Bangs' work "serves an essential interest of The Netherlands." ("Uit een schriftelijk ingewonnen ambtsbericht d.d. 11 februari 1998 van het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen i= s gebleken dat met het verblijf van betrokkene een wezenlijk cultureel Nederlands belang is gediend.") Now we would like to appeal to you for an expression of the protectio= n for this topic so graciously extended by your grandmother, and which now i= s continued by the work of Dr. Bangs in Leiden. Because of a narrow interpretation of regulations, the Ministry of Justice has refused to rene= w Dr. Bangs' residency permit, despite the statement from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sciences. The Ministry of Justice officials do not take into account the fact that Dr. Bangs' expenses are fully reimbursed b= y The New England Historic Genealogical Society, even though Dr. Bangs carries out his work on a volunteer basis; thus the ministry finds Dr. Bangs unable to meet its definition of financial support, notwithstanding his residence for the last two years in The Netherlands without being a burden on Dutch society. (Before becoming Chief Curator of Plimoth Plantation, a museum about the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Dr. Bangs lived in Leiden for 17 years and had a "permanent" residency permit. He obtained his doctorate in Dutch art history and history from the University of Leiden in 1976.) We ask that you intervene in support of Dr. Bangs' continued residence in your country, so that he can continue to carry out this work which is clearly of great significance for ongoing goo= d cultural relations between our country and yours. To say that we cannot understand the decision of the Ministry of Justice is putting it too mildly. Americans are astonished that when someone has made every possible attempt to resurrect and re-create a cultural focus for a topic of such importance to our history and that of your country, not only has no help been forthcoming but on the contrary an attempt is being made to close down the research and the museum, an attitude which could be interpreted as indicating disdain for our past, an= d for your country's contribution to our history in providing a hospitable refuge to that small group who fled persecution in England, lived peacably for years in Leiden, and went on to become a major source of democratic ideals in America, commemorated each year in the American national holiday Thanksgiving Day, celebrated by nearly a thousand people every year in Leiden's Pieterskerk, as well as everywhere throughout the United States o= f America. We hope that our appeal to you will not be in vain, and that with your ability to look beyond the small details of regulations created for other purposes you will recognize the larger importance to continued cultural relations between our countries in helping the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum to continue to be a focal point where visitors from many countries come to learn about Dutch and American history and our long-sustained mutual relationship. Sincerely yours, --part0_914980070_boundary--