Thank you for that information. My family has made a handful of trips over the last 15 years to the CCHS to do research. I imagine there are hundreds of others who have done the same. As I live in St. Louis, MO, I can honestly say I wouldn't have made the trip to Meadville to do research or check out books at the local library without having access to a local Historical Society. Has anybody done a study of the number of out of town visitors that come to Meadville/Crawford County to do family research on a yearly basis? This would be a negative impact to local commerce if those people, like myself, no longer came and patronized the local hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. Trust me, having served in local government positions on a volunteer basis, the last thing the local Chamber of Commerce, Mayor's Office, town or county council want to hear about is how LESS people will be visiting and pumping in outside money towards local commerce and tax base. A nice/civil letter campaign from concerned historians/genealogists to the local politicians may help clarify the fiscal impact of potentially closing a city/county attraction. Is there a list of local politicians we could encourage to lend their support to the CCHS? I will write Gerry and Stephen (listed below) as well. I encourage others to do the same. Scott Sikes Researching my g-grandfather Ransom T Sikes/Sykes. Fought in 111th PA, 12th/20th Corps in Civil War. Born in Guys Mills. Married Laura Fe Babbitt. Son, Charles Sikes/Sykes. -----Original Message----- From: Bill Moore [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 1:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Crawf'rd] report on trip to Crawford Co. Kathy: I won't pretend to be a disinterested reporter of the Library-Historical Society feud, since I've been a director of the Historical Society off and on for the last 20+ years. But since you asked what is going on, I thought I'd try to explain. The Meadville Public Library [MPL] leadership has decided that the Crawford Co. Historical Society [CCHS] is a freeloading tenant in the MPL building, since the MPL supplies one 20-hr./week staff member free of charge to the CCHS, and the CCHS pays no rent for the space. The MPL wants the CCHS space for library purposes, and wants to move CCHS into another library building 3 blocks away, and start charging the CCHS for staff and utilities. The CCHS cannot afford the cost [which would be about $20,000/yr. according to figures guess-timated by MPL last year, and that is more than 20% of the CCHS' present budget of $90,000/yr.] The CCHS has a modest endowment, and not many sources of income, so it is a struggle to meet the budget every year as it is. The CCHS' position is that BOTH the CCHS and the MPL are PART of the Meadville Library, Art and Historical Association [MLAHA]. The MLAHA was set up in 1879, and at that point included the MPL, the CCHS, and the now defunct Natural History Society and Art Society. The current building [built in 1925] is titled to the MLAHA, and originally housed the MPL, CCHS and the Art Society. Contributions to the MLAHA and its endowment were made by persons interested in any or all of the three organizations, as well as to the parts individually. The MPL leadership is now claiming that it is the SOLE owner of the MLAHA building and endowment, and that's why the CCHS has no right to be there. The CCHS claims that it is part of the MLAHA [as is the MPL] so it has a right to part of the building where it has been for 75 years--rent-free--as well as income from its part of the MLAHA endowment which should cover staff and upkeep costs. A gentleman in his 90's recently wrote to the editor of the Tribune and said he remembered the fund-raising campaign for the new building in 1925 and it was based on support for all three groups--the MPL, CCHS and Art Society--and NOT just the MPL. So that's the bone of contention. The CCHS would very seriously consider moving to other quarters to accomodate the MPL's space needs, if the CCHS could obtain the other space on the same terms as its present location--a free staff person and no rent. The MPL doesn't want to continue to provide the staff and space, and so the disagreement. Personally, I think it would cost the MPL substantially to build up a collection of historical books if the CCHS were no longer there. If the CCHS does have to leave the library building, and cannot afford the other space offered, I really don't know where it can go. Probably mostly into storage. CCHS does own an historic house--the Baldwin/Reynolds House museum--but, like most houses, its floors are not built to carry the weight of shelving, and the basement is too damp for book/document storage. If anyone would like to voice an opinion one way or the other--or offer suggestions--the appropriate persons would be: Ms. Gerry Deane Mr. Stephen Mizner President, CCHS President, MPL/MLAHA neither has a listed telephone number, so I presume the address for both should be 848 N. Main St., Meadville, PA 16335. Bill Moore Secretary, CCHS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Barnes" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 9:24 PM Subject: Re: [Crawf'rd] report on trip to Crawford Co. > What's going on with the Historical Society??!! It > holds a wealth of knowledge and where better to have > it than in the library?! What can we do to help keep > it there or what will happen if it can't stay? Does > someone out there know? > > Kathy > in Michigan > Researching: Affentranger/Affantranger and Huff > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes > http://finance.yahoo.com > > > ==== PACRAWFO Mailing List ==== > This List is dedicated to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. If have a problem, question, need direction or to report a virus, please contact Kathleen off-list at [email protected] Thanks. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > ______________________________

Wonderful idea, contacting the chamber and mayor, etc. I'm in the middle of writing my letter to the Tribune and will pass on one to the "powers that be" just as soon as some addresses appear ont the list. We were in Meadville, last April. We had a room for two nights, food and misc. shopping expenses for five people. I had to go to the cemeteries and leave flowers at my gr gr gr gr grandparents graves and photograph the lovely area. I dropped $$ in the jar at the historical society, bought the book that was printed about Meadville as well as paid for copies of microfilm and information that was available. (And there was a lot of information that I didn't get to.) While this isn't too terribly much, if the city fathers knew how many people come to Meadville each year to research their heritage in the beautiful valley that Meadville sits in, they might sit up and take notice and see how they could help remedy the situation at hand. Someone needs to write letters and get someone's attention. I for one, hope that there is a historical society to go back to, because I was no where near done with the work that there is to do there. I was so very greatful that the place exists! Kathy Michigan __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! News - Today's headlines http://news.yahoo.com