National WASP Museum Avenger Field Sweetwater Tx.

[P-59A]

I was just goofing around looking for whatever on my computer and came across this site.   https://waspmuseum.org/     I had seen it years ago and decided to see what they have been up to.  They closed down  for covid and added a new building to the museum. Just as they finished construction they were hit by a flood that forced them to do allot of repairs. They plan to reopen to the public in about a month. I sent a message telling them I have a WASP wing that belonged to one of the 38 and some other stuff I would loan them if they were interested. I got a e-mail back from Ann Haub saying they would love to display the wing and the other related items. In fact they were going to reopen with a tribute to the 38 and my timing was spot on. I contacted people I know to enlist help for the museum. The contract they are sending me is for a long term loan and the time frame is decided by me. I used to volunteer at a air museum and they always want you to donate your item to the museum and Ann was no different. In the past I had offered my small items to other museums for display and they are always eager until they find out I am not giving it to them. Then they cite insurance reasons for not wanting to display the wing. Ann  was more reasonable about this even though she  did prodded me to donate.  I have had this wing for many years and it was a gift from the brother of the fallen WASP for taking the time to return her personal effects found at the crash site. My question to the forum is do you have artifacts from a WASP sitting in a box in your closet that no one ever see's? Do you want people to know about the WASP program? Are you willing to share what you have with a small museum in need of authentic artifacts to share with the public? Do you want to keep your artifacts? If so, may I suggest you think long and hard about loaning your artifacts to a worthy museum in need of a little help. Call and ask for Ann Haub. She will nudge you to donate, but she knows she needs to display more than she needs to own in order to accomplish her mission of bringing the WASP story to the public. Think about it.   Yours David

[patrick_usmc]

I’m working on an exhibit for them for their reopening in a couple weeks. They finally have a climate controlled building to display things in, which is great for the museum, 

[P-59A]

10 hours ago, patrick_usmc said:

I’m working on an exhibit for them for their reopening in a couple weeks. They finally have a climate controlled building to display things in, which is great for the museum, 

Outstanding. Do you have any idea of what they have to display? TWU seems to have the lions share of items. Does TWU loan out for display?

[patrick_usmc]

It should be pretty great when it's all up and running (it opens March 20th). They were severely limited in what they could display before because of the lack of climate control, but their archives have some pretty amazing items. I've been in awe of some of the items I've gotten to handle over the past few weeks, and thankfully, a lot more of that will be moving into public view with this new renovation. 

 

I think there's been some tension between the two in the past, and I'm not entirely sure why, but I don't think the TWU Archive loans stuff out to the museum. Of course, I don't say this to detract from either group, or gossip or anything like that, just to state the way it is. There's more to that story than I know.

 

As I understand it, the TWU archive was started before the WASP Museum, so that's why there are two separate major holdings of WASP related items. I haven't looked through the TWU archives in very much detail at all, but the WASP Museum has a large share of artifacts and documents in their holdings, so they certainly aren't lacking.  

 

I plan to ask the WASP Museum administration if I can make a post on the forum. I've been taking photos as I've gone through their stuff, and am hoping to be able to share that and more with the forum.

They have racks of uniforms, headgear and flight gear, most of it donated by families of WASP or the women themselves. I'm hoping much more will be on display, though I do not know for sure. 

If they're okay with me posting about their archival holdings, I bet I can do a post on the museum itself when the time comes. 

 

Of course, I'd also recommend a visit to this new museum. They'll be hosting an opening dinner on March 20th, and then a WASP Homecoming and BT-13 fly-in (I think...it has been in the works anyway) on May 8th, which would be a great time for a visit.   

[patrick_usmc]

And to anybody considering loaning or donating items: I'm sure they would appreciate it.

 

I'd just make sure you get try to get some sort of contract in writing. The museum is small, and they have a lot on their plate. They take very good care of the items they have, and are committed to telling the story of the WASP, but there have been some communication struggles. 

In short, don't worry about your artifacts being damaged, they would be well cared for. But it may be worthwhile to get a written agreement. 

 

Again, I don't say this to slander them - they're working well with what they have. But because they're not a large institution, they face some additional struggles. They're certainly deserving of forum members' support and it's well worth a visit to their museum at Avenger Field.

 

If anybody has any questions about them, feel free to PM me. 

 

Patrick   

[P-59A]

On 3/7/2021 at 7:01 PM, patrick_usmc said:

And to anybody considering loaning or donating items: I'm sure they would appreciate it.

 

I'd just make sure you get try to get some sort of contract in writing. The museum is small, and they have a lot on their plate. They take very good care of the items they have, and are committed to telling the story of the WASP, but there have been some communication struggles. 

In short, don't worry about your artifacts being damaged, they would be well cared for. But it may be worthwhile to get a written agreement. 

 

Again, I don't say this to slander them - they're working well with what they have. But because they're not a large institution, they face some additional struggles. They're certainly deserving of forum members' support and it's well worth a visit to their museum at Avenger Field.

 

If anybody has any questions about them, feel free to PM me. 

 

Patrick   

They sent me a contact for a long term loan of Marie Michell Robison' WASP wing and some things from the crash site. How is their security?

[P-59A]

On a side  note when I first found "things" at Marie's crash site I contacted TWU looking for her brother and before I found Marie's brother TWU and Betty Williams were nudging for me to send everything to TWU. Betty Williams was a big supporter of TWU as the "official" depository of WASP items, I had no idea Avenger even had a museum at the time.

[patrick_usmc]

2 hours ago, P-59A said:

They sent me a contact for a long term loan of Marie Michell Robison' WASP wing and some things from the crash site. How is their security?

Their security is very good! I wouldn’t worry about that.

[patrick_usmc]

I’ve heard that as well, but i’m not sure the source of that tension. 
I don’t know that TWU has much display space, if any, so if you want it on display the museum is probably in a unique position to offer that. 

[P-59A]

1 hour ago, patrick_usmc said:

I’ve heard that as well, but i’m not sure the source of that tension. 
I don’t know that TWU has much display space, if any, so if you want it on display the museum is probably in a unique position to offer that. 

At the time I was talking to the curator of the WASP collection at TWU. They are collage and not so much a museum as a research facility. 

[patrick_usmc]

That's what I imagined it to be