RE: Lessons from Crisis at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Just to clarify, when you say
The transfer of assets seems to have worked for one party, but not necessarily the other.
are you suggesting it worked better for HSP, which unburdened itself of a labor intensive part of its program that competed with it's research function? And are you saying it didn't benefit the AKM (a.k.a. the PHM)?
I wonder if a closer look at the AKM collection with HSP's artifacts might suggest that the museum was buoyed with cultural and financial assets. Consider the rationale behind & impact of these two very lucrative sales: 1) a Raphaelle Peale painting in 2009:
and in 2011 this portrait of Yarrow Mamout by his dad, C.W. Peale:
Can't we conclude that the PHM was at least partially enriched by the transfer? And enhanced in reputation (in a perverse way)?
For sure! Any judgement I passed is premature since I really don't know much about the current states of these organizations other than what I hear from you!
But one can speculate. Imagine. Inquire. Comparing the relative impact of the collection transfer on both orgs would be a juicy challenge.
There's way too little evaluation and transparency about these scenarios... Who will do the heavy lifting? Grad students? Consulting firms? The orgs themselves? We have so much to gain by honest, clear-eyed analysis...