20 Sep 2008 0812H

The museum fire

Several years ago, working with the emerging Chinatown Museum Foundation, I remember telling them, regarding the building they were about to inherit, that they should establish a relationship with the national archives, or with the Chicago History Museum, or a local university or college, and not store anything of historic value inside that building in case of fire, which would result in catastrophic loss.

As was typical of their so-called leadership, which was indicative of a tendency to not work well with others, leading in my own and others’ defections, as well as the birth of our historical society, they chose to ignore this recommendation, and of course, the inevitable came to pass yesterday afternoon, as burning Chinatown histories incensed the neighborhood with acrid smoke.

I hold the Museum’s leadership completely responsible for this: insufficient archival conditions and fire control measures that demonstrated a clear disregard for the stewardship of Chinese Chicagoans history resulting in catastrophic loss of irreplaceable artifacts, possibly including the sole historic portrait of our clan’s founder. That is probably is the ultimate, fatal display of their utter and total incompetence.

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