The museum has reached a point where its collection is larger than expected, and officials are looking to find a different home for some of the items.
“We never envisioned how our archival collection would grow,” said Judy Covington, executive director of the museum. “Our archives are worth millions of dollars and right now we don’t have enough room. It was really imperative that we look at ourselves and our mission and create a long-term strategic plan with built-in accountability that gives you a direction.”
The original mission of the museum in 1974 was two-fold, with a pioneer and railroad emphasis.
Because the museum started with a pioneer emphasis, a significant part of the collection is related to Temple without railroad significance, Ms. Covington said, adding that in 2004 the mission of the museum changed specifically to railroad history preservation.
Without a pioneer emphasis “there are items in our collection that don’t support our mission. If something does support your mission, then obviously you are going to embrace it,” Ms. Covington said.
Stan Pemberton, a Temple resident whose father worked for the railroad, expressed his concern for items in the Railroad and Heritage Museum collection that do hold a pioneer significance.
“I love history and it’s our heritage,” Pemberton said. “I just want to make sure it ends up in the appropriate place.”
Ms. Covington said she understands the emotion attached to some items the museum has and maintains that any cleanup will be done as responsibly as possible.
“We are much more ethical than that,” she said. “However, we have to clean up the Katy (Depot). We have never properly assessed what is in there. We have never looked at the duplication (of artifacts).”
An example of possible duplication is a collection of 1,900 tools that were given to the museum and in storage at the Katy Depot, Ms. Covington said.
“If we have 30 wrenches and they are the same kind of wrenches, we probably would rather clear out those wrenches and create more room for our collections than maintain those wrenches,” Ms. Covington said.
The director said allowing other museums to take on the collection would be the first action, “but if we’ve exhausted all of our options as to where it should go then there’s nothing to prevent us from selling those wrenches.”
The process to remove items from the collection is a lengthy one that requires the approval of the museum’s board of directors and, in some cases, the city of Temple.
“We’re just the custodians, the city owns everything except for what we’ve collected since 2004,” Ms. Covington said. “In that case we have to go through our process with the approval of our board of directors and then get the city’s approval.”
This removal of items from the museum is not a new one, according to Patricia Rye, former executive director of the museum.
“A lot of small museums are facing this type of problem where they may not have the room and resources for parts of their collection,” Ms. Rye said.
The museum recently hired Rachael Dell, a 2006 graduate of Purdue University, as its new curator, which allows Craig Ordner to resume his position of archivist, instead of splitting duties. The move also positions the staff to continue streamlining the massive collection of artifacts in its possession.
“The one thing we will always be is completely transparent,” Ms. Covington said. “If we weren’t then we would be unfair to our members, to our donors, the government of Temple and the citizens of Temple.”
Bell County Museum Director Stephanie Turnham said a museum must have a clear collection policy.
“It’s the responsibility of a museum not to collect those things that might not match their mission,” she said.
Ms. Turnham said the Bell County Museum has a collection of more than 18,000 items.
“It’s our obligation to the public to preserve, restore and display those items,” she said. “But we have to be guided by our mission in that process.”
