Letter, South to Creech 2/12/68
Dublin Core
Title
Letter, South to Creech 2/12/68
Subject
South, Stanley A.; Moravians; Archaeology; Wachovia (N.C.)--History; Artifacts; Wells.; Letters.
Moravians.
Archaeology.
Wachovia (N.C.)--History.
Old Salem, Inc.
Artifacts.
Wells.
Letters.
Description
Two-page letter type-written by Stanley South and addressed to Miss Mary Creech. Letter is in reference to the pump stock recovered from the 1807 well (B40 D)behind the 1788 Gemeinhaus, which was stolen from the 1830's Log House. The letter is a passionate plea to move the recovered artifacts from the Brewer's House to storage in Old Salem until such a time that Bethabara has a museum facility secure enough to house the collection.
The first page is on yellow carbon transfer paper, 11" x 8 1/2". The second page is on white carbon transfer papers of the same dimensions. Both have three holes punched along the left margin as they were stored in a three ring binder.
The first page is on yellow carbon transfer paper, 11" x 8 1/2". The second page is on white carbon transfer papers of the same dimensions. Both have three holes punched along the left margin as they were stored in a three ring binder.
Creator
South, Stanley A.
Date
February 12, 1968
Type
Text
Format
PDF
Language
English
Identifier
SSMC 6-6 007
Source
MC2-Staneley South Manuscript Collection-Correspondence.
Relation
Stanley South Manuscript Collection Box - Folder 6-6.
Rights
Rights held by Historic Bethabara Park, Inc. Use and reproduction restrictions apply. Contact Historic Bethabara Park Archives
Rights Holder
Historic Bethabara Park, Inc.
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
225 Pine Grove Drive
Wilmington, North Carolina
February 12, 1968
Miss Mary Creech
Historic Bethabara
2147 Bethabara Road
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dear Mary:
I was distressed to learn from Clay Watson and from you that the pump stock we recovered from the well at the church at Bethabara and so carefully preserved for exhibit is missing from the log house at Bethabara. I once suggested to either Brad or Glenn Little that the warehouse at Old Salem would be a better storage place for it than at Bethabara, but whether it was ever taken there for safe keeping I do not know. You might check with them at Old Salem and see if perhaps it may have been taken there. The last I saw it was when it was in the second floor of the log Fou House wrapped in plastic film, and I suspect that it was there that someone found it and was attracted to it and helped themselves. If it is missing, then it is unfortunate, for such stocks are relatively rare.
This brings up a point I have been concerned with ever since I turned over the ceramic object to you for exhibit in the Brewery at Bethabara. That house is very subject to fire, and with a crowbar, a flashlight, and a dark night a collector of relics could empty the building of all of the ceramic objects such as pipes, brasiers, teapots, bowls, plates, etc. made by Aust and Christ. These two reasons seem to be enough to me to warrant putting the object in an fireproof building such as the visitor-center at Old Salem. In such a place I would not worry about the future of these very rare objects, some of them representing the only one of its kind ever known in America before being discovered and restored at Bethabara. The care and protection of such objects should be of primary concern to those who curate them, and to put them in an inflammable building, in a remote area where noone is around at night, with no neighbors,even,for protection, and then show them for the first time to the public, is like asking someone to help themselves on the first dark night; and does not appear to me to represent a policy most effectively designed to protect these objects that represent so much in time and money and so very much in terms of their unique historical value as a thread that ties us to our eighteenth century ancestors. With these objects stolen or destroyed in a fire we can never replace them. I dread the day when I learn that such has come about. What a loss that will be! Perhaps a visitor center museum at Bethabara is in the works for the future, but what about the period between? We can only hope that luck will be with us until these objects are safe; which they will not be until café from fire and vandalism and theft. My feeling is that such important objects should be in the National Museum of History and Technology as the best protected place, but this I realize will not be.
I realize that this does not concern you for it is a matter out of our hands, yours and mine, but I cannot help but protest when I see so much of value being risked so seriously at Bethabara; and actually there is no one to
[PAGE 2]
whom we can protest, for no one person is responsible for any of the decisions made relative to the Bethabara Project, it is now and has been, just a dream that has gradually come about through the efforts of many people, and now the evolution is toward a serious risk with the recovered objects at the old Brewery house, and it is a movement that no one can stop, for no one has the authority to say that the risk should not be taken.
Perhaps steps will soon be taken toward protecting these objects, but this is probably some years away. We can only hope that the objects will survive the interim. I am sorry about the pump stock, but there is nothing we can do now except regret; and I will write and tell you I am sorry about all the pots, plates, pans, lamps and pipes of Aust and Christ when they too are taken by someone who has a little time to spare on a dark night.
Perhaps seeing the objects come so slowly from the ground in little pieces, then slowly see them take shape as they are carefully restored through may months of work, and then to carefully replace the missing parts and to arrive finally with forms that are a beauty to see and a joy to study; and to finally see what was in the mind and hands of Aust and Christ when they sat at their work bench two hundred years ago, and to realize that all this could be destroyed in one night of vandalism or theft, has make me overly concerned. However, this is a characteristic of a caringg person, and if the archaeologist does not care, then you will not recover the forms you now have for exhibit in the museum at Bethabara or from any archaeological site. Of course you care, and everyone connected with the Bethabara project cares, but nevertheless the caring was not enough to provide protection for a valuable part of our heritage stored there in the Brewery, free for the taking.
I am looking forward to seeing you and the site again and to taking what may be my last look at the restored pottery vessels that have become so close to my heart through these past years in their journey from the ground to the museum exhibit case.
Sincerely,
Stanley South
Archaeologist
cc. Dr. E.L. Stockton
James Gray
W.S. Tarlton
Wilmington, North Carolina
February 12, 1968
Miss Mary Creech
Historic Bethabara
2147 Bethabara Road
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dear Mary:
I was distressed to learn from Clay Watson and from you that the pump stock we recovered from the well at the church at Bethabara and so carefully preserved for exhibit is missing from the log house at Bethabara. I once suggested to either Brad or Glenn Little that the warehouse at Old Salem would be a better storage place for it than at Bethabara, but whether it was ever taken there for safe keeping I do not know. You might check with them at Old Salem and see if perhaps it may have been taken there. The last I saw it was when it was in the second floor of the log Fou House wrapped in plastic film, and I suspect that it was there that someone found it and was attracted to it and helped themselves. If it is missing, then it is unfortunate, for such stocks are relatively rare.
This brings up a point I have been concerned with ever since I turned over the ceramic object to you for exhibit in the Brewery at Bethabara. That house is very subject to fire, and with a crowbar, a flashlight, and a dark night a collector of relics could empty the building of all of the ceramic objects such as pipes, brasiers, teapots, bowls, plates, etc. made by Aust and Christ. These two reasons seem to be enough to me to warrant putting the object in an fireproof building such as the visitor-center at Old Salem. In such a place I would not worry about the future of these very rare objects, some of them representing the only one of its kind ever known in America before being discovered and restored at Bethabara. The care and protection of such objects should be of primary concern to those who curate them, and to put them in an inflammable building, in a remote area where noone is around at night, with no neighbors,even,for protection, and then show them for the first time to the public, is like asking someone to help themselves on the first dark night; and does not appear to me to represent a policy most effectively designed to protect these objects that represent so much in time and money and so very much in terms of their unique historical value as a thread that ties us to our eighteenth century ancestors. With these objects stolen or destroyed in a fire we can never replace them. I dread the day when I learn that such has come about. What a loss that will be! Perhaps a visitor center museum at Bethabara is in the works for the future, but what about the period between? We can only hope that luck will be with us until these objects are safe; which they will not be until café from fire and vandalism and theft. My feeling is that such important objects should be in the National Museum of History and Technology as the best protected place, but this I realize will not be.
I realize that this does not concern you for it is a matter out of our hands, yours and mine, but I cannot help but protest when I see so much of value being risked so seriously at Bethabara; and actually there is no one to
[PAGE 2]
whom we can protest, for no one person is responsible for any of the decisions made relative to the Bethabara Project, it is now and has been, just a dream that has gradually come about through the efforts of many people, and now the evolution is toward a serious risk with the recovered objects at the old Brewery house, and it is a movement that no one can stop, for no one has the authority to say that the risk should not be taken.
Perhaps steps will soon be taken toward protecting these objects, but this is probably some years away. We can only hope that the objects will survive the interim. I am sorry about the pump stock, but there is nothing we can do now except regret; and I will write and tell you I am sorry about all the pots, plates, pans, lamps and pipes of Aust and Christ when they too are taken by someone who has a little time to spare on a dark night.
Perhaps seeing the objects come so slowly from the ground in little pieces, then slowly see them take shape as they are carefully restored through may months of work, and then to carefully replace the missing parts and to arrive finally with forms that are a beauty to see and a joy to study; and to finally see what was in the mind and hands of Aust and Christ when they sat at their work bench two hundred years ago, and to realize that all this could be destroyed in one night of vandalism or theft, has make me overly concerned. However, this is a characteristic of a caringg person, and if the archaeologist does not care, then you will not recover the forms you now have for exhibit in the museum at Bethabara or from any archaeological site. Of course you care, and everyone connected with the Bethabara project cares, but nevertheless the caring was not enough to provide protection for a valuable part of our heritage stored there in the Brewery, free for the taking.
I am looking forward to seeing you and the site again and to taking what may be my last look at the restored pottery vessels that have become so close to my heart through these past years in their journey from the ground to the museum exhibit case.
Sincerely,
Stanley South
Archaeologist
cc. Dr. E.L. Stockton
James Gray
W.S. Tarlton
Collection
Citation
South, Stanley A., “Letter, South to Creech 2/12/68,” Historic Bethabara Park Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://historicbethabarapark.omeka.net/items/show/8.