I'd like to add a few things here. I've been a member of the BRHS for more
than a few years, and am a member of a few other historical societies as
well. I've been involved with the start-up of a couple, and have been in
the position to ask Hol for help given his access to other collections as
well as his own. He has never failed to be helpful.
One thing people fail to realize is just what kind of undertaking a
collection of photographs and slides can be. I really have no idea how
large Corbin's collection was, but from the evidence in books and
Bulletins, it must have been quite large. Attempting to keep that
cataloged and available is nearly a full time job. Museums (like the
Colorado Railroad Museum) have a difficult time when new collections come
in and often it takes years or more before collections are available for
anyone to access. Some museums and libraries are no longer taking
collections unless there is a sizable donation with it in order to cover
the time to document, catalog and prepare it for access.
While the thought of a mobile collection is tempting, I wonder how serious
the possibility is. How many have seen Bob's Photos when he goes to a
show? He has a 3/4 ton van, and has a few hundred 3 ring binders. He
requires 2-4 bodies at each place he goes to watch people and take money
(the sad fact is, that things disappear - one society I am involved with
had 4 binders at a GATS table in Denver and 4 impossible-to-replace items
were removed from sleeves within the binder while 4 people were watching
two tables). Wallin, when he was taking slides on "tour" had to haul over
30 metal slide boxes in order to take a portion of his collection (BTW<
Bob's photos now has THAT collection, so you can do the math there). Now,
again, I have no idea how many photos Corbin's collection came to. I have
a bit over 1200 photos on one subject. They are in 12 binders. Now,
remember, when the collection is mobile, that means there are costs
involved in new binders, sleeves ,etc as wear and tear is incredible. I
would guess that Corbin had at least 30,000. likely a lot more. And how
do you display negatives (which I would imagine a lot of his collection is
in) for casual viewing? Slides? Large format photos? I just don't know
how available something like that *CAN* be.
When you see "Corbin/Wagner" as credits, my suspicion is these are photos
that Hol had received before Corbin's death. Such things are very
common. I'm sure Hol has photos from Kindig too - and, when Dick passes,
and his collection goes to the DPL or the CRM (I think it's earmarked for
the DPL), you will still see Kindig photos credited to other
collections. Heck, I have more than a few Corbin photos in my collection.
I am certain that if you had a research project and sent a note via the
avenues in the web pages, Bulletins or Zephyrs that you would have access
to what is available in the archives. That is the way most societies work
- unless they are fortunate enough and "rich" enough to have a brick and
mortar archive. At the moment, it makes sense to have the collection where
the editor is.
I think you have to appreciate the volume of this undertaking and the
volume of tasks that are being asked.
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