Sale of Clarence White prints: A disservice in more ways than one

Thanks to the Advocate, Licking County recently learned that its historical society is selling 13 photographs created by Clarence White, world-famous photographer whose career started in Newark Ohio. Here's the link to that Advocate report.

Also, I had written about the sale at this link and about the work and reputation and local connection of Clarence White at this Newark Tea Party gallery.

Part of the rationale for that sale, according to the society's curator, Emily Larson, is that few Newark residents are familiar with him. “'I bet if you walked around town and asked people if they had heard of Clarence H. White, they’d say no,' Larson said" in the Advocate report.

Which should have led to the question: "What's the difference?" and "How many historic icons represented in the Society's collections would be so recognized?" and "On what are you basing that statement?"

The other part of the rationale for the sale of these once-in-the-history-of-photography-and-of-Newark photographs was "lack of gallery space and proper equipment ..."

Larson was quoted by the Advocate as saying: "Profits from the sales will go toward a Clarence White Endowment that will aid in the society’s efforts to preserve permanent collections." I think the "s" on the end of the word "collection" is significant. I think it means that instead of devoting all the profits of this sale to the preservation and display of the White collection, it means, instead, that the money is for all the stuff being held by the Society.

If that's what it means, the White photos are merely one grand and very lucrative yard sale for the enrichment of the Society.

Exactly how much is realized from this sale and what it's used for will, in the end, reveal the significance of that little "s." And calling the loot from this sale a "Clarence White Endowment" is in no way going to compensate for Licking County's loss of this irreplaceable, world-class heritage from Clarence White.

Further, this sale will surely have an effect on folks with historical items that might be donated to the Society. For one thing, I hope - and I urge - the holders of the Walter White photographs, another world-class photographer whose Tea Party gallery you can see here, will never entrust them or any part of them to the Licking County Historical Society. The same with any other item that donors might suppose would be permanently kept in Licking County. The Society has done itself a great disservice in more ways than one.