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Poe Parties Like He’s 199
 With Poe’s latest birthday bash, the Poe Museum kicked off the countdown to his bicentennial in 2009. The event featured a book signing by Scott and Sandi Bergman, walking tours of the neighborhood, special tours of the Museum, and a birthday cake shaped like a raven. Edgar Poe’s cousin, Hal Poe, joined us from Tennessee to cut the birthday cake.
With less than a year left before the bicentennial, you can expect to see more information on the celebration in our upcoming newsletters and website. In 2009 the Poe Museum will be joining forces with the Library of Virginia for a special exhibit. The University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin also will be coordinating a major traveling exhibit featuring artifacts pooled from both of their collections as well as that of the Poe Museum. The Richmond Symphony, Theatre IV, the Valentine Museum, and many others will be joining in the festivities with performances or exhibits in 2009. Check our website (www.poemuseum.org) for more details in the months to come.
Message from the Director
In my short time with the Poe Museum I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our members and our Richmond community and the support we have received from individuals, corporations and foundations both here at home, across the country and, indeed, throughout the world. Poe is a historical figure and an artist for whom so many people have a deep and abiding passion. With the upcoming bicentennial of Poe’s birth in January 2009, the central Virginia region will kick off a never before seen level of collaboration between cultural institutions which will provide blockbuster exhibitions, special events, theatrical and musical performances, and educational opportunities for young and old alike.
In recent months we have received a number of grant awards and distinctions for the Poe Museum which will provide the monies necessary to restore the physical facilities, provide long-term protection for the historic collections, and will help us achieve the goal of a statewide celebration of Poe’s bicentennial. The Poe Museum was recently the recipient of a “We the People” project grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as a recipient of the coveted EMC Corporation’s Heritage Trust Project grant. The Poe Museum was the only cultural institution in the United States to receive the EMC Heritage Trust award—an honor we are eager to justify through our hard work and commitment to historic collections protection.
If you haven’t visited the Poe Museum in a while you may be surprised by some of the improvements we have made to the facility and upgrades to our exhibit areas. Do take the time to come and see us when the “Poe in Comics” show is installed, between April 25th and October 31st of 2008.
Thank you again to all of our donors, members and friends. I look forward to seeing you at the Poe Museum.
Katarina M. Spears
Executive Director
Historic Collections Protection Project Update
The Poe Museum strives to bring history to life by bringing our guests face-to-face with Edgar Poe —how he lived and worked. We display the bed on which he slept, the clothes he wore, and the letters he wrote. Artifacts such as these give us a rare opportunity to look into the past in a way no website or biography can.
But the very artifacts we collect and exhibit are over a century and a half old, and those years have taken their tolls. Over a hundred Virginia summers and winters have caused wooden furniture to expand and crack. Objects from manuscripts to textiles have faded or deteriorated in harsh light. Many of these pieces had already suffered damage long before they ever entered the Museum.
The process of deterioration is unavoidable, but we, as stewards of this collection, must act to slow this process in order to preserve these pieces of history for generations to come. To do this we must control and stabilize the temperature, light, and humidity to which our collections are exposed. Not only are an HVAC system and environmental monitoring equipment necessary but even the building housing the collections must be upgraded to keep moisture from seeping through the walls or roof. In some cases, our buildings are themselves historic artifacts for which we must care just as much as we do the items within them.
Thanks to your support, we can accomplish this mission. When we announced in our last newsletter that we would be raising funds to support this cause, you helped us to accomplish our goal. You have successfully met the challenge so we could receive matching funds from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation and the Cabell Foundation. With these funds we have been able to install a new HVAC system in our exhibits building, we have upgraded our security system, and we have purchased new lighting and exhibit cases.
Additionally, these funds have allowed us to help protect those objects not currently on display. We have placed delicate prints, papers, and photographs in protective sleeves and placed these within archival boxes on new metal shelving.
The process has only begun, so we will continue not only to acquire the additional equipment but also to monitor and record the conditions to which our collections are displayed while on exhibit or in storage. While the world outside may change, we hope that time will continue to stand still inside the Poe Museum.
Museum is Awarded EMC Corporation’s
Heritage Trust Grant
Out of over three hundred applicants from around the world the Poe Museum was one of only seven recipients — and the only in the United States — of a grant this year from the EMC Corporation’s Heritage Trust Project. This program recognizes and supports digitization of the world’s information heritage and will allow the Poe Museum to scan and otherwise enter our collection of priceless Poe manuscripts, letters, documents, and objects into a computer database that can be searched through our website by people around the world. Soon a global audience will be able to explore items which are rarely or never publicly displayed.
Although the Museum can never exhibit every item in its collection, many of these are of interest to Poe scholars and the public because they shed light on little-known aspects of Poe’s life and work. Such artifacts include letters to and from Poe family members like his sister Rosalie Poe and his mother-in-law Maria Clemm. We also own manuscripts written about Poe by those who knew him as well as business records like the correspondence of the Broadway Journal, a magazine Poe edited while living in New York. This grant will not only allow the Museum to purchase equipment to facilitate the process but will also provide funding for two interns to perform much of the work. By the end of the year, a portion of the Poe Museum’s collection will be accessible to Poe scholars and fans across the globe.
Renovation News
 Each year the Poe Museum sees more visitors than it did the year before. The number of weddings held in our garden more than doubled in a year’s time. We saw over a thousand students visit the Museum this October and will see even more in the spring. With the upcoming exhibit of “Poe in Comics” and the festivities surrounding Poe’s bicentennial, we anticipate higher than usual visitation. One of our first concerns is whether or not our centuries-old historic buildings can accommodate the crowds.
With the generous support of several Richmond area foundations and through the generosity of our members, the Poe Museum’s buildings and grounds are receiving much-needed repairs. Cracked plaster has been repaired and repainted, grungy linoleum floors have been replaced, and rotten doorframes have been repaired. Doors and windows have been made more secure, and the facility will be a safer environment for both our guests and our artifacts. The exhibits and the gift shop will be reorganized to allow better traffic flow.
 Thanks to a grant from the Gwathmey Memorial Trust the heart of the complex, the Enchanted Garden, is in the process of a series of repairs. The garden maintenance includes tree pruning, the relaying of the brick paths, and replacement of the fountain. Landscape architects have studied old photos and records of the garden to help return it to its original appearance while providing more space for our guests to relax and read during their time here. These plans will take into account the various uses of the garden from event venue to classroom. As the largest space in the museum complex, the garden must be renovated to allow school groups to gather for our tours and performances.
Lauras Everywhere
It is only with the help of our friends that the Poe Museum is able to accomplish its mission. That is why our volunteers are an invaluable resource. Anyone who has visited the gift shop on a Wednesday or Thursday will tell you what a great job our long-time volunteer Kassie Ann Olgas is doing. In our ongoing Historic Collections Protection Project, we have been very fortunate to have volunteers to help with the dirty work of sorting through old files, painting walls, and moving artifacts.
By a coincidence, three of our new volunteers are named Laura. Laura Graves is an intern from Hollins University who helped with the installation of the Model Building exhibit and still found time to arrange over eighty years-worth of files. Laura Curzi, an intern from Mary Washington University, has continued the work of the previous Laura and helped with the Museum’s educational programming. Laura Roder has faithfully volunteered to keep exhibits clean and free of dust. We, of course, are also grateful for our non-Laura volunteers. If anyone, even if you are not named Laura, would like to volunteer at the Poe Museum, please contact Katarina Spears at kat@poemuseum.org or 804-648-5523.
Join the Poe Museum
The Poe Museum’s membership consists of a diverse group of people from several different countries who have decided that great literature still matters. They have decided that Poe’s works are important enough that new generations should be encouraged to read them and to discover the same thrills that we found the first time we read one of Poe’s stories. Our members believe that Poe should receive the recognition he deserves as one of the world’s greatest authors. Each year our members support the Museum because they believe in the power of words. We at the Poe Museum are forever grateful for all the help our members have given us over the course of the past eighty-six years. For those of you who are not members or who are considering renewing a membership, these are the current membership and contributor levels.
Membership Categories
Virginia Teacher…FREE
Student/Non Virginia Teacher…$15
Individual…$25
Dual (or spousal)…$35
Family…$50
Contributor Levels
Raven Society ($100-$249)
Black Cat Society ($250-$499)
Dupin Society ($500-$999)
Gold Bug Society ($1,000-$4,900)
Israfel Society ($5,000-$9,999)
Eldorado Society ($10,000 or more)
Each membership level has its own benefits, including free Poe Museum admission, gift shop discounts, and historic walking tours. For more details about these benefits, please contact Katarina Spears at 804-648-5523 or kat@poemuseum.org.
The Poe Museum Gratefully Acknowledges
the Support of Its Donors
Corporate and Foundation Donors
The Arts and Cultural Funding Consortium of Richmond, Chesterfield, Hanover, and Henrico
Cabell Foundation
William Cage Library Trust
The Community Foundation of Richmond
Eleanor R. Morse Trust
EMC Corporation
Richard and Caroline T. Gwathmey
Memorial Trust
National Endowment for the Humanities
Mary Morton Parsons Foundation
Philip Morris USA
Stanley and Dorothy Pauley Memorial Trust
The Poetry Society of Virginia
Robins Foundation
Susan Jaffe Tane Foundation
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Individual Members and Donors
Mr. Daniel Aben
Mr. James A. Arnold
Mr. & Mrs. Charles B. Arrington, Jr.
Drs. J.T. and M.L. Bayliss
Mr. McGuire Boyd
Mr. Richard D. Brooks, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. John Stewart Bryan, III
Mr. Robert A. Buerlein
Mr. & Mrs. Rudolph H. Bunzl
Mrs. Enikoe Burk
Dr. and Mrs. Edward D.C. Campbell, Jr.
Professor and Mrs. John P. Cann
Mr. William E. Chambers
Ms. Ethel R. Chrisman
Mr. and Mrs. Donald K. Cirillo
Mrs. Catherine R. Claiborne
Mrs. Nell H. Cobb
Mr. & Mrs. Frederic H. Cox, Jr.
Dr. & Mrs. John L. Dameron
Mr. & Mrs. O. Kemp Dozier
Ms. Elizabeth P. Dudley
Mr. Gregory P. Dunsky
Ms. Rita S. Earl
Mr. Holt Edmunds
Mr. Hugh Edmunds
Mrs. Jan Bruce Ehart
Ms. Billie Paxton Einselen
Mr. & Mrs. Art Figueiredo
Mrs. Walter M. Franklin
Mr. David Galbis-Reig
Mr. William Cabell Garbee, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Peter McN. Gates
Mr. Norman George
Mr. Juel Goldstock
Mr. Stephen L. Guinn
Mrs. Mary F. Guthrie
Mr. Mahlon Henderson
Mr. & Mrs. Philip C. Holladay, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Winston Holt III
Mr. & Mrs. Robert C. Hufford
Dr. M. Thomas Inge
Mr. Thomas Jefferson
Mr. Crawley F. Joyner III
Mrs. Margaret George Kaufman
Dr. Richard Kopley
Dr. Joseph Kyle
Dr. Elizabeth Layman
Mr. Stephan Loewentheil
Mr. John W. Martin, Jr.
Mr. C. Samuel McDonald
Dr. William I. McLaughlin
Dr. James McNally
Mr. Robert E. Merry
Mr. & Mrs. Ken Mitchell
Mrs. Rose Marie Mitchell
Mr. Brad G. Morse
Mr. & Mrs. Marshall Morton
Mr. Don F. Muchow
Ms. Susan K. Murphey
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Norfleet, Jr. (In Memory of Mrs. Georgina Rawles)
Mr. David P. Page
Mr. T. Jefferson Parker
Mrs. Cheryl Parks-Weidley
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Pearsall III
Mrs. Mary Bryan Perkins
Dr. Philip Edward Phillips
Mr. J. E. Piper
Dr. Harry Lee Poe
Mr. Oscar A. Pohlig, Jr.
Dr. Burton Pollin
Mrs. Georgina Rawles
Dr. & Mrs. James W. Rawles, Jr.
Miss Markia Rawles
Mr.& Mrs. W. Taylor Reveley, III
Maj. And Mrs. George Reynolds
Mr. Klaus Schmidtz-Otto
Mr. & Mrs. John D. Schulz
Mr. Geddeth Smith
Mr. J. Ronald Smith
Mrs. Katherine Smith
Mr. & Mrs. John W. Snow
Mr. Albert Stedman
Mr. Fletcher Stiers
Mrs. Antoinette Suiter
Dr. Welford D. Taylor
Mr. M.G. Thalhimer
Mr. Dwight R. Thomas
Ms. Amy E. Thurston
Mrs. Philip M. Tinsley. Jr.
Mrs. Robert A. Walter
Mr. Benjamin Warthen
Mr. Tom Williamson
Ms. Isabella Witt
Mrs. Cathy Wright
Mr. John P. Wright
Mr. & Mrs. Wesley Wright, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Randy Wyckoff
Mr. & Mrs. John and Mary Zeugner
In Memory
It is with deepest regret that we mark the recent passing of two of the Poe Museum’s longest-serving and most devoted trustees and friends. Mrs. Georgina Rawles and Dr. Bruce English will both be greatly missed.
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