Posted by new member KNCRSR5R today:

Hello -

I have an extensive collection of William Waldo Dodge's (Architect and Silversmith) Patents, Poems, Writings, Correspondence with the War Department, etc. etc. The collection was my fathers and became mine when he passed away. I simply and looking for direction on what I could do with it, what is it worth, etc.

This may not be the right place to be asking such questions, so please disregaurd this if so and accept my appologies.

Any help getting me pointed in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Hi. Welcome to the A&C forum.

We would love to help you with your bequest. I have no idea how valuable (to a collector) your papers and records might be. I believe they should go to a library where they can be cataloged and made available to researchers.

If you'd like, we would be happy to help you locate a few institutions that might be interested in the collection. For starters, you might contact the Asheville Art Museum, in Asheville, North Carolina or the Smithsonian.

That said, we would also like to publish an article on William Waldo Dodge and access to original, primary sources would be incredibly valuable to us.

Let me know if we can assist you in any way!

Best regards,
Rikki

After doing a bit more research, we think Hunter Library at Western Carolina University or Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Dodge got his architecture degree, might have an interest in the papers. It's critically important that old papers be stored properly in a climate controlled facility. There might also be staff available to convert them to a digital format so their content won't be lost.

R.

Information on Dodge is pretty well documented and it would be wonderful to add to the pool of knowledge. A library or museum is the best place for the papers you own.

Bruce Johnson wrote and published a wonderful book on Dodge. Dodge was an inovative silversmith who managed to produce a large volume of work with help of his apprentices.

Hello Friend,
I too welcome you to the forums and apologies for closing your post on another forum as all you had was a ? mark and I was not sure if it was Spam or not.

I wish you all the luck in finding out about the items you have. Fred should be able to help you as well as the owners of this forum.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones