Bureaucratic Self-Perpetuation

[Séamas Cain]

-------------------------

Dear friend,

On Monday, January 12, 2004, Mr. Drew Digby resigned from the Board of 
Governors of the St. Louis County Historical Society.  He has asked the 
County Attorney and the Attorney-General of Minnesota to launch 
investigations of the management of the Historical Society.  Mr. Digby 
charges that that management has squandered $2.4 million in public monies 
during the last seven years.  Mari Trine has also resigned in protest from 
the Board.

There are a number of new pages on the web-site of the Members' Caucus to 
Reform the St. Louis County Historical Society, at 
<http://www.freewebs.com/historians>.

A STATEMENT BY ELIZABETH DAHL.
Click on the page titled "Human Remains."

A STATEMENT BY WILLIAM LATADY.
Click on the page titled "Theft of Indian Artifacts."

A STATEMENT BY GINA SACCHETTI.
Click on the page titled "Ming Vase."

A STATEMENT BY STERLING L. RATHSACK JR.
Click on the page titled "Rationale for Thefts."

A STATEMENT BY LAURA LANGLEY.
Click on the page titled "Buckskin Shirt."

THE SUPPRESSED REPORT BY LAURA LANGLEY.
Click on the page titled "1,641 Missing Artifacts."

A STATEMENT BY LYNN SANDNESS.
Click on the page titled "Disrespect."

Elizabeth Dahl describes how she was threatened and intimidated by Director 
JoAnne Coombe and Eric Neetenbeek to keep her from reporting the thefts to 
the police.

Sincerely,

THE MEMBERS' CAUCUS TO REFORM THE
ST. LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
<http://www.freewebs.com/historians>

-------------------------

Fax or phone your protests of the
behavior of the management of the
St. Louis County Historical Society to

FAX:  218.733.7585

PHONE:
218.733.7581
218.733.7582
218.733.7583
218.733.7586

-------------------------

FORMER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MEMBER SEEKS PROBE

[Published in the
DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE,
Tuesday, January 13, 2004,
Volume 133, Issue Number 255,
page 3C]

A former member of the St. Louis County Historical Society board of 
governors has asked the county attorney and Minnesota's attorney general to 
investigate alleged improprieties in the organization.

Drew Digby said he resigned from the 15-member board last week due to 
"continuing financial, ethical and legal improprieties."  He was a board 
member for nearly three years.

St. Louis County Attorney Alan Mitchell said Monday that he has not yet 
reviewed the request.  Historical society director Joanne Coombe also had 
not seen it.  Neither would comment on the charges.

The Minnesota Attorney General's office was unable to track down the request 
Monday, said spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg.

"I believe that the historical society is no longer doing history," Digby 
said in a news release.  "Instead, it has become a bureaucracy focused 
simply on perpetuating itself."

Digby, a journalism and history instructor at the University of Minnesota 
Duluth, said $2.4 million of public money has been invested in the 
historical society during the past few years.

"I want to find out what the money has been spent on," he said.

Digby prepared a document of more than 100 pages about the issues for county 
commissioners.

-------------------------

The Duluth NEWS-TRIBUNE is stonewalling.  They are not publishing 
letters-to-the-editor in protest of the behavior of the management of the 
St. Louis County Historical Society.  They are not reporting the facts, 
which they have known for a long time.  They are acting to protect the 
scoundrels.  Phone your protests to the Duluth NEWS-TRIBUNE at

218.720.4177
218.723.5301
218.723.5240

218.723.5300
218.723.5281

800.456.8282
800.456.7979

-------------------------

THE MEMBERS' CAUCUS TO REFORM THE
ST. LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
<http://www.freewebs.com/historians>

-------------------------

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