[VAcourier] Rebel museum has profit

[Virginia Division SCV Communication List]

(Despite dramatic increases in finances and membership the MOC still 
plans to relocate - what will be the fate of the White House of the 
Confederacy)

Rebel museum has profit
But the Museum of the Confederacy still plans to relocate its collection
Tuesday, Jun 19, 2007 - 12:08 AM 
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-06-19-0071.html
By JANET CAGGIANO
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Things are looking brighter for the Museum of the Confederacy.

For the first time since the early 1990s, the nonprofit will finish this 
fiscal year, ending June 30, with an operating profit. But the 
struggling downtown institution still plans on relocating its Civil War 
collection.

"We've been saying, 'Oh God, oh God, we are going to have to close,'" 
said Waite Rawls, the museum's president and CEO. "Now we can say we've 
won an important battle. But the idea is to excel, not just survive."

Rawls won't know the final profit figures for a few months, he said, but 
even a small amount would be a huge improve- ment. The museum finished 
last fiscal year with an operating loss of $389,000, forcing cutbacks. 
Doors were closed on Wednesdays, the magazine was cut from four issues 
to three, and the annual journal was axed.

But thanks to an emergency fund drive that raised about $1 million, the 
museum has reopened on Wednesdays, brought back the journal and 
increased publication of its magazine to four times a year.

"Our members heard the cry and stepped up," Rawls said.

More good news can be found in membership numbers, which jumped by 1,100 
since last year to an all-time high of about 4,000.

But annual visitation is still down, Rawls said, dropping from 48,000 
last fiscal year to about 46,000.

"Our mission is not to be a financial success," he said. "It's to 
educate people about the Civil War."

To gain visitors, the museum is continuing its search for a new home for 
its collection, the world's largest. Rawls said the board has a list of 
about 10 possible sites, including Lexington. The goal, he said, is to 
keep the museum in Richmond, something local history buffs favor.

"Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy," said Brag Bowling, 
national board member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "The museum 
should stay here."

Rawls said he hopes a final decision will be made by fall.
Contact Janet Caggiano at (804) 649-6157 or jcaggiano at timesdispatch.com 
<mailto:jcaggiano at timesdispatch.com>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://scvva.org/pipermail/vacourier_scvva.org/attachments/20070619/649f22a0/attachment.html