Contractor Rufus McDonald, 52, is upset. He found historic papers of Harvard’s first black graduate, Richard T. Greener, in the attic of an abandoned home. He immediately offered to sell the papers to Harvard but was disappointed by the offer made by the school. Faced with what he describes as an insulting offer for such invaluable papers, McDonald announced that he would burn them unless people gave him more money.
What is curious is the McDonald, an African American, has been heralding the find and praising this pioneer in African-American history while promising to burn the collection unless people offer him more cash.
The discovery was described by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., who leads Harvard’s W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African-American Research, as giving him “gooseflesh.” However, McDonald described the $7,500 offer from Harvard as “insulting” for documents that include Greener’s 1870 Harvard diploma, which he says should be worth $65,000 alone. After all, he sold two of the documents for $52,000 to the University of South Carolina, where Greener also studied and taught.
Now, McDonald is literally holding a match to the collection and promising “I’ll roast and burn them.” He added “It might sound crazy, but people who know me know I’d really do it — I’m sick and tired of Harvard’s BS.” Hmmm, yes it “might sound crazy” to threaten to burn priceless historic documents and it hardly improves things that people who know you would attest that you are capable of such an atrocity.
Greener is the former dean of Howard University School of Law. A brilliant lawyer and diplomat, Greener was a friend of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington and overcame tremendous obstacles in this life. He was the son of a slave, left school at 14 and worked as a porter in a Boston hotel. He would later be assisted by white businessmen in applying to Harvard and eventually become the friend of U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner and President Ulysses Grant. In 1898, Greener was appointed by President McKinley as U.S. commercial agent at Vladivostok in Siberia. Greener would later leave his family and assume a common law marriage with a Japanese wife with whom he had three children. In 1905, he retired from the Foreign Service lived with cousins in Chicago from 1909 until his death in 1922. Presumably, this trunk with his papers never left Chicago after his death and was not found until the house was being demolished in 2013.
Lawyer, scholar, diplomat. That was quite a legacy . . . until of course a critical record of that legacy fell into the hands of Rufus McDonald.
McDonald insisted that he wants his piece of the action and was willing to torch history rather than allow the documents to be preserved at less of a profit to him.
[Update: this morning, McDonald says that he is probably not going to burn the papers and explained that he was just upset. That is a curious defense since many of us get upset but there remains a bit of space between that mood and announcing an intention to burn historic documents].
Source: Sun Times
If burning the documents gives Professor Gates “gooseflesh” maybe he should consider spending a year’s worth of his tenured salary to buy the documents and then donate them to Harvard. He could probably get Medal of Freedom Award from Obama this time instead of just a “beer summit.”
I agree with Gary. But I would also think that Howard University would be a better site to own the papers. Howard University is a great school in a city where young and old folks can learn things both in class and in the seat of government. Howard University School of Law was the locus of the NAACP Defense Fund under Thurgood Marshal and others.
Sell it to the highest bitter, there’s nothing wrong w/ that. Then the highest bidder can donate it if they wish. There’s something very wrong w/ burning it, nothing @ all wrong w/ selling it.
And leej takes a hard left turn into the corner, hitting the wall and bursting into flames. That’s my NASCAR take.
Hope he learned the lesson the repubs did, you can huff and you can puff, and hurt the economy and many people but in the end blackmail doesn’t work. (At least in these 2 instances (since he know is backing away from the threat))
Rufus needs to find another way to make money. OS said it correctly that he could go to an auction house to sell the papers. Get a life Rufus.
Why do I need to point out that these are not ‘valuable historical documents’? This is a famous person who none of us had ever heard of before this article.
Being the first black person to graduate from Harvard is not that big of a deal is it? Being the first X to do Y is never that important except to journalists on a slow news day.
I think the $52,000 paid by USC is probably the main scandal.
From a raw libertarian POV, it is very simple.
If Rufus, the Dufus, legally owns the property, then he can do what he wants with it.
He can even threaten to do what he wants with it.
That includes burning or selling it.
“After all, he sold two of the documents for $52,000 to the University of South Carolina, where Greener also studied and taught.”
It’s easy to blame this guy, but perhaps some accrues to Harvard, one of the richest independent Universities in the country. Their $7,000 offer was a “low ball” coming from an institution with a sense of entitlement. They decided to play “hardball” with McDonald and he responded with his threat. What is going on is a negotiation and clearly Harvard had an edge. McDonald responded in a way to regain the edge. It is a crude but effective measure. When the wealthy make their “donations” one can be sure that they are getting full value, even if it is only a write-off as a tax donation. When the less than wealthy do it, they are charged with being selfish.
I’m wondering where the “libertarians” on this site stand, surely they can understand and appreciate Mr. McDonald’s position?
Send the Black Panthers to his house….
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
Sometimes “the wife” is the problem.
At some point the wife usually steps in and puts a stop to nonsense like this.
What a “moran.” If he wants their full market value, I am sure one of the major auction houses would assist him in getting as much as the market will bear.
Elite academics aren’t used to paying, they always have money, artifacts, etc. donated. There’s someone out there who is in the real world that will pay 5, maybe 6 figures.
Hasn’t he heard of eBay?
McDonald, an African American, has been heralding the find and praising this pioneer in African-American history while promising to burn the collection unless people offer him more cash.
And there you have it….
(Mark Collins you hit the nail on the head…greedy AND ignorant…LoL)
Sounds like the Chicago Taliban.
The Afghanistan chapter destroyed historic Buddhist artifacts.
Wow, what an outstanding, stand up type of guy (insert eye roll)! Greed is the flame on both ends of this story. Maybe he can locate this mans family and give it to them? Ebay? This man that achieved this diploma is probably rolling over in his grave.
Shame Rufus and boycott his business if he lights up. Burning the papers would be a tragedy. Pissed at Harvard? Then auction them off.