OT - Michigan Alumnus Items for Sale
In case any of you are interested, a fellow alumnus is selling personal effects in order to benefit the victims of his heinous crimes. The auction is being conducted through the General Services Administration deparment of the federal goverment. Maybe some of you would be interested in shelling out some money for some "historic" items to compensate some victims of the Unabomber?
According to CNN:
The online auction will run through June 2, the U.S. Marshals Service said last week. Among about 60 items up for sale are personal documents such as driver's licenses, birth certificates and checks; academic transcripts; typewriters; and "more than 20,000 pages of written documents, including the original handwritten and typewritten versions" of Kaczynski's manifesto, authorities said.
A catalog of the items will be available on the GSA's auction website when the sale begins.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/18/us.unabomber.auction/index.html?hpt=T2
he should sit his ass on Ol' Sparky and wave good-bye.
I know there is historical value in some of these artifacts, but does anyone else feel like it would be wrong to own them? Obviously, putting aside the benefit of helping others. Similarly, would someone feel comfortable purchasing a Nazi flag flown by Hitler? Maybe it's just me, but some things like that give me the creeps.
***This post not to be misconstrued as a reason to not donate to those families affected***
I agree completely. The only way I could reconcile the extreme sense of feeling dirty would be to hold some kind of public ceremony and burn the item. Especially the manifesto. In my opinion, the FBI should do some serious investigating of the people that win the auction and keep the item (unless is it a victim or family of a victim).
As a newly minted archivist/librarian (hire me!), I understand the anger, but there is arguably historical value in these kinds of materials, particularly the manifesto. Access to writings, however deranged and despicable, is crucial in order to understand why people do heinous things, and preservation of original materials can lead to unforeseen insights lost when things are re-typed and copied. I do agree with you, however, that I hope the items do not go into a private collection but are, rather, purchased by a kind of cultural repository that can preserve the materials and ensure future access.
A similar controversy occurred at Northern Michigan when they acquired a large KKK collection; they took a lot of heat for it but, ultimately, I think it's more important to preserve these things rather than ignoring them. At least if they're around we can learn from them.
Excellent summary regarding these artifacts' historical value.
Additionally, I'd like to point out that it isn't like the revenue from the sale of these items is going into the Unibomber's pockets.
"The government has been ordered to conduct a “well-publicized” internet sale of Kaczynski’s seized property to be sold to the general public in the effort to pay off a $15 million restitution order to the victims and their families. Unlike other sales, neither the U.S. Marshals Service nor GSA will receive any revenue from this sale."
Seeing that it goes to the victims' families also adds to the constructive nature of the auction, in my opinion. Sure there are some weirdos out there that might buy some of this Unibomber (or Nazi, etc.) stuff, but oftentimes it's used for positive or constructive means by historians, archives, and museums. I'm with French Toast - Ignoring history doesn't mean it didn't happen and doesn't prevent it from happening again.
They are not horcruxes.
private ownership does seem creepy but it would be kind of cool if the manifesto originals ended up in the labadie collection.
... but I only purchase active players' stuff.
Happy Easter !!
that I got scared just looking at that stuff.
I did it on purpose. Get over it.
His UofM diploma is one of the items up for auction if you are interested only in Michigan stuff.
If I had money to kill and was interested in serial killers, I'd take a look at this stuff. As macabre as it may be, there's a definite niche market for stuff like this. It's why you see books about these topics all the time and why Nancy Grace has a job. And history is history, no matter what it represents.
It reminds me of the first scene in Hannibal, when Mason Verger pays $250k for Hannibal's mask from his time in the asylum.
Also, meant to say this in earlier post: Is there a unibomber fanatic in Georgia?
Every. Single. Item. currently has a highest bid from a buyer in Joja. Interesting and creeeEEEeeepy....
Where did you see the link to the auction? I couldn't find it.
I was expecting some kitschy stuff like a "Go Blue" t-shirt he had owned or something like that