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320 Tappan Street Brookline, Mass. June 18, 1054

Mrs. F. W. Jacobs Maine State Library Augusta, Maine,

Dear Mrs. Jacobs:

I must apologize for not replying to yoir inquiry about the disposition of the Hartley paintings sooner but I have been so busy that I have not had time to sit down to write letters.

It was my sincere desire to have my uncle's wishes carried out in regard to the gifts of paintings he had planned for some of the institutions in Maine and it has been heart-breaking to me to have been frustrated in this matter. My sisters, Mrs. Gloria Carrier, and Mrs. Emilie Perry, joined me in the attempt to obtain the consent of the other heirs and at first, the Maine heirs agreed to stand with us. Later on however, at the suggestion and insistence of their legal counselor, Harry Manser, (Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Maine) who is a relative of theirs by marriage, they withdrew their consent to having paintings given to the Maine institutions. Not only that but they refused to allow my sisters and me to take some of the paintings as part of our distributive share of the estate. And so the paintings have been literally tossed into the laps of the New York "sharks" and we all lose out.

If there were anything I could do about it I would be glad to but so far as I know the matter is settled. It is rather ironical that the Maine relatives should be the ones to rob the state of Maine of the gifts which should rightfully have been placed as a memorial to Marsden Hartley and for the benefit of future generations.

Thank you very much for your cooperation in the past in proving my claims that Marsden Hartley had planned to give these paintings to his native state.

Sincerely yours, Norma Berger