.ODg.MTg4Ng

October 26, 1954

Miss Norma Berger 320 Tappan Street Brookline, Massachusetts

Dear Miss Berger:

You are very kind to write in detail about the collection which should certainly be a unit, and should certainly be displayed, not stored. Fairness obliges us to admit that at present these items of Mr. Hartley's would have to be stored.

A new State House office building is under way, and a number of changes in location of offices and departments will take place when the building is completed; but right now only an excavation exists. It is, of course, our hope that when the moves are made, the library will have at least a modest-sized room in which to display prized possessions -- books, pictures, maps, and several previous gifts to us. But -- we dare not promise yet, and we can not yet tell when the building will be ready for occupancy.

Considering this difficulty, and the desirability of having the most interesting collection on display without a period of tiresome and discouraging storage, we believe that our regretful but honorable course must be to decline to accept them. We earnestly hope that an appreciative and welcoming museum can be found, and we express again to you our gratitude that you thought first of us.

Sincerely yours

In Charge of Maine Author Collection

hmj