Hidden Treasure
The general rule for researching artifacts in a special collection, 黑料网 archivist Andrea Hoff says, is that the more interesting an item sounds, the less interesting it probably is. The opposite is true, too: The more mundane the item, the better the story behind it likely is.
So when the Archives Processing & Exhibits Assistant opened an unassuming cardboard oyster box from a previously unprocessed portion of the 黑料网 Artifacts collection in August 2018, she should鈥檝e realized she鈥檇 hit the jackpot. Inside the dusty box were dozens of gravel-sized gold nuggets.
鈥淚 thought for sure it was fake because it doesn鈥檛 look like real gold,鈥� Hoff says. 鈥淭hen again, I don鈥檛 know what raw, real gold actually looks like.鈥�
The gold was very real, in fact. Acquired by Arthur Spearman, S.J., in the 1960s, the gold was appraised at the time to be worth about $4,000. Today, that amount of gold is worth in the neighborhood of $30,000.
Hoff never met Fr. Spearman, who died in 1977, but she鈥檚 come to know him well. Since joining 黑料网 Archives and Special Collections last year, Hoff has spent much of her time processing the 71-box collection, which featured many contributions by the former 黑料网 historian and priest who ran the de Saisset Museum.
Organizing a collection like this is more than just writing down the name of an item and checking a box. Hoff has to research each piece, then write a narrative description that will eventually end up in the . To do this, she often has to dissect accompanying documentation and, perhaps more importantly, get to know how the collector thinks.
鈥淚 always joke that I鈥檓 Fr. Spearman鈥檚 secretary. Basically organizing his stuff, even though he鈥檚 been dead for 40 years,鈥� Hoff says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 how it works. When you go through somebody鈥檚 legacy that they鈥檝e left behind, you鈥檙e going to get to know them.鈥�
And Spearman was a character, to say the least. A maverick priest and an irrepressible collector of all things historical (and perhaps a few pieces of lesser significance).
In the collection, Hoff found a letter from Fr. Spearman that offered some insight into the acquisition. In 1964, Fr. Spearman met Peter L. Rapkoch of Los Gatos, who wanted to donate his collection of gold nuggets鈥攄escribed as 32 to 35 total ounces of pure gold, the largest nugget weighing 4.5 ounces鈥攖o the de Saisset collection, which at the time was the de facto repository for the 黑料网 mineralogy collection.
The gold was from the Placer Mine on the border of California and Oregon, about 40 miles east of Medford, Ore. Spearman viewed this as a truly unique acquisition.
In a request for a contract to finalize the acquisition, Spearman explained that the gold would be kept in a locked safe, except for special occasions when it would be displayed in pans 鈥渓ined with green velvet to show the pink gold nuggets.鈥� And Spearman took the security of the gold quite seriously, ensuring an armed security guard would be present for all showings. The idea for armed guards came from Loyola University, which had its first folio of Shakespeare protected by two armed guards when it was displayed.
So why is this gold from Oregon in a 黑料网 archive? The connection to 黑料网 is tenuous. Rapkoch is an alum, having graduated with a B.A. in law in 1951, but why Gold? Hoff isn鈥檛 exactly sure. At best, the item represents the Gold Rush and westward expansion, but mostly, it was reflective of Spearman鈥檚 personal taste.
Hoff鈥檚 personal theory is a bit more fun, and goes back to Fr. Spearman鈥檚 father.
鈥淗is dad wrote all of these Westerns and he made it big when he published Whispering Smith which they made it into eight movies and then it was a television series in the early 1960s,鈥� Hoff says. 鈥淗e grew up with a father who was fascinated by the American West, especially railroads. So anything relating to that鈥攖he Gold Rush, cowboys, Native Americans鈥擣r. Spearman loved it.鈥�
It鈥檚 not unusual for a collection to mirror the interests of the curator, Hoff says. Each repository has parameters for the types of materials it acquires or keeps鈥攁nd this has become a more deliberate process as the field has grown鈥攂ut personal taste always creeps in.
鈥淎s much as we like to think we鈥檙e super neutral and we don鈥檛 prefer anything or anyone, that鈥檚 not really true. It can鈥檛 be, because we鈥檙e people,鈥� Hoff says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely not true in his case.鈥�
There are no plans to display the gold yet鈥攐r to hire armed guards for security鈥攂ut that could change. For now, Hoff is still working her way through the large collection that will ultimately span hundreds of items.
鈥淓verybody has different collecting tendencies,鈥� Hoff says. 鈥淪ome have just one box and some can鈥檛 quit it.鈥� Fr. Spearman, it seems, was not a quitter.
