Charles Drago Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Once again I ask you to join me in calling upon Rex Bradford -- a good man and world-class researcher/historian -- to disclose fully the origins and funding of the Mary Ferrell Foundation and to provide a detailed report on the whereabouts and condition of Mary's archives. Toward these ends, I ask Mr. Bradford to consider taking part in a panel discussion -- if possible, at the next JFK/Lancer conference in Dallas -- at which he, Oliver Curme, and other principals of the MFF would answer questions relative to the issues raised in the preceding paragraph. As I previously have written, Mary's holdings amount to a counter-National Archives (as do those of Harold Weisberg, I might add), and include unique, immensely important documents. The importance of their preservation -- to our work, to history, to the truth -- cannot be overstated. One good electromagnetic pulse will do to cyberspace what the flames did to the great library at Alexandria. That which we can hold in our hands can be preserved. Who will join me in this call? Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Healy Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 'Charles Drago' wrote: Once again I ask you to join me in calling upon Rex Bradford -- a good man and world-class researcher/historian -- to disclose fully the origins and funding of the Mary Ferrell Foundation and to provide a detailed report on the whereabouts and condition of Mary's archives. Toward these ends, I ask Mr. Bradford to consider taking part in a panel discussion -- if possible, at the next JFK/Lancer conference in Dallas -- at which he, Oliver Curme, and other principals of the MFF would answer questions relative to the issues raised in the preceding paragraph. dgh: Why wait, and why the yearly Lancer conference? Put together a simple ad hoc press conference and stream the it 'LIVE'? This isn't rocket science... Record AND post same to YouTube? As I previously have written, Mary's holdings amount to a counter-National Archives (as do those of Harold Weisberg, I might add), and include unique, immensely important documents. The importance of their preservation -- to our work, to history, to the truth -- cannot be overstated. One good electromagnetic pulse will do to cyberspace what the flames did to the great library at Alexandria. That which we can hold in our hands can be preserved. Who will join me in this call? Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Drago Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 'Charles Drago' wrote:Once again I ask you to join me in calling upon Rex Bradford -- a good man and world-class researcher/historian -- to disclose fully the origins and funding of the Mary Ferrell Foundation and to provide a detailed report on the whereabouts and condition of Mary's archives. Toward these ends, I ask Mr. Bradford to consider taking part in a panel discussion -- if possible, at the next JFK/Lancer conference in Dallas -- at which he, Oliver Curme, and other principals of the MFF would answer questions relative to the issues raised in the preceding paragraph. dgh: Why wait, and why the yearly Lancer conference? Put together a simple ad hoc press conference and stream the it 'LIVE'? This isn't rocket science... Record AND post same to YouTube? As I previously have written, Mary's holdings amount to a counter-National Archives (as do those of Harold Weisberg, I might add), and include unique, immensely important documents. The importance of their preservation -- to our work, to history, to the truth -- cannot be overstated. One good electromagnetic pulse will do to cyberspace what the flames did to the great library at Alexandria. That which we can hold in our hands can be preserved. Who will join me in this call? Charles Why wait, indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Bradford Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Once again I ask you to join me in calling upon Rex Bradford -- a good man and world-class researcher/historian -- to disclose fully the origins and funding of the Mary Ferrell Foundation and to provide a detailed report on the whereabouts and condition of Mary's archives.Charles Charles and anyone else who's interested: Sorry, I haven't been on the forum much in the last couple of weeks, and so didn't notice that the Mary Ferrell Foundation has been discussed. Hopefully the following information will be of use here: * The Mary Ferrell Foundation is a 501©3 non-profit foundation. As has been alluded to, Oliver Curme is President of the Foundation and has been a principal financial sponsor. The Foundation is also funded by private donations (you can donate over the website yourself, and I encourage it), individual memberships at $39.95 per year (affords the ability to conduct searches - NO documents are withheld from free browsing), campus-wide institutional memberships, and sales of republished books. Lona Therrien is the Executive Director, and I am responsible for the document and multimedia collections and the writing which appears in "starting points" and other areas of the site. * Mary Ferrell's archives are in possession of the foundation. Some of her voluminous holdings, including her well-known "name database" and her chronologies, are online on the website. We have also scanned hundreds of her books and made them available for limited fair-use searching. The vast bulk of what she had was newspaper clippings and magazine issues - these are problematic for us to put online due to copyright issues. I am still going through some of the other materials for inclusion on the website, and expect to put up more from time to time. * The Mary Ferrell Foundation is not meant to be Mary-centric to the exclusion of other resources. I am also Vice-President of the Assassination Archives and Research Center (AARC) - Jim Lesar is the President - and have over the past several months been giving priority to putting up collections of CIA records from the AARC. These are much more "current" (less redacted) than the much smaller set of such records in Mary's collection. Shortly we will begin processing and putting online the AARC's FBI collection, which I also view as a high-priority project. Thus given limited resources we have put the most important of Mary's materials online so far. Some of what remains will be put online over time. Some of it may never be, given copyright issues or simply not having enough value (she had literally thousands of books on peripheral topics such as Chinese Communism, Soviet history, and more). * I met Mary on two or three occasions in Dallas, and do not care to weigh in on the "Mary as govt agent" theory, other than to note that the famous list which appeared in Regicide and other places is in fact the list of subscribers to the organization of retired intelligence officers, created by David Phillips. If I had been involved in the case back then, I might have subscribed as well, to see what Phillips et al were up to. * I am happy to take suggestions as to what materials people find of interest and would like to see on the MFF website. Unfortunately many of the records remain "trapped in public" at the National Archives - it is expensive, time-consuming, and backbreaking to scan or photocopy records there. I know from having personally liberated about 15,000 pages from NARA. The HSCA Numbered Files, for instance, is an important 300,000 page collection which exists nowhere else. I'm happy to discuss the Mary Ferrell Foundation further though I may decline to answer questions about individuals associated with the Foundation our of respect for their privacy, and knowing that such discussions will not in the end be useful to anyone. I personally think the MFF website speaks for itself, and again I'm happy to work to make it more useful still to the members of this forum. For people who don't know me, I am also the creator of the History Matters website (www.history-matters.com), and operate the AARC's website as well (www.aarclibrary.org). Thanks for your time. Rex Bradford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Speer Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex, a well thought out and articulate response as usual. Your work has been a major inspiration on my own. Following your lead, I have made my research available for all to see at patspeer.com. A few suggestions on documents... A few years back I sent 28 bucks to the Archives in exchange for a horrible copy of the Olivier wound ballistics report. Perhaps someone has a good copy you can scan and put online. There are a also a number of HSCA interviews, that, upon last check, have never found their way online, including interviews with the SS agents in the back-up car. I looked all over for them and finally found summaries in an ARRB article by Joe Backes. I suspect there would be a lot of interest in those as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Drago Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 Dear Rex, Thanks so much for your response. It is most welcome indeed. The MFF has established itself as an invalulable and unique resource; in its efforts to maximize public access to the historical record, the organization routinely demonstrates the courage to speak truth to power -- and in the most eloquent and influential of manners. If I have been less than artful in the presentation of my concerns regarding the MFF's origins and the disposition of Mary's holdings, I apologize. Please allow me to try again. As seasoned students of intelligence operations and of those who conceive and execute them, we have accepted the charge to look deep beneath surfaces in our searches for truth. Sometimes we conclude that a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes, where there's smoke, there's fire. Given the breadth, depth and, in some instances, uniqueness of Mary's collections and their overarching significance as -- again I'll use the term -- a counter-National Archives, we would be remiss if we did not also acknowledge their value as targets of opportunity for those who would seek to control the future by controlling the past. So when Mr. Curme appeared in Dallas to make his extraordinary offer to Mary, alarm bells went off. And I was not alone in hearing them. I found Ollie to be a charming, seemingly ingenuous dinner companion with virtually no specialized knowledge of the president's assassination and related issues -- all the more reasons to delve deeply into the motives for his largess. To state it all generically, if you will: Had you been informed at the time that a fabulously wealthy venture capitalist with no previously demonstrated public interest in the JFK murder was looking to buy up one of the most important privately held collections of documents and publications related to the assassination, my guess is that your instincts and experience would have prompted you to raise the same questions that Evica and I continue to ask. I would be enormously pleased -- not to mention relieved -- to learn that Oliver Curme's purchase of the Ferrell archives is nothing other than a most felicitous instance of private and public interests coinciding. So too would I welcome proof that Mary's materials are intact and well guarded. Further, I submit that those of us who cherish Mary's memory are obliged to raise these questions and press for meaningful answers. As the custodian of her holdings, Rex, we turn to you for reassurance on these matters. Sincerely, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Bradford Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 A few suggestions on documents... A few years back I sent 28 bucks to the Archives in exchange for a horrible copy of the Olivier wound ballistics report. Perhaps someone has a good copy you can scan and put online. There are a also a number of HSCA interviews, that, upon last check, have never found their way online, including interviews with the SS agents in the back-up car. I looked all over for them and finally found summaries in an ARRB article by Joe Backes. I suspect there would be a lot of interest in those as well. Pat, Is this the Olivier report you're looking for?: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/....do?docId=31996 If not, check the other Rockefeller Commission files I copied while at NARA some months back: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...o?docSetId=1105 As for HSCA transcripts, there are indeed a great many which are not available anywhere online. Most of them are in the HSCA Numbered Files collection I alluded to in my post. Rex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Raymond Carroll Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Dear Rex,I would be enormously pleased -- not to mention relieved -- to learn that Oliver Curme's purchase of the Ferrell archives is nothing other than a most felicitous instance of private and public interests coinciding. Look not upon my outward appearance But take what is in my hand --Rumi So too would I welcome proof that Mary's materials are intact and well guarded....Further, I submit that those of us who cherish Mary's memory are obliged to raise these questions and press for meaningful answers. As the custodian of her holdings, Rex, we turn to you for reassurance on these matters. Sincerely, Charles Rex has just given us this assurance. Do you still want more proof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Drago Posted April 26, 2007 Author Share Posted April 26, 2007 Dear Rex,I would be enormously pleased -- not to mention relieved -- to learn that Oliver Curme's purchase of the Ferrell archives is nothing other than a most felicitous instance of private and public interests coinciding. Look not upon my outward appearance But take what is in my hand --Rumi So too would I welcome proof that Mary's materials are intact and well guarded....Further, I submit that those of us who cherish Mary's memory are obliged to raise these questions and press for meaningful answers. As the custodian of her holdings, Rex, we turn to you for reassurance on these matters. Sincerely, Charles Rex has just given us this assurance. Do you still want more proof? Yawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ecker Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex, Any chance of getting all the issues of the legendary "Continuing Inquiry" online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Bradford Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex,Any chance of getting all the issues of the legendary "Continuing Inquiry" online? Ron, An excellent project, and there is a set of issues (complete?) in Mary's collection. Does anyone know if there is a copyright holder who would object? I know that Baylor University has its Penn Jones collection, which includes the journal, but not available online. http://www3.baylor.edu/Library/BCPM/JFK/Jones/PennJones.html Is there anyone who knows definitively how many volumes of the journal there were, to determine whether what I have access to is complete? Rex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ecker Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex, I'm sure Gary Mack could answer your questions on the Continuing Inquiry. I believe he worked on it with Penn Jones and/or was a regular contributor. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Speer Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 A few suggestions on documents... A few years back I sent 28 bucks to the Archives in exchange for a horrible copy of the Olivier wound ballistics report. Perhaps someone has a good copy you can scan and put online. There are a also a number of HSCA interviews, that, upon last check, have never found their way online, including interviews with the SS agents in the back-up car. I looked all over for them and finally found summaries in an ARRB article by Joe Backes. I suspect there would be a lot of interest in those as well. Pat, Is this the Olivier report you're looking for?: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/....do?docId=31996 If not, check the other Rockefeller Commission files I copied while at NARA some months back: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...o?docSetId=1105 As for HSCA transcripts, there are indeed a great many which are not available anywhere online. Most of them are in the HSCA Numbered Files collection I alluded to in my post. Rex What I called the Olivier report is actually entitled "Wound Ballistics of 6.5 mm Mannlicher Carcano Ammunition" or some such thing. It's a report created by Alfred Olivier for Edgewood Arsenal, detailing the experiments he conducted on behalf of the Warren Commission. Even though Warren supposedly wanted everything mentioned in testimony released to the public, Olivier's study was supposedly not completed until 1965. It was then held as secret until Weisberg forced its release in 73. Amazingly, in looking through it, I discovered there was not ONE experiment or result in the report not mentioned in Olivier's spring 64 testimony before the WC. In other words, it's obvious the report was withheld for political purposes. At the back of the report it has a syndication list of all the military personnel to whom it was provided. It's over a hundred, if I recall. As M/C ammunition was seriously outdated by 65 and would almost certainly never have been encountered in a combat situation, the providing of this information to disinterested military men while denying it to the public is positively mind-boggling. That link to Olivier's Rockefeller report serves as a reminder. Once again, thank you for putting all the Rockefeller medical panel stuff up online. It led me to a still unappreciated discovery. It's absolutely stunning that radiologist Fred Hodges told the Rockefeller Commission the skull entrance was in the occipital bone as determined at autopsy. Apparently, no one noticed that he was contradicting the Clark Panel's assessment of an entrance 4 inches higher on the skull, and thought it worthwhile to clear this up. Instead, the Belin-led PR machine pumped out that the doctors confirmed two shots from behind and locked away the details so no one could see the extent of the mess he'd uncovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack White Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex,I'm sure Gary Mack could answer your questions on the Continuing Inquiry. I believe he worked on it with Penn Jones and/or was a regular contributor. Ron Ron, this is not exactly correct. It was I who worked with Penn on The Continuing Inquiry. At my request, Gary often submitted articles which I used and Penn published. Most of the material came from Penn. Gary did not work directly with Penn. For three years I put the newsletter together from material gathered by Penn plus articles by me and Gary. After Penn started becoming ill, he took the production back. At that point Gary started producing HIS OWN excellent newsletter, COVERUPS, and I assisted him, by help with typesetting, halftones graphics, and writing. For instance, our work on Badgeman was first printed in GARY'S newsletter, not Penn's. Evidently you have confused Penn's newsletter with Gary's. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack White Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rex,Any chance of getting all the issues of the legendary "Continuing Inquiry" online? Ron, An excellent project, and there is a set of issues (complete?) in Mary's collection. Does anyone know if there is a copyright holder who would object? I know that Baylor University has its Penn Jones collection, which includes the journal, but not available online. http://www3.baylor.edu/Library/BCPM/JFK/Jones/PennJones.html Is there anyone who knows definitively how many volumes of the journal there were, to determine whether what I have access to is complete? Rex Rex...Ben Rogers at Baylor can answer all your questions. You may contact him at... Ben_Rogers@baylor.edu He has a complete set of TCIs...plus information about them. He also has a complete set of Gary Mack's COVERUPS and lots more. Baylor is a very valuable resource. I am letting them copy many of my JFK materials, including more than a hundred videotapes and all of my magazines and newspapers. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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