PCN story lacks some facts

Dear Editor,

In the April 9, 2014, PCN an article appeared on the front page about a popular website entitled Phillips County Montana – Memories. A few of the comments in the article have raised some questions and I would like to offer a few points of clarification.

In the summer of 1992, Jeneanne Smith, Elmer Feigel’s daughter, was searching for someone to take ownership of his collection of negatives and prints, dating from 1964-1984, or it was going to be taken to the dump. Colleen Barnard contacted me on behalf of Jeneanne Smith as I was the adviser for the high school annual. I met with Jeneanne at her home and it was decided that the collection would be donated to the Malta High School annual with me as the custodian. It was her wish to get as many of the negatives and photos back to the public as possible and the proceeds of the sale of the prints/negatives would fund a memorial scholarship in Elmer Feigel’s name for the editor(s) of the annual. If you would like to see a detailed account, check the front page of the August 26, 1992, PCN.

On September 7, 1992, we held a sale at the City Hall. A few years later, another sale was held. All through these years, the remaining negatives were never lost or in danger of being destroyed as First State Bank had allowed me to store them in the basement of the bank. Had they been in the high school, yes, they would have all been lost in the 1995 school fire.

In approximately 2008 or 09, Tom Pinnock, owner of DPG, a photo restoration business, inquired about buying what was left of the collection. After making a very generous donation to the high school annual fund, Tom began sorting and digitizing any negatives that depicted the growth and progress of Malta. He spent hundreds of hours, at his own expense, making the collection accessible through CDs; I mean “hundreds of hours.” He then donated it all to the Phillips County Museum. His goal was to make the collection of CDs, plus the remaining negatives, accessible to the public now and for future generations. That seemed to be a very fitting end to the legacy of Elmer Feigel, the photographer.

In conclusion, if you purchased negatives of weddings, anniversaries, senior pictures, or any negative or print at one of the sales or through contact with me, it is yours. You have not violated any copyright laws if you made copies. And if you would like to see the collection that Mr. Pinnock put on CDs, go to the Phillips County Museum and enjoy the hard work and pure generosity of someone who had a real passion for preserving history through film.

Sincerely,

Evie Perry

MHS Teacher 1979-2013

Malta