" . . . before I wake . . ."
When I went into surgery, December 2008 as I was about to turn 64, to have half a kidney removed for cancer, I did not know if I would wake up after the event.
So I quickly gave away items I felt had historical value and needed to fall into the correct hands: Thornton Wilder's desk went to the MacDowell Colony; Douglas Clyde Macintosh's chaplain's chalice went to Yale Law School.
I had derived so much pleasure from giving away these first two items before I thought I might die, that when I found I had survived, I decided to give a third item away in 2011 which had personal not historical significance: Dorothy Dillingham's painting, Bird with a Broken Wing, went to Ithaca College's president for display in its original home, Fountain Place, the president's house, a Richardson mansion in Ithaca where I had the privilege of living in 1968. (see links, below)
I had derived so much pleasure from giving away these first two items before I thought I might die, that when I found I had survived, I decided to give a third item away in 2011 which had personal not historical significance: Dorothy Dillingham's painting, Bird with a Broken Wing, went to Ithaca College's president for display in its original home, Fountain Place, the president's house, a Richardson mansion in Ithaca where I had the privilege of living in 1968. (see links, below)
Earlier, 1973 I had given my professional papers regarding my work on the May 4, 1970 slaughter of four students at Kent State University by Ohio National Guardsmen, to the Kent State University Library Archives.
In 1978, I gave my personal Kent State papers to Yale University and, along with author Peter Davies, created their "Kent State Collection" in their Manuscripts and Archives Division of Sterling Memorial Library.
In a few days I will turn 68, and I have outlived the odds in good health, having just retired after 25 years of teaching.
Although I have no money to leave as a bequest, I am satisfied and pleased that I have put items with historical significance, as opposed to financial value, into responsible hands.
Paul D. Keane
Teacher (retired)
Teacher (retired)
M.A., M.Div., M.Ed
2008, Thornton Wilder Desk and Furniture
2011, Bird with a Broken Wing to Ithaca College's President
Kent State professional papers to Kent State University Library, 1969 -1973
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