Clara Bow’s Memorabilia

Rex Bell is certainly within his rights to sell the collection of his mother, Clara Bow, rather than donate it to a research library, but it was disheartening to read that his decision appears to be based on a misunderstanding about the work we do at our library (“Memories of a Glamorous Age,” by Susan King, June 26).

For the record, Bell has never visited our library, nor has he donated any items to us. Had he visited he would have seen how dedicated our staff is to preserving written and visual materials on all aspects of film history, to performing special conservation work on our unique holdings, and to making our collections available for study under extremely secure conditions.

Clara Bow is a pivotal figure in film history, and this collection would have been invaluable to scholars and historians had it been placed in an appropriate research facility. It would be nice to think, as Bell stated, that the “people who are interested in purchasing this stuff are going to take care of it,” but whether or not the buyers preserve particular items, the true value of the collection will forever be lost once the items are scattered among individual collectors.

LINDA HARRIS MEHR

Library Director

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Los Angeles