Connor Prairie rumor?

[Robert Braun]

There's a rumor going around that the President and board of directors of Connor Prairie have been summarily fired.

Any truth to this? And information to add/share?

Regards, Bob.

[Robert Braun]

Museum dispute debated in court
Dismissed members of Conner Prairie's board appeal to judge for their positions.

By Matthew Tully, William J. Booher and Jason Thomas
[e-mail]
June 12, 2003

The leadership shake-up that rocked Conner Prairie landed in court Thursday and touched off a debate about the stability of the living-history museum in Fishers.

"In the end you hurt the product," said Susan L. Cain, a former Conner Prairie employee who now is a consultant on the 19th century for other organizations.

"When there's enough going on, on the administrative end, it filters down to the front-line people," she said, "and then you are in trouble."

The public turmoil began Wednesday when museum owner Earlham College and its president, Douglas C. Bennett, dismissed 27 of the 30 museum board members and museum President John A. Herbst.

It spilled Thursday into a Hamilton Superior courtroom, where board members asked a judge to issue an order that would give them their positions back.

Without the full Conner Prairie board, there will be no checks and balances on how money earmarked for the museum is spent, Jeff McDermott, attorney for dismissed board members, argued before Judge J. Richard Campbell.

"The college had every power to do what it did under the bylaws," countered Lee McTurnan, an attorney for Earlham College, which owns the museum.

Campbell said he would rule at 1:30 p.m. today.

Cain, who worked at Conner Prairie from 1973 to 1988, said she wasn't surprised by the dismissals.

Now based in Vermont, she recalled a lunch she shared in March with a Conner Prairie board member whom she would not name.

"He was very reserved and professional, but allowed me to know there were some things afoot," she said.

Some express surprise

Others, however, were surprised.

"It was hard to hear, out of nowhere," said Kelly Lewis, the museum's training coordinator. "The best thing they can do is keep doing what they're doing and continue on the path of improving the visitors' experience."

Steve Miller, president of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums, said the dispute comes at a tough time for museums in general.

"So many museums are supported by the community, and they are suffering like so many other segments of the economy," he said.

But even with the economy and new concerns about the museum's finances, Bennett said Thursday the public will not see changes in Conner Prairie operation and offerings, nor will there be increases in admission fees.

Admission fees were last increased in early 2002.

Turmoil centers on deficit

A key focus of the dispute is the museum's deficit, and how it is calculated.

Earlham President Bennett says the museum has built a $4.5 million deficit over the past six years, including capital expenditures. Berkley W. Duck, the ousted museum board president, says he isn't sure how Bennett came up with that figure, noting that the shortfall totals less than $500,000 in the operating budget for those years.

Duck noted that the Earlham appointees to the museum board have veto power over budgets and vetoed only the 2001 budget, which was revised.

Harriet O'Connor, president of the Indiana Association of Non-profit Organizations, said donors should look at disputes between nonprofits like this carefully.

Contributors "should ask the same questions as if they're going to invest in a private organization," she said.

Restrictions can be placed on donations, she said, to ensure the funds are used for the purpose the donor intended.

Neither Earlham nor Conner Prairie is an association member, she said.

Despite the turmoil, observers say it's unlikely the shake-up will hurt the city's image.

Conner Prairie is one of many attractions that Development Counsellors International, a New York public relations firm, is looking at as it works under a contract to improve Indianapolis' image.

Firm President Andy Levine said the museum ranks right behind Colonial Williamsburg as one of the country's top living-history museums.

"Quite frankly, it will probably never reach the public that visits Conner Prairie if it doesn't change the product," he said of the dispute between Earlham and the Conner Prairie board.

"If the product changes because of the leadership issue, that would have a negative impact."