Peabody Asks Texan To Rent its Artifacts

University officials are hoping to strike a deal with Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot that would allow him to rent tens of thousands of artifacts from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology's enormous and underexposed collection.

University officials said that such an arrangement, although still far from completion, would allow the museum to both broaden the exposure of its public collection and raise needed funds.

Peabody officials said this week that they have informally begun talks with Perot's associates about constructing a Texas extension to the Peabody and renting it some artifacts on a rotating basis. The extension would be built by, and would bear the name of the Dallas computer magnate.

Although the plan would call for renting anywhere between 30-50,000 artifacts at a time to Perot, this would at most represent about 3 percent of the museum's 3,000,000 African, South American, Asian and native American pieces.

Perot, who became a multibillionaire when General Motors purchased his computer company for $2.5 billion one year ago, is currently engaged in a controversial attempt to buy the Museum of the American Indian in New York for $72 million in pocket money. If the deal is completed, he is expected to build a 10-acre home for the collection in Dallas.

One Peabody official, who asked not to be named, said that after learning that New York government officials were using their resources to squeich the Perot-Indian Museum deal, the Peabody decided to approach Perot with its own loan program "lest that 70 million go to waste."

"Perot has indicated a willingness to come up with absolutely incredible sums of money to establish a museum in Dallas. We [at the Peabody] thought we might be able to work with him to set up some adjunct facility and bring our collection into the public eye," said Bruce Heafitz'62, a member of the Peabody's visiting committee, an advisory body to the museum.

More Exposure

The Peabody, considered one of the three top archeological museums in the world, has three million internationally gathered artifacts--only 10 percent of which ever are viewed by the public--said museum Director C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky.

The Peabody's relatively small $5-6 million endowment is devoted primarily to teaching and research,

and the museum is heavily dependent on federally funded, nationwide loan programs to increase the collection's exposure, said Karlovsky.

He said the museum has been unable to exhibit most of its collection because of financial and space restrictions incurred through its "obvious devotion to teaching and research" at Harvard.

He added that a deal with Perot would:

*provide visible accessibility to the Peabody collections through a multi-year, rotating loan program:

*force, the museum to cycle through, cleans and organizes its own exhibits:

*raise money for the Peabody's budget by charging Perot a yet unspecified sum for use of the artifacts in the same way that art museums paid to exhibit the "King Tut" collection five years ago.

Heafitz said that he, Karlovsky and one other official had been delegated to negotiate with Perot after discussions among Peabody Museum affiliates. He said he has spoken with some of Perot's associates to field interest and will set up a formal meeting when possible.

Positive Response

In a recent telephone interview, Perot, who was travelling on his yacht in the Mediterranean, told The Crimson that it would be "wonderful" to work out some deal with the Peabody.

He said that although he has not personally been contacted by University officials, he had heard of the offer through his associates and was "very interested."

And although Karlovsky and Heafitz expressed doubt that Perot would want access to both the Indian Museum and Peabody collections if he succeeded in winning the New York battle, Perot disagreed.

"A combination would really be a show-stopper. We could have the finest collection ever assembled to show man's development in this hemisphere," Perot said.

"We could show how over the years man has demonstrated a tremendous capability to adapt to changes in geology and climate," he added.

Asked if he would be willing to pay for the right to display artifacts from the Peabody, Perot said, "We'll just have to sit down and work something out."

Bok Cites Benefits

In an interview yesterday, President Bok said he had not been formally notified of the intentions of the Peabody staff, but based on the limited information he had, he thought such a deal could be beneficial.

"The Perot deal represents a trend I think you see throughout the museum world, particularly among institutions that can't show substantial proportions of their material," he said.

"It brings in some money, not a lot but a helpful amount, and the objects circulate," Bok added, "Everyone wins."

New York Controversy

While one Peabody official described Perot as "the best thing to happen to anthropology since the discovery of King Tut's tomb," some New York residents now seem to regard him as a corporate raider.

When the American Indian Museum began negotiating earlier this year with Perot about possible relocation, both Governor Mario M. Cuomo and Mayor Edward I. Koch pledged to garner $56 million to keep the museum in New York.

In addition, the American Museum of Natural History offered the Indian museum $30 million if it would merge with the American Museum of Natural History, also in New York.

Although the total $36 million topped Perot's offer, Indian museum officials had other ideas.

Roland W. Force, director of the Indian museum, said he had no guarantees that the state or the city could produce the funds Cuomo and Koch had promised, since they are subject to legislative approval.

He also expressed concern over merging with the Natural History museum, thereby losing the long-standing autonomy of the Indian museum.

While lamenting the cramped quarters his museum now has, Force emphasized the attractiveness of the cavernous museum Perot promised to build in Dallas, where Force said virtually all the Indian museum's artifacts could be displayed.

But the New York State Attorney General has also stepped in. A spokesman for the office said Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams would oppose in court any out-of-state move of the Indian museum.

The spokesman said the museum was bound by a charitable trust to operate in New York City. He said the court should only approve the move if the museum demonstrated an inability to carry out the dictums of the trust.

Citing the offers from Cuomo, Koch and the Natural History museum, the spokesman said there is no indication the Indian museum cannot carry out its trust.

Officials contacted would not comment on whether the museum would fight the state in court. They would not speculate on the likely outcome of such a court battle. It remains to be seen what effect the New York deal will have on Harvard's dealines with Perot