The family of former LSU President Troy Middleton is suing LSU demanding the school return a collection of the General’s World War Two memorabilia. This comes about a year after Middleton’s name was removed from the LSU Library over his support for segregation during his tenure at the school during the 50s and 60s.
Middleton family attorney Jill Craft said the family has tried to retrieve the collection but keeps hearing “differing excuses” when it comes time to pick it up.
“They were told come pick it up here, no no no it’s not here it’s been boxed up and sent there,” said Craft. “The family had made arrangements for portions of the collection to be displayed in Oklahoma City. That museum became involved and said hey we’re ready to pick it up, they were told they could come to get it, and then they were told they could not come get it.”
Craft said this collection, part of which is now on display at a recently opened World War Two exhibit on campus, was never given to LSU, it was loaned.
“In the collection itself are several medals that were awarded to General Middleton for his service in World War One and World War Two, I mean these are all intensely personal family objects and they just need to be returned,” said Craft.
Craft said the school has not provided documents proving the collection was not a loan and noted there are news articles from the time it was handed to the school calling the exchange a loan. Craft claims there are communications between the family and the school where a school official acknowledges the collection is a loan.
The suit also seeks damages for “extreme humiliation and embarrassment”. Craft says that is a last resort should the school refuse to turn over the collection.
“The issue is they (the family) are entitled to the Middleton Collection, period. Whatever happened as to why LSU chose not to exhibit it anymore is a decision that LSU made, it is not any kind of payback,” said Craft.
In a statement, LSU spokesperson Ernie Ballard said “Earlier this year LSU offered to return parts of the collection constituting General Middleton’s personal belongings and memorabilia. However, LSU as a state institution cannot simply give away the parts of the collection that constitute historical government records and documents that may properly belong to the university or federal government. We have explained this to his heirs.”
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