Oh come on Terrell!!!  Did you get out on the wrong side of the bed?
You are being too hard on your home town and the Boyhood Home Foundation
people - who I feel are doing a very commendable job.

       Last year around this time, my husband Tim and I had the pleasure of
visiting the Boyhood Home and seeing Hannibal for the first time. It was a
delightul experience. We found the historical exhibits to be interesting,
impressive, and very well done.  For example, it was a thrill to see the
Oxford gown.  It was gratifying to find displays accurately telling the
Elmira story. (For many years, if you visited the Hartford house, Elmira was
never mentioned!)  I was pleased to see the display rack of early newspapers
- with arrows highlighting accounts of some slave issues, as well as a
prominent section of one exhibit telling the story of the slave boy Sandy.
(In my opinion, a good start at trying to address some of your criticisms.)
       The Boyhood Home restoration, in my opinion, is worthy of awards.
The
period antiques, while not original Clemens family pieces, present, in my
opinion, a realistic and quite historically accurate representation of what
the family's home may have like in the early 1840's.

And, by the way, there were no whips in the gift shops being operated by the
Boyhood Home Foundation.

       I have great respect for the job that Henry Sweets and his fine small
staff are doing in Hannibal.  I know from working with Henry over the past
eighteen years, that he is continually working to improve the exbibits and
to
articulate the Hannibal story in the most appealling and truthful way.
       We Twainians are kindred spirits,supportive and generous.
Constructive criticism is usually welcome and helpful.  I get nervous though
when I see criticism done in a way that might lead to a family feud.
       "It's a small world after all."

All good wishes.

Gretchen Sharlow
Director of the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies