NJ Historical Society Criticized for Selling Map

The New Jersey Historical Society is catching flak for auctioning off its copy of Abel Buell’s 1784 map of North America last month, the Star-Ledger reports. Apparently selling items to pay for operations — or, in the case of the Society, to go towards retiring its $2.6 million debt — is a violation of the code of ethics of the American Association of Museums. The Society’s annual grant has also been eliminated due to state budget cuts, so they’re clearly starving for cash. The Buell map the only item being sold off; the Society’s board president says all the items are extraneous to their mandate.