In its first public comments on the missing and mishandled artifacts that led to the resignation of its executive director, the board of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta says it was “deeply saddened” by Cheryl Thornhill’s departure but that it will take steps “to ensure that this situation never happens again.”
Thornhill
Thornhill, who had served as the museum’s executive director and lone full-time employee since 2009, resigned two weeks ago over allegations that she had been careless in her stewardship of the museum’s archaeological collections, especially the L.B. Jones Collection.
“Although Cheryl has admitted to her mishandlings of the collection, there are many improvements that were made to the Museum during her time as director,” reads the statement which was prepared for the board members by their attorney, Kelvin Pulley. “We would like to thank her for her years of service to the Museum, to Greenwood, and to the museum community as a whole, both locally and statewide.”
Thornhill acknowledged dumping thousands of artifacts out the back door of the museum in 2018, although she has said she did not think any of them were part of the Jones collection — a massive, nationally regarded stockpile of more than 30,000 artifacts, dating back to 10,000 B.C., that were accumulated by the late L.B. Jones, an amateur archaeologist from Minter City. The Jones collection has been on loan to the museum for decades.
An inventory ordered by the trustees of the Jones collection has been going on for months. According to the curator conducting the inventory, Anna Reginelli, thousands of the artifacts remain missing.
Thornhill was also criticized for loaning out artifacts from the Jones collection without documentation or without securing the approval of the trustees and the Cobb Institute of Archaeology at Mississippi State University, as stipulated in the trust agreement. Although thousands of those artifacts have been recovered already, others still remain with the University of Mississippi and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, among others.
Both the university and MDAH have said they will be returning most if not all of what they have. In the case of MDAH, however, the process is expected to be delayed because officials there say they are obligated to scrutinize any artifacts in their possession for Native American human remains or burial items, which federal law may require MDAH to return to the tribes.
The board said that while it is looking for Thornhill’s replacement, it also plans “to review and update, if necessary, our policies and procedures. We will work, in collaboration with our partners and volunteers, to ensure that this situation never happens again.”
The museum board said that it will continue to offer assistance to the Jones trust and surviving family members of Jones, who was one of the 50-year-old museum’s founders.
“We understand the importance of the legacy of L.B. Jones and the history he worked so hard to preserve,” said the statement.
The statement does not indicate when the board became aware of the discarded or missing artifacts. An email sent Wednesday to Pulley and the board’s president, Tim Stanciel, seeking elaboration did not receive an immediate reply.
Thornhill’s resignation has prompted a flurry of comments on Facebook, most of them expressing either sadness at her departure or anger at those who exposed the problems.
•Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
