January–April 1954

THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 33RD & SPRUCE STREETS, PHILADELPHIA 4

February 19, 1954The Manager British Overseas Airways Corporation 342 Madison Avenue New York City

Dear Sir:

Under somewhat complicated circumstances I seek your advice as to what B.O.A.C. can do to further a rather urgent project of the University Museum. The circumstances are as follows:

The Museum has since 1935 been engaged in excavation at Curium, near Limassol in Cyprus. The late Mr. George McFadden, a man of considerable means, was personally interested in the project, and contributed substantially to it. By his will he has left certain funds to the University Museum, to be spent in winding up and publishing the results of the Curium excavation. Among these assets were certain shares (including 1000 shares of Cyprus Airways stock) which he held in Cyprus. The Museum is at present concentrating on the finishing and closing down of the Curium excavation, with Dr. G. Roger Edwards of the Museum staff in charge at Curium. Unfortunately the clearing of the estate in Cyprus has been delayed by the local probate court, and the dollar assets being spent in the meantime are dwindling. The Museum, with perfectly good pound assets more or less imminently available in Cyprus, does not wish to be compelled to advance dollars out of other resources, with a possibility of having at the last a large balance of unexpendable pounds at the other end.

Professor Richard Stillwell of Princeton, an architect, has agreed to go to Cyprus this summer to do some work at Curium. The Museum will pay his passage out and back, and a stipend. His wife and two children are also going out, as far as Athens; and instead of paying him a stipend in dollars we would like to arrange to pay the air passage out and back for his family in pounds. I have just talked by telephone with Mr. Stillwell, and he is agreeable to this arrangement, although he had already started to arrange passage by T.W.A. He and his family would wish to go about June 15th.

Would it be possible for B.O.A.C. (in conjunction with B.E.A. and Cyprus Airways) to reserve passage at about that time for Mrs. Stillwell and the two children to Athens, and for Mr. Stillwell to Nicosia (they wish to travel together as far as Athens), and with return to New York at a time to be designated by Mr. Stillwell (September), against eventual payment in pounds in Cyprus? And if so,

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