Saturday, May 22, 2021

Phil Collins is an enthusiastic collector of Alamo memorabilia, but are the items fakes?

Long article in Texas Monthly about the fluctuating fortunes of politicians trying to use the Alamo to further their careers. A museum has been planned, and is expected to feature the collection of Alamo artifacts amassed by Phil Collins. But the provenance of that collection has come into question:

Nesmith gave McDuffie some out-of-the-box advice: documents proving an artifact’s authenticity are important, but in the end, you have to trust your gut. ... It was advice McDuffie took to heart. “When I started listening to my own gut, that’s when I really started finding pieces that were just really great,” he says.

...

McDuffie and Guimarin echo these sentiments, arguing that they did enough research to make their claims by what might be referred to as “Alamo standards.” They say the Alamo is a special case and that it’s almost impossible to prove any item was present at the battle without some shadow of doubt.