"Camperdene, population 22,326, is a stable, well-tended Massachusetts town enjoying good economic circumstances," Hollie Greenspan's study began. "Formerly an important manufacturing center for the paper, granite, and shoe industries, the hum of Camperdene's quarries and factories has died down. Its downtown blocks hold empty storefronts among the occasional shop or restaurant. Cinemas and malls and lending institutions have, by and large, replaced the factories.

"Camperdenians enjoy an array of cultural activities, from numerous ballparks to a local symphony orchestra, which they are willing to support financially. Camperdene has a quality newspaper and a radio station. There is a good school system in soundly constructed buildings. Camperdenians are generally pleased with the Association Museum," Hollie Greenspan observed, "as it is so quaint, and does not rely solely on their tax dollars. The museum collection is not sufficiently large to serve the needs of both children and adults. There would be greater use and enjoyment of the museum's collections and programs if the acquisitions budget and staff salaries were adequate."

The objectives of the museum were listed: "(1) to educate and to enrich life, (2) to provide an opportunity for life-long education, (3) to provide occupational information, and (4) to help fulfill the obligations and meet the needs of the constantly expanding vistas of active minds. The museum can no longer be a mere storehouse," the curator had declared. "It should be a dynamic institution having a responsibility to tell its story to the people who support it."

Hollie Greenspan had appointed Julia Seymour-Stanton to be the Children's Collections Coordinator. "A cheerful, dedicated helper," Camperdene Daily Journal reporter Alice Armour Armstrong had written of her in a brief front page piece about Hollie Greenspan's sudden departure from the museum, "who will go to any length to attract children and their parents."

The Museum Association had made Julia Acting Curator of the museum (Hollie Greenspan, it was noted, had recently been called to Nova Scotia). A lifelong Camperdene resident, Julia was a charter member of the Camperdene Historical Society. She had been a page at the public library when attending Camperdene High School. Two other full-time, permanent staffers made up the museum crew: Audrey Morris and Mary Tuchlein, both of whom had been working in the museum since the 1940s. The Museum of the Year 1912 Association had appointed rotund, red-cheeked Hayden Brown custodian, paying his salary from the interest on certain trust funds available to them.

When, that summer, the Association Curator Search Committee arranged to meet with Neil, they sent the committee chairwoman, blonde, talkative Carla Spagnoli, to fetch him. She arrived in flowing red silk in a black Cadillac at the Wright's brownstone apartment around the corner from the Boston Museum of the New Physics and personally chauffered him west to the beautiful brick and sandstone edifice, The Museum of the Year 1912, for his interview.

Spagnoli handed him a copy of the job description to read in the car on the way: "Responsible for routine to complex curatorial, administrative, supervisory, and professional work in planning, organizing, and supervising the overall operation of the museum. Responsible for the operating expenses, the development of resources, and physical maintenance of the facilities. Responsible for assisiting the Association in developing long-range objectives, policies, and plans for the future direction and development of the museum as a community resource and information center. Responsible for associating with the general public and important community leaders."

Neil was handed the Association's Bylaws: "The Museum of the Year 1912 is owned and operated by the The Museum of the Year 1912 Association of Camperdene, Massachusetts, a non-profit tax-exempt corporation, chartered under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1913, and so recognized under the Internal Revenue Service Code 501 (c) (3). The Association is composed of Corporators, all residents of Camperdene. The Corporators elect a Board of Directors. An Executive Committee is elected annually by the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee appoints committees to oversee the various facets of the museum, and to make recommendations for action as needed.

Next, he was given a copy of the Association's 1913 Act of Incorporation: "Robert Spagnoli and his children Simon and Louisa Spagnoli and their associates and successors are hereby made a Corporation by the name of the Museum of the Year 1912 Association, with all the powers and privileges, and subject to all the duties and liabilities set forth in all general laws which now are or hereafter may be in force and applicable to such Corporations. Said Corporation shall have authority to hold real and personal estate to the amount permitted by general law. The management and control of the property of said Corporation shall be vested in a Board of Directors, consisting of not less than five in number, to be elected by said Corporation. The Directors shall be citizens of Camperdene; the Board of Directors shall have power to adopt all necessary by-laws and regulations for the management of the same, subject to the approval of the Corporation. So long as said Corporation shall allow the inhabitants of the town of Camperdene access to the museum at reasonable hours, for the purposes of using the same on the premises, said town may appropriate money for the purpose of defraying the expenses of maintaining said museum.

In 1986, the By-Laws had been amended: "Any adult resident of Camperdene may be elected a Corporator of the Corporation after consideration by the Executive Committee and by a vote of two-thirds of the corporators present at any annual or special meeting of the corporators. The annual meeting of the Corporators shall be held on Monday following the annual business meeting of the Town of Camperdene to hear and act on the report of the Directors, to elect a Clerk of the Corporation, to fix the number of Directors, and to elect a Board of Directors to serve for the ensuing year, and to transact any other business that might properly comer before the meeting. Special meetings of the Corporators may be called by the President, a Vice President, or by any five corporators by giving at least seven days notice in writing to each corporator. The President, or in his absence a Vice President, shall preside at all meetings of of the Corporators. A Board of Directors consisting of not less than five, and not more than twenty-five, shall be vested with the control and management of the Corporation. The principal staff of The Museum of the Year 1912 shall be appointed or reappointed to their on an annual basis by the Board of Directors. Full-time staff include a museum curator, children's collections curator, and two clerical staff assistants. Part-time staff are appointed by the Association on an as-needed basis."

Carla Spagnoli pulled up before the jumbled bungalows and lovely gardens of the The Museum of the Year 1912. Neil followed her through the big glass front doors into a large room full of elegant long tables and dozens of luxurious available chairs -- a perfect place for an interview, Neil thought -- and down a long hallway past almost whimsically madcap arrays of display cases to a small room where nine unsmiling faces met his. No one stood nor offered a hand to shake nor any comment. Carla offered Neil a flimsy folding chair, and took a seat herself. A scrawny, weather-beaten, silver-bearded little man asked Neil if he knew why he was there. Neil went into his spiel, saying he felt this obviously would be a great place to work. Boldly he declared he'd always felt he'd love to work in just such a cultural center in a town, state, or country -- a place not only where there were housed interesting things to see, but a place where things could happen. The committee of ten -- Richard ("Powderkeg") Cunningham, Roland Henselmeier, Barney Parker, Peter Henderson, Stan Jameson, Carla Spagnoli, Cindy Service, Jennifer Soriff, Dotty Carter, Jean Garrison -- five stonefaced scowling men and five stonefaced pouting women -- studied each other 's faces, making assorted cryptic showings of hands. Carla Spagnoli stepped out of the room and returned with an index card on which she'd written, "The Search Committee of The Museum of the Year 1912 Association is pleased to offer Mr. Neil Oppenheimer Wright the position of Museum Curator, subject to the approval of the Executive Committee of the Museum Association."

After the inteview, in the back room behind the fireplace, Carla Spagnoli, in her red satin dress on this hot summer day, introduced Neil to the distinguished, silver haired president of the Association's Board of Directors, Wallace Barrow -- him in a black three-piece suit. Spagnoli sang Neil's praises, insisting she just couldn't say enough about Mister Wright. Barrow raised his hand to silence her, moved in close to him, placed a long arm around his shoulder, and whispered ominously, "Don't get this wrong, Mister Wright: you're the dog -- don't let the tail wag you."