Julia Meek Gaar was monied. And well-traveled. She was also philanthropic. So when she went to Egypt in February 1929 and bought a mummy from an antiquities dealer, she intended to ship it back to the Richmond historical society which she had founded.There were problems, however. The Egyptian government wasn’t convinced the artifact should leave the country, so it took several months and assistance from several influential people, including the president of the United States, to get it to Richmond.
Gaar was away on another trip when it arrived in January 1930. At that time her museum was in two rooms of a Richmond high school.“She brought all her souvenirs and artifacts back here, and the students could go in there and look at them,” said Jim Harlan, executive director of the Wayne County Historical Museum in Richmond.
The deliveryman refused to leave the mummy at the museum unless he was paid the delivery costs of $350. “The school administration, in the middle of the Depression, didn’t have any extra money,” said Harlan. “So they supposedly went from classroom to classroom and collected nickels and dimes and quarters from all the kids, and that’s how they paid the shipping bill.”
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