Man wants collection returned

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma City man says the University of Oklahoma hasn't maintained the large collection of American Indian artifacts he gave the school 55 years ago and he wants the items

Friday, March 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- An Oklahoma City man says the University of Oklahoma hasn't maintained the large collection of American Indian artifacts he gave the school 55 years ago and he wants the items back.

An attorney for Clifford Logan, 74, filed a lawsuit Friday in Cleveland County District Court asking the court to order the university to return the items to Logan or to make a determination that the collection was a conditional gift and should be returned because the conditions weren't met.

Logan alleges that the university has allowed the collection to deteriorate and that some pieces are missing or have been destroyed.

Attorney Stan Ward said his client also is upset because the collection has not been maintained in his father's name.

C.K. Logan was a pioneer doctor in Hominy.

Ward said the doctor was respected and trusted by Osage Indians who gave him items such as war bonnets, tomahawks, knives, clothing and beaded items.

Clifford Logan inherited the collection. He presented the collection to OU in 1945 when he enrolled in school. Ward said the gift carried certain stipulations and Logan doesn't believe the university has upheld its side of the bargain.

Ward said the university said the collection was an unconditional gift and the university doesn't have to return it.

The collection was presented to OU for display in what was then the Stovall Museum of Natural History, Ward said. The items were stored when Stovall closed and are planned for exhibition in the new Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History which opens in May, Ward said.

The lawsuit is an outgrowth of a visit one of Logan's sons made to the museum in 1998. Ward said the man was disturbed by the condition of the collection. Ward said the Logan family also believed the collection was not being attributed to its original owner.

"They decided at that point they no longer wanted the university to have the collection. They asked that it be returned," the attorney said.