Pergamon Museum 44anagement and ('t*rator~ktp 'v'ol. 15, No 3, pp. 314 325. 1997

Published b~ Elsevier Science Ltd. Printed in Great Britain 0260.4779/97 $17 O0 + 0(10

World of Museums

Update on the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy

Following the collapse of New Era Philanthropy in May 1995, the Federal Bankruptcy Trustee has filed a motion in the Federal Bankruptcy Court seeking approval for an agreement under which the founder of New Era, John G. Bennett Jr, will hand over $1.2m in assets as a contribution towards the huge losses incurred by more than 600 religious bodies, colleges, museums and philanthropists. Claims totalling some $536m have been filed and the full extent of the damage sustained by American nonprofits is only slowly becoming apparent. John G. Bennett himself has issued a statement (quoted by The New' York Times, 25 January 1996):

Immediately upon the collapse of the foundation, 1 pledged my deep desire and total commitment to do whatever I could within my power and God's grace to help make the charities whole. Today I have given the trustee everything I own--literally all of my assets, for that purpose.

The agreement has to go to a public hearing in due course and it remains to be seen whether the museums and other creditors will object to it. However, the question of the fiduciary responsibility of individual trustees to exercise due diligence in the administration of their trusts remains and the views of the Court are awaited with some trepidation.

P E T E R C A N N o N - B R ( ) ( ) K E S

Natural History Collections and the National Museum of Natural History in Cuba

Cuba is an archipelago composed of a main island surrounded by more than 1,600 small islands and keys, that together amount to11,000 km 2. It is the country with the richest biota in the West Indies, comprising over 25,000 known species of terrestrial plants and animals, estimated to represent not more than 60% of the actual native flora and fauna. Rates of speciation have been greater in Cuba than in other territories of comparable size and ecological diversity, and major