Milwaukee man's Robert Frost collection finds home at UW-Eau Claire
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/milwaukee-mans-robert-frost-collection-finds-home-at-uw-eau-claire-b99190517z1-241765591.html
Now, more than seven decades after their meeting, and many years since both men died, Schmidt's rare and valuable collection of Robert Frost-inscribed first editions, correspondence, Christmas cards and other papers have been acquired by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
"It's really awesome. Robert Frost items of this magnitude you just don't see much anymore," said Gregory Kocken, special collections librarian and university archivist.
Schmidt's widow, Joan Christopherson Schmidt, known as "Miss Chris," recently parted with her husband's collection of 45 rare Frost books, Christmas cards Frost sent each year featuring a new poem, pages Frost tore from his notebooks filled with poetry and other papers. Many of the books are inscribed in Frost's handwriting to Frederick G. Schmidt and several include poetry Frost scribbled on the opening pages.
Though Miss Chris declined to say how much the collection is worth, a prominent auction company contacted her to sell it. She declined. "I knew I could get a lot of money for the collection but then it would be on some rich guy's book shelf," Miss Chris said. "My thinking was to have it in a school, especially one with a facility where it will be taken care of."
Emphasis mine.