Cannon Back at Karpeles Museum - For Now

It looks like the Karpeles Manuscript Library has won a round in its dispute with American Legion Post No. 2 over a historic cannon. For the time being the big gun is back in front of the museum across the street from Wright Park, where it sat for several decades prior to events last month.

To sum it up, the 80-year old howitzer, along with another gun, was given to the Legionnaires about 60 years ago, at which time they occupied the building that now houses the manuscript museum. About 20 years ago, the building was sold to the Karpeles, and the American Legion post was moved to Parkland, leaving the guns behind.

Fast-forward to 2012. The Legionnaires decide they want the cannon back. Not getting a positive response from the museum, they decide to take it anyway, installing it behind a fence, in front of their new post. The issue goes to court. And now, the museum has won a temporary victory and the gun has been returned to its original spot.

The guns technically belong to the army, which lent them to the post all those years ago. The initial court ruling was a temporary injunction requiring the Legion to return the gun unless they could show documentation from the Army giving them permission to move it. According to the TNT, they provided what they thought were sufficient documents…

But [Judge] Johnson upheld the injunction, ruling the “law doesn’t favor self-help measures” like those exercised by the Legion when it unilaterally seized the one cannon…

We haven’t heard the last of this story; the matter is scheduled to come back before the court in June. In the meantime, you should be able to take a look at the gun that’s caused all this drama in front of the Karpeles Manuscript Museum, across from Wright Park.

Read more from The News Tribune.

Previously from Exit133: 80 Year-Old Cannon Sparks Feud.