Keeper of Documents
by Mary Beth Schwartz
We are fascinated with history. We love to watch films and television dramas based on historic events. We attend events by local historical societies. We listen to lectures by noted historians. We buy best sellers about historic figures. And increasingly, serious collectors are seeking out investment quality original historical artifacts and memorabilia from Tom Lingenfelter, President of Heritage Collectors’ Society, Inc.
According to Bucks County resident Tom Lingenfelter, age 76, he has been around and done everything. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from The King’s College in New York. Tom earned a bronze medal at the Pan-American Games on the U.S. Olympic Field Hockey Team. (He is preparing for the 2016 Olympic Shooting Trials.) Tom was selected for the elite Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC). After the military, he was a public school teacher for four years. He then started his own advertising business, which led to the founding of Heritage Collectors’ Society, Inc.
“I am involved with the history of America every day. I have a natural affinity with it. I deal with documents every day. I get them at auctions, from institutions; people call me. I am the keeper of the documents. There are a lot of facts in history that people think are facts and they are not facts. The whisper down the lane thing is a very big deal in history. I try to determine what the truth of the matter is,” Tom says.
Tom is working with the Museum of the American Revolution, a state-of-the-art museum set to open in early 2017. The museum will be located in the center of historic Philadelphia—two blocks from Independence Hall, across the street from Carpenter’s Hall, and about a block from Benjamin Franklin’s home. It will include exhibit galleries, education spaces, theaters, and collection storage. In Washington, D.C., Tom has done multiple appraisals for the White House.
Another important project for Tom is the writing of his book on the history behind the Declaration of Independence. The book will be a collection of his research on the important document. Tom has led investigative work that uncovered the previously unknown only true copy of the original Declaration of Independence. He claims there are only two known authenticated copies of the Declaration of Independence that used the anastatic process of printing.
To finish reading "The Keeper of Documents" turn to page 112 in our Fall 2015 issue of Bucks County Magazine.