Thursday, September 8, 2011

Photo of Robert E. Lee fetches $23K for charity

Via Rebellion

  • A tintype photograph of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is seen in an undated photo provided by the Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. The tintype was sold by Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee on their online auction site, onlinegoodwill.com, for $23,001 dollars on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. The old photo was spotted in a bin by a Goodwill worker who pulled it out and sent it to Goodwill's online operation. Manager Suzanne Kay-Pittman said on Thursday that the bin was headed to the outlet store where everything is sold by the pound. She estimated it would have gone for a dollar and change there. (AP Photos/Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.)
A Goodwill worker who spotted a photograph of Confederate General Robert E. Lee has helped the charity make $23,000 in an online auction.

The tintype photograph was in a bin, about to be shipped out, when a worker grabbed it and sent it to the charity's local online department. The item was then put up for auction, which closed Wednesday night.

"It would have gone to our outlet store where everything is sold by the pound," Goodwill spokeswoman Suzanne Kay-Pittman said Thursday. She estimated the tintype would have fetched a dollar and change based on its weight.

The sale was a record for the charity. The previous record was an early 1900s watercolor that sold for $7,500 in 2009 to a museum in New Orleans, The Tennessean reported.

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