On the death of Sir Hubert Wilkins, his wife Suzanne inherited the farm at Montrose, Pennsylvania, along with Wilkins’ lifetime collection of films, photographs, papers and artefacts. Exactly what the collection contained is not known, but it was stored haphazardly in approximately 200 boxes which filled a medium-sized barn.
Suzanne died in 1974. Her marriage to Wilkins had produced no children. In her will, she left the farm and its contents to Winston Ross, the man she had lived with for over thirty years. Shortly after, Ross married Marley Shofner, a woman who had two sons to two previous husbands. Unsure of what to do with the Wilkins’ collection, Ross and Shofner began selling some of it to fund their lifestyle. Having little understanding of Australian or Anzac history, they saw little value in much of the material and destroyed it.
Documents and memorabilia associated with polar exploration were often sold to collectors. In 1985, Ross and Shofner sold a large amount of material to the Ohio State University which, at the time, was setting up a polar archive. After the death of Marley Shofner and Winston Ross in the 1990s, Shofner’s sons inherited the farm and the remaining Wilkins material. The material was moved elsewhere and the farm was sold.
Today the Ohio State University has catalogued its large collection and it is made available to researchers. Collections in other museums and archives around the world are also publicly accessible. Much however still remains in private hands.
In 2015, interested parties in Adelaide recognised Sir Hubert Wilkins as one of the most neglected people in Australian history, and formed the Sir Hubert Wilkins Interest Group. This group later evolved into the Wilkins Foundation.
In 2023, the History Trust of South Australia, took over the papers of the Wilkins Foundation and established the Wilkins Project. Researchers, authors, archivists, curators and other Wilkins specialists formed a committee to investigate ways to preserve the records and legacy of this remarkable South Australian, as well as educate people about his life.
Australian explorer and entrepreneur Dick Smith AC had already purchased Wilkins’ 1939 Chevrolet station wagon from Winston Ross and Marley Shofner. Smith had the car shipped to Australia and, in 2024, donated it to the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, South Australia, where it is now on display. Smith has previously assisted in the restoration of the Wilkins family homestead at Mount Bryan East, in South Australia’s Mid-North.
Each year the Wilkins Project stages the Wilkins Oration and invites a guest to speak on a subject related to exploration.
The Wilkins Project is currently examining other ways to preserve the legacy and promote the life of Sir Hubert Wilkins.