The Franklin Institute has a number of holdings, but one of its most impressive has varied accounts over how it got there, writes Graham Bowley for The New York Times.

According to the Philadelphia museum, a plane built by the Wright brothers in 1911 was bought and gifted by a man named Grover C. Bergdoll. He, however, was utterly despised after dodging the draft for World War I.

The Franklin Institute acquired the plane, which remains one of the best preserved icons of early aviation, in 1933. By then, Bergdoll was living as a fugitive in Germany, where he fled after being convicted for desertion. In addition, all his possessions had been declared U.S. government property.

While a museum official said Bergdoll verbally told a museum official that he wanted to give the plane to the museum, his family has challenged that claim.

“Getting a verbal agreement — how was it possible when my father was a fugitive at the time in Germany?” said his daughter, Katharina. “You could not have reached him. … It was technically in the government’s possession at the time. He could not have legally transferred it.”

Now, family members are asking the museum to consider returning the plane, agree to some other form of compensation, and own up to how the plane was obtained.

Read more about the stories of how the Franklin Institute acquired the plane in The New York Times.

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