( CNN ) -- The priceless , 8,000-piece collection of rare African-American memorabilia Nathaniel Montague spent decades collecting could be dismantled if a buyer does n't come forward by mid-July . During a status hearing in bankruptcy court scheduled for July 20 in Las Vegas , creditor ABKCO Music & Records plans to ask the court to conduct an auction of the items in the Montague Collection , which includes slave and indentured servitude documents , a signed copy of Phillis Wheatley 's `` Poems on Various Subjects '' dated 1773 , and a handwritten letter from Booker T. Washington seeking financial assistance for 221 students at Tuskegee . `` There 's nothing I can do , '' Montague said . `` I wish there were , but there is n't . I just hope that we do n't turn out to be losers , and that I get something for my efforts . '' Montague , a onetime radio personality who coined the phrase `` Burn , Baby , Burn , '' spent 50 years acquiring rare and one-of-a-kind pieces of American history , including books , photographs , paintings and ephemera . An assessment of five of the pieces puts their total value somewhere between $ 592,000 and $ 940,000 . His goal was to turn it into a museum . Now that it is out of his possession , he just wants to see his life 's work remain intact . Black history 'undertaker ' loses treasures . Years ago Montague and his wife of 56 years , Rose Casalan , began taking out loans to archive and prepare the collection for sale . They found themselves overextended financially and declared bankruptcy last year . The collection was seized and is now housed under tight security in Las Vegas . It is in the hands of a trusteeship charged with selling it to satisfy the debts , including a judgment for $ 325,000 plus fees from New York-based ABKCO , an independent entertainment company that owns rights to recordings by Sam Cooke , The Rolling Stones and Bobby Womack . Fees have continued to mount , including $ 250,000 from a financing company to pay for housing and marketing the collection , said Jason Wiley , an attorney for ABKCO . ABKCO had agreed to give the trusteeship six months to market the collection . Time has run out , and there have been no buyers . Now , the company plans to petition the court to conduct an auction of the collection during the July 20 hearing . `` We have n't come close to getting this thing sold , '' Wiley said . `` We 've got to cut this thing off . '' Dotan Melech , the federal bankruptcy trustee charged with administering the Montague estate , is still hopeful he can find a buyer or get more time from the court . He has sent letters to a few hundred individuals and nonprofits that have shown interest in the collection asking them to submit their best bid by July 13 . He is trying to come up with other solutions , as well , including setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts to help get the word out . He 's also considered a Kickstarter campaign . `` In this economy , no one throws money at anything , '' Melech said . `` We 're trying as hard as we can . '' If the judge grants ABKCO 's request , the collection could be sold piecemeal until the debt is satisfied . Any remaining items could be returned to Montague . That will break his heart , Melech said . `` If you have five children and two are taken away , it does n't hurt less because you got three back , '' he said . Montague says he will think positively until a deal is made . `` I only want to look ahead , that it can be done , '' he said . `` Every day I think of what I can do until time runs out . ''
Nathaniel Montague spent 50 years collecting rare , books , photographs , paintings . He overextended himself with loans to pay for archiving and housing , had to file bankruptcy . Creditor granted six months to find a buyer , no one has stepped up . If no buyer is found by mid-July , the 8,000-piece collection could be sold piecemeal .