Where Are Your Family's Artifacts?

 

If, like me, you've donated some of your family's photos, documents, or other artifacts to a museum, a library, or another institution, be sure your relatives (and your heirs) know the details! 

Not all items must remain in my genealogy collection. When the family has no sentimental attachment to an item, and the item is not vital to my genealogical knowledge, my goal is to keep these artifacts safe in institutions where they can be preserved and made available to future researchers.

In the past six years, my husband and I have happily donated nonpersonal items of historical interest (such as theater programs, photographs, WWII memorabilia, specialized magazines, and more) to libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, and other repositories, after asking permission to make these donations. You can read my blog post about the step-by-step process of donating a family artifact and learn more in my newly-updated book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.

As shown at top, my genealogy files include a separate folder called "artifact donations" containing all the deeds of gift and notes about what has been donated, when, and where. A deed of gift (or contract of gift) is the legal document used to transfer ownership of a donated item from myself to an institution. 

Now my heirs will be able to see which institution owns each donated artifact. 

About Family Secrets in a Genealogy Collection

If you're considering giving your genealogy collection (all or part) to a repository such as a museum, library, archive, or society, take a moment to consider any so-called family secrets in your files.

As I wrote in my previous post, there may be "secret" family stories not yet ready for prime time, because someone still living could be hurt if the info is made public. I'm not talking about DNA secrets or incidents of historical significance. I mean info dug up during a thorough genealogy research--info that could damage a living person's reputation or cause harm in some other way.

My approach has been to keep the secret but slip the story into my files, to be inherited years in the future by my family heirs. This keeps the story from being entirely lost to the family but also keeps it from being made public for a while. IMHO, my level-headed family heirs can reconsider the situation in the far future and determine next steps.

Donating a collection? Plan ahead

However, what if the secret is in a genealogy collection that will be donated to repository such as an archive, a library, a museum, or a historical or genealogical society? Plan ahead. 

In a Twitter conversation with professional genealogist Melissa Barker (aka The Archive Lady), I learned that the donor and the repository should discuss this in advance and come to an agreement formalized in a deed of gift. That's the legal document in which someone formally transfers ownership of a family-history collection to the repository.

Putting everything in writing ensures that both parties clearly understand what will happen to the secret. Will that info be kept private forever or for a specified period? Will it be made available to in-person researchers or for specific purposes? Should the secret even be included with the donated collection? Discuss and decide before finalizing the donation.

For more about deeds of gift, see this informative page on the Society of American Archivists website.

Reader's comments

Here are excerpts from reader comments on my previous post about secrets. I appreciate that these folks took the time to share their thoughts.

One reader commented: "Consider carefully if you should commit a secret to writing at all. If the secret has the potential to be very harmful, keep it to yourself! Otherwise, write it down and go on with life."

Reader Debi commented, referring to minor family secrets: "I have not written about them (all parties deceased) and assume anyone researching could find the same information for themselves."

Reader Sandy commented: "It's not often that we look forward in this hobby. I suppose these days people are so used to putting things online they're not worried?"

Junk or Joy? Think of Future Generations!

Lots of wisdom in a recent Washington Post article titled: "Just because an item doesn't spark joy, doesn't mean you should toss it."

So many people are following the fad for saving only possessions that spark "joy" (based on best-selling author Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up). But this doesn't mean throwing out family history along with the family china that none of the kids or grandkids wants right now. UPDATE: Today's New York Times has a similar article, focusing on how many downsizers are coping with younger relatives' disinterest in having the family china, furniture, etc.

The author of the Washington Post article says that "passing down at least some of those possessions creates an important connection between generations and has a vital part in a family’s history." Her advice: save a few select things rather than everything. "Choose things that have special meaning — a serving dish that you used every Thanksgiving, old family photos . . . "

That's why the "chickie pitcher" shown at top is still in the family, while the magazine shown at right is not.

This pitcher, passed down in the Wood family, was part of holiday meals for as my hubby can remember (and that's a long way back). His mother, Marian McClure Wood, would put it out along with coffee and dessert on Thanksgiving and other occasions. We've continued the tradition in our family!

The Workbasket magazine, however, is a different kind of keepsake. My mother, Daisy Schwartz Burk, was an avid needleworker and subscribed to this magazine for at least a decade. But as part of my Genealogy Go-Over and in the pantheon of heirlooms, the four issues held by the family for 50 years have a very low priority.

Rather than relegate these good condition magazines to the flea market or recycle bin, I found them a new home: the Missouri History Museum, which collects magazines issued by Missouri-based publishers. The museum lacked the particular issues I was offering, and was especially pleased that the address labels were still attached.

I signed a deed of gift (similar to the one shown here) and donated all four issues, along with a brief paragraph describing my mother and her love of needlework. It gives me joy to know that Mom's name will forever be attached to magazines preserved and held in the museum archives. 

(May I suggest: For more ideas about how to sort your genealogical collection and the possibilities of donating artifacts, please see my book Planning a Future for Your Family's Past.)