All artifact donations must further the Museum’s mission statement. The artifact must showcase authenticity, provenance and relevance to the Permanent and/or Education Collections, including larger themes and topics of the “Southern Peninsula” story.
Acquisition into the Collection will need to meet at least one of the initial criteria as stated below to be considered for accession to either the Permanent or the Education Collections. The following describes the types of materials we seek on a rolling basis:
- The donation showcases authenticity, quality, related-provenance, style/usefulness to the Collection, including larger themes and topics of the Southern Peninsula story (e.g., agriculture, art history, cultural history, racial and ethnic identities, community activities, prominent families, schools and institutions, businesses, religion, government.)
- The donation can be used for exhibition purposes or serve as a replica/interactive prop for educational purposes.
- The donation does not duplicate other items currently in the collection and is likely not documented or preserved in other archives, libraries, or institutions.
All of the following criteria must be met in order to accession an acquisition to the Permanent Collection:
- The donation is relevant to the Collections and Museum’s mission as stated in the Policy.
- The donation fills a specific need within the Permanent Collection consistent with the Museum’s mission. This includes specific needs for the oral history collection, special collections or on-going/current collecting initiatives.
- The donation is accompanied by personal, family, or institutional anecdotes, narratives, and information that elucidates aspects of life and events in the Southern Peninsula area.
- The donation has historical, educational or aesthetic merit (for display) and was created or utilized within the geographic area, created by a local artist or owned by an individual or family who has made, or is currently making, significant contributions to the social, economic, cultural, political or artistic landscape of the Southern Peninsula.