Protecting Family Heirlooms and How It Relates to Museums

The words Family Heirloom bring to mind many of our family treasures, which can be found in numerous museums all around the world or as close to home as in the closet or attic never on display. One of the most priceless family heirlooms are family photograph collections. Photographs are very important not only to museums, institutions, but also family researchers. A photograph opens up a new world to explore for a researcher or a writer. I have really enjoyed my course this semester Your Family in History at Pittsburg State University. Our instructor builds his curriculum for the course to get you out of normal habits of viewing family history and pushing you to think deeper and pursue more than just the bare minimum details of writing and organizing your family history.

Family Histories are an excellent additions to any museum. They open up so much possibilities for exhibitions and research. I have been working on my family history since 2007. It has been an excellent experience for me to step back and organize who I am and where I come from?

We have been learning how to compile stories this semester and collecting the information to build those stories into family treasures that future generations will treasure for years to come. I have had great inspiration and resources to build my stories. I was fortunate to know my great-great grandmother, Rosa Ann (HULL) Logue, five great-grandparents: Ezra Everett and Nella Lorean (Moppin) Boyd, Jay Edison and Loraine Lucille (NEAL) Logue, and Marjorie Ernestine (ENGLAND) Brock, and my grandparents: Howard Lee and Joyce Ann (LOGUE) Boyd and Arthur A. and M. Fayrene (BROCK) Morgan. I have had my parents: Stephen Howard and Susan Elaine (MORGAN) Boyd and sister and brother-in-law: Antonio and Holly L. (BOYD) Martinez My great-grandparents: Frank Edgar and Alma America (WRIGHT) Morgan and John Herman "Pete" Brock passed away before I was born, but have been a great inspiration for me in my writing and compiling of my family history.

I have a few of my family photographs included in this blog:

My great-grandparents: Ezra Everett and Nella Lorean (Moppin) Boyd at their home in Wesley, Ark. Taken around 2002. We were visiting them from Oklahoma. 

My great-grandparents: John Herman "Pete" and Marjorie E. (England) Brock at their home in Afton, OK. Taken around 1977. 

My grandparents: Arthur A. and M. Fayrene (Brock) Morgan on their wedding day at First Baptist Church in Afton, OK. on January 24, 1954. They just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary in January 2014. 

My great-grandmother: Loraine Lucille (Neal) Logue. This was her Senior Portrait Picture. She graduated with the Huntsville (Ark.) High School Class of 1942. 

My great-great-great grandparents: David and Martha Susan (ELKINS) McCarver at their home in Wesley, Ark. Taken c. 1920s. 

Afton Poultry Swap at Afton, OK. My family has owned and operated the Poultry Swap with three generations of my family. We opened the swap on May 20, 1987 and has grown immensely since that day. Shoppers, Buyers, and Sellers from all around the OK-MO-KS-AR Four State Area enjoy traveling to the swap on Third Weekends and Holiday Weekends. 

Family Holiday picture taken last year with my parents Stephen and Susan (Morgan) Boyd and my sister and brother-in-law: Antonio and Holly (Boyd) Martinez and Jordan Boyd. From Left to Right: Stephen, Susan, Holly, Jordan, and Antonio. We were at the Phoenix Zoo for the Zoo Lights Display the night of Thanksgiving. 

My great-great grandparents Grover Cleveland and Bessie Ottie (Nash) England at a Gilpin Family Reunion that was Grandma Bessie's mother's family, Annie Elizabeth (Gilpin) Nash. The photo was taken at my great-grandparent's home at Afton ,Ok in 1980. 

Jordan Boyd, Betty (Claypool) Logue, Derrel Beard and Ruth (Logue) Beard. Taken at Derrel and Ruth's home at Springdale, Arkansas in May 2011. Betty was visiting from California. Betty was married to Dewey Logue who was  a brother to my great-grandpa Jay Logue and Ruth is Uncle Dewey and Papaw Jay's sister. They also had three other brothers: Nolan, Ray, and Kenneth. 

My great-grandparents: Frank Edgar and Alma America (Wright) Morgan at their home. 

My great-grandparents: Jay Edison and Loraine Lucille (Neal) Logue with their son Loy C. Logue. This picture was taken in 1973 for the 100th Anniversary of the Drakes Creek Baptist Church at Drakestown, Ark. 

These are just an assortment of some of the pictures that make up my collection. I have thousands of photographs. It is important to scan and protect all photographs in some type of archival sleeve or book, that does not omit gasses or acid residue. Polypropylene or Polyethylene are preferable products to use. A great measure is to always have different sets of back up for your collections. An important step to work towards scanning your collections and preserving the originals. 

My next blog will cover more on how to preserve and care for artifacts. 

This Blog Post is in Memory of My Great-Grandparents: 

Ezra Everett Boyd (1918-2011) 

Nella Lorean (MOPPIN) Boyd (1924-2007) 

Jay Edison Logue (1923-1994) 

Loraine Lucille (NEAL) Logue (1923-2009) 

Frank Edgar Morgan (1909-1983) 

Alma America (WRIGHT) Morgan (1912-1983) 

John Herman "Pete" Brock (1911-1979) 

Marjorie Ernestine (ENGLAND) Brock (1915-2003) 

My Great-Great Grandparents: 

Howard Douglas Boyd (1890-1960) 

Delphia Mae (WORLEY) Boyd (1892-1955) 

Charles Wilmoth Moppin (1885-1945) 

Bertha Maheley (WHITE) Moppin (1891-1975) 

Elliott Oliver Logue (1892-1977) 

Rosa Ann (HULL) Logue (1900-1994) 

Rosco Floyd Neal (1888-1971) 

Beulah Lee (McCarver) Neal (1892-1972) 

Arthur Edgar Morgan (1874-1938) 

Elsie Agnus (Wilcox) Morgan (1893-1971) 

Albert Sidney Wright (1870-1955) 

Laura Lee (POE) Wright (1879-1950) 

William Franklin "Bill" Brock (1873-1940) 

Cassie Ann (TANNER) Brock (1874-1950) 

Grover Cleveland England (1893-1981) 

Bessie Ottie (NASH) England (1894-1983) 

They have given me great inspiration to collect their stories and preserve our family history to share with future generations. 

Museum Contracts and Legal Transactions

Museums are established to tell the life, history, art, culture, stories of people, places, or events. The only way for museums to thrive successfully is to have a great support from donors and the surrounding communities. It is a mission of museums to entertain, educate, and inform their patrons of cultures, individuals, and many stories that have been untold for a long time. It opens up a world for those young and old to understand and appreciate the arts and humanities. There is no other field I could think of that is so rewarding to go to work everyday. The stories and lives displayed in museum exhibits around the world are remarkable, but it is hard to find ones like those in small town museums.

It is crucial part of museums to have donors when they are wanting to give their items to be thorough with museum paperwork. This is a beneficial step to all collections. A museum has a mission for a reason to serve a goal and purpose to its patrons to provide exhibits and activities that fall into a specific time period, region, or category. Many museums including the ones I work with have Collections Committee that evaluate all donations. These committees discuss what has been brought in over the past few months, because usually these committees will meet monthly or bi-monthly. It varies depending the institution and their policies.

No one museum is the same and not all donations are appropriate for every museum. For example, the two museums in the area I work with are the Dobson Museum at Miami, OK and Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, KS. The Dobson Museum was established in 1972 after the passing of Miss Nellie Dobson in 1968. She left funds in her will to construct and maintain the museum. The original Ottawa County Historical Museum was opened in 1963 on the 2nd floor of the Dobson Building/Old McWilliams Opera House in Downtown Miami.  After completion of the museum all collections were moved to the new museum, because many of the volunteers and patrons could not climb the stairs to get to the museum being on the 2nd floor. The mission of the museum to collect, preserve, and exhibit Ottawa County History. The museum only collects items that pertain to Ottawa County History, not other counties, states, or people who never lived in Ottawa County. The collections committee assesses the relevance of the artifacts and makes recommendations, which go before the board for final decisions. Some cases it may not be the only reason an item could not be accepted by a museum.  A museum may not have the funds, space, or time to care for a particular artifact. Many museums are limited with storage and exhibit capacities. The Miners Hall Museum collects, preserves, and exhibits the coal mining history of Cherokee and Crawford Counties in Kansas. Their mission is to preserve a certain type of mining for a certain region. This museum opened in 2012 after being a dream for many which turned into a reality in the Spring of 2012. The museum was host to a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit in the Summer of 2013. The museum has grown so rapidly, that it is working on a fundraising campaign to construct a new addition on the west side of the existing building, which is the Franklin Community Center.

A great question to ask when being interested in donating to a museum is asking what the mission of the museum is and if they have a collections policy available. Some museums may not have a collections policy. Most collections policy are drafted by paid employees, but however some cases it occurs with volunteer collections committees. A greater understanding to know a scope of collections and the overall mission and vision allow you to find a suitable institution to place artifacts, documents, and images into a preserved collection.

Museum forms often used with processing of collections are: Deed of Gift, Loan Agreements, Background History, Inventory Form, or Condition Reports to name a few of the forms used within museums. A crucial part of operating a museum is to have appropriate paperwork for artifacts and collections within a museum. A Deed of Gift is used as it speaks for its self as a form filled by a donor to deed an artifact or group of artifacts to a museum, repository, or institution. The donor has responsibility when completing paperwork to be thorough by making sure all their contact information is correct and a detailed listing of what is being deeded or loaned, if they are completing a loan agreement. Background History form is used to gain as much information on the artifact, owner, and donor as possible. Did this item come from the donor's great-grandparents, an auction, garage sale, the attic, or did the donor actually build the artifact being contributed to the museum. The museum, repository, or institution is better able to care for and preserve the artifact if they know exactly what it is, where it came from, and any and all stories associated with the artifact. An inventory form or in some cases a catalog record form keeps a listing of where to locate an artifact when inside a museum, whether it be in exhibition or storage. A condition report is used in cases of traveling exhibits or damage to a collection based upon fire, natural disaster, etc. The condition report is filled out to give the status an artifact based on being destroyed or broken within a collection. There are certain cases where museums will loan exhibits to other museums if they are assembling a special exhibit. A condition report is to be completed upon, loading, unloading, exhibiting of the artifact from its home museum and the host museums.

There are rare cases where a museum will loan a collection to another for an extended period of time in most cases it would be between six to nine months. A museum does not exist without donors, but a museum would not be able to function if it did not provide accurate and efficient measures to preserve and collect with proper paperwork for the museum collections.

If you are interested in donating or have any questions about the Dobson Museum in Miami, OK or Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, KS, please contact me I would be glad to visit with you about these fine museum establishments in the Four States. Please visit their websites and keep updated on events by liking them on Facebook to follow the latest news.

Dobson Museum
110 A SW
Miami, OK 74354
(918)-542-5388
ochs@dobsonmuseum.com
www.dobsonmuseum.com
Hours: Wednesday-Friday-Sunday - 1-4 pm

Miners Hall Museum
701 S Broadway
Franklin, KS 66735
(620)-347-4220
minershallmuseum@gmail.com
www.minershallmuseum.com
Hours: Monday-Saturday - 10am-4pm
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Any questions about museums or anything about my blog feel free to contact me at jordan_boyd@live.com.