Exhibits Department schrieb:
> I recently found a box full of Native American items in the far reaches of a
> closet here at our nature center. The items are of Plains origin and mostly
> the kinds of things that a tourist could have aquired in the 1940's or 50's.
> However several of the items do date back to the turn of the century or even
> earlier.
>
> Here's the problem: there isn't any donation documentation. The items have
> been here for years(they've been stuffed in a cardboard box for at least 5).
> Some of the long term employees do remember the man who brought the items
> in, now deceased. One of the man's sons did come into the nature center afew
> years after the father died, asked for and took home a large bear mount that
> the father donated long before.
>
> I would like to find this stuff a new home. They all have beaded leather,
> the leather is deteriorating, we don't have anyplace to properly store them.
> I don't ever see a time when they'll be put on display again(our emphasis is
> East Tennessee). The older items especially do belong in a museum just not
> ours. How do I go about documenting the process? Do I track down the heir of
> the donor? Can I transfer ownership to another museum? And is there anything
> I can do to the leather in the meantime to correct the dry rot? Right now I
> have most of hte items in a acidfree box(thank you UT) and the shirt laying
> flat by the heating ducts(the only place I can keep it flat, dry and other
> people from setting things on it).
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
> Contact me either on or off line
>
> Gale
> Gale Motter                          E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> Creative Exhibits Designer
> Bays Mountain Park
> 853 Bays Mountain Park Road
> Kingsport, Tenn. 37660

Gale,

normally I would say, that you are not owning this material. There is an
exemption from the rule, keeping material over a certain period. Check this with
your lawyer.

Hope this helps.

Christian Mueller-Straten
Verlag Dr. C. Mueller-Straten, Kunzweg 23, D-81243 Muenchen,
Tel/Fax: 089-839 690 43, http://WebMuseen.de/VERLAGCMS
MAGAZINES AND BOOKS IN MUSEOLOGY (GERMAN/ENGLISH)+ GERMAN THESAURI