Dear Marguerite,
Well,
if you didn’t accession it,
then you don’t need to deaccession it. The easiest answer would be
to decline that portion of the donation and return it to the donor. Even if
you did accession it, I would just
follow your normal deaccession procedures and then return it to the donor.
There also might be legal and ethical
issues that should be discussed with the state archaeologist (for example, is this a previously unknown cemetery that needs
documentation or protection? Are there human remains there that need to
be addressed?).
Depending on the circumstances of how it
was found, the donor may not have
had the right to offer it in the first place. I wouldn’t send it
off unless you’re completely sure the donor has rightful ownership.
Sincerely,
Kris Zickuhr
Registrar
Wisconsin Veterans Museum
From: Museum discussion list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Marguerite Radhakrishnan
Sent: Saturday, November 29,
2008 10:23 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Tombstones
We received a hundred-year-old tombstone along with a collection of
documents. While we do want the documents,
we are not interested in the tombstone -- there is no information about its
background (we were told that someone found it while gardening, and we do not know the date or the address where
it was found), and the name does not
show up in city directories for the relevant dates,
so we have no knowledge of the person. It does not fit with our
collecting policy and is also very heavy -- in short,
we don't want it. The question is: how does one go about properly
deaccessioning a tombstone? Does anyone have any suggestions for what
type of facility might be interested in a tombstone with just a name, a date,
and a general location for its unearthing? If no one wants it, what is the right way to divest oneself of an
unwanted tombstone?
Marguerite
Radhakrishnan, Archivist I
Houston Metropolitan Research
Center
500 McKinney
Houston, TX 77002
832.393.1654
Marguerite.Radhakrishnan@cityofhouston.net
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