Hello all, We have an item in our collection which has great historic value and which we intend to use as a marketing tool. In reviewing our accessions records we find that the object was only loaned to us back in 1948 and as far as we know was not otherwise given to us as an official gift to the collections. We do have a letter from the donor from 1958 requesting a letter from the Museum confirming that this item was only given as a loan, in the event that any future family members may wish to repossess the item. Unfortunately we do not have a copy of the requested letter if it was written. There are a few family members living in the community and some feel that it is time to approach them about the situation but are unsure of just how to proceed. I should note that our current collections policy states that items loaned to the Museum become permanent gifts to the collections after a period of five years (unless other arrangements have been made) - a scary thought in itself! But this was undoubtedly not the case when the item came to us in 1948. Has anyone had a similar experience who would be willing to share or give some guidance on this? thank you, Dana Street -- Dana C. Street Curator Martha's Vineyard Museum PO Box 1310 59 School St. Edgartown, MA 02539 508.627.4441 ext.111 [log in to unmask] www.mvmuseum.org ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).