A Donation a Day

June 8th, 2011 |

Ceramics and glass storage at Kemerer Museum

Since I arrived at Historic Bethlehem Partnership last August, the task that has remained at the top of the to-do list has been to inventory and assess the collections across the Partnership.  Already in full swing at the Kemerer Museum, we have now come very close to counting, documenting and updating the records for everything that has been collected at that institution.   In the past few weeks the contents on display in the house  at Burnside Plantation have been recorded, and we are now turning our attention to the Moravian Museum, an institution that has been actively collecting since the 1930s.

The statistics garnered from inventorying allow us to better understand the scope and contents of our collections, to assess our storage needs and most importantly, to guide us in future collecting.  The Kemerer Museum inventory revealed that the institution has amassed over 15,000 objects since it began collecting in 1957.  That is approximately 284 objects each year, or 5.5 per week.  Although these numbers might imply that EVERYTHING offered for donation was accepted, this was most assuredly not the case.  The objects held in the Kemerer Museum collection were all specifically chosen based on the mission of the museum and the history of the Lehigh Valley.  What these numbers do show is the sheer amount of objects that were, and are still, offered for donation each and every week.

Textile Storage at Kemerer Museum

When a museum accepts an object for inclusion into its collections, it does so with the promise to care for that object forever.  Occasionally some objects are removed from the collection for safety reasons (the object has deteriorated beyond repair and/or will potentially cause harm to other objects) or due to changes in the collecting patterns of the organization.

I am tasked with the responsibility of fielding donation offers for Historic Bethlehem’s partner organizations.  I will admit that this is one the most challenging aspects of my work.  Every single week I am presented with multiple offers of wonderful examples of history: photographs, documents, furniture, paintings, tools, etc.  And while most of the objects are fascinating to me, I unfortunately have to remain extremely strict about what is accepted for the collections.  Additional objects increase the needs for resources such as staff time, storage, environmental control, insurance and security costs.  We have to remain diligent in order to remain responsible care-takers of history.  So while we always encourage individuals to keep us in mind when treasures are found in attics and basements, the reality is that in order to save our history, we have to let some of it go.

Share This