Donate to the Collection

The Park City Museum will consider for our collections objects, photographs and archival material that fit our mission statement and collecting scope.  The items must be related to the history of Park City and/or the immediate surrounding area (Snyderville, Kimball Junction, Jeremy Ranch, Keetley, Jordanelle, Mayflower, etc.) in some meaningful way.  We collect materials related to events from Park City such as the 2002 Winter Olympics, Miners’ Day (Labor Day), the Kimball Art Festival, Autumn Aloft, Sundance Film Festival and other winter or summer sporting events held in Park City.  Subjects relevant in Park City history include daily life, mining, skiing, local businesses, family history and fraternal organizations.  No matter what, the items should have a story to tell!  Stories provide the historical context that makes artifacts interesting and meaningful for our present and future community.

Items of particular interest are:

Diaries, journals and letters containing first-hand accounts of historic Park City

Photographs of identified Parkites, street scenes, architecture, businesses and events

Items related to life, business and culture in Park City

Yearbooks and local newspapers to fill in missing issues or gaps

Items that help tell stories that have been underrepresented, including the Chinese experience in Park City, the Keetley Japanese settlement, Latinos living in Park City and the LGBTQIA+ community

Items related to Parkites' experiences during COVID-19

....and more!

Because of the time, space and resources required to care for objects, museums must be selective about what they take into their collections.  We will not accept anything that does not fit our mission statement or collecting scope.  We will not accept any moldy or severely soiled materials.  If an item is in extremely poor condition, too fragile to be handled, or presents a pest concern, we cannot accept it.  Generally, we do not accept duplicate items.

The Park City Museum is a historical museum; we do not collect archeological materials or natural history specimens unless they have a strong historic tie to Park City.

We have very limited capacity to accept large or oversized objects at this time.  Items that are very large or very voluminous (many boxes of records, for example) will take a great deal of space to store properly and we must take the availability of storage space into consideration when deciding whether or not to accept donations in this category.

Due to staff time constraints, we may not be able to accept donations on short notice.  Donations require a lengthy review process before they can be accepted into the collection; this process could take weeks or months depending on staff availability.

We ask that all potential donors first contact our Curator of Collections and Exhibits, Courtney Titus at ctitus@parkcityhistory.org with a description of the donation, clear color photographs of the item(s), including views from the front, back, maker’s mark and any areas of condition concern, and any paperwork to verify the item’s provenance.  E-mail is preferred but phone calls will be accepted at 435-429-1546.

Before we can accept any item into the collection, we try to collect as much information about the item(s) as possible to determine whether they belong here.  Please be as detailed as possible in your initial e-mail by including the following:

Type of item(s)

Size/quantity – number of items, dimensions, etc.

Date or date range of items

Creator if known

How are the items related to Park City?

Condition – Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor

Current location of the item

Your ability to deliver the item (by mail or in-person to the Museum)

We receive a large number of donation offers, and every item undergoes a rigorous review process before being accepted.  It may be several weeks before you are contacted, and the entire donation process could take several months.  Please plan ahead to allow yourself enough time for this process.  A lot of thought goes into accepting potential donations and we have a very small staff to do this work, so please be patient with us.

Once a donation is researched, reviewed and accepted into the collection, the Curator will follow up with next steps, including instructions for dropping off the item at the Museum and a Deed of Gift form, which will need to be signed by both parties to finalize the donation.

If you have any questions, our Curator will gladly discuss (via phone or e-mail) materials with you or walk you through the donation process.

Please contact the Curator of Collections before dropping off any items to the Museum.  We will discuss your items and try to gather as much information as possible.  After that, we may have you schedule an appointment with the Curator to bring the items to the Museum (or mail them) and to fill out a Temporary Custody Receipt.  Please do not leave donations at the front desk or mail any items to the Museum unless asked to do so by the Curator.

Unsolicited donations received through the mail or dropped off at the Museum without a signed Temporary Custody Receipt will be considered abandoned property.  Abandoned property will be assessed as to whether it has value to the collection.  If the objects are not being considered for the collection, they will be disposed of at the discretion of the Museum.

We cannot guarantee that an item donated to the Museum will ever go on exhibit.  The Museum has limited gallery space, and long-term display can have a negative impact on an object’s condition.  Items in the permanent collection that are not on display are stored in secure, climate-controlled storage areas for optimal preservation.  They are also made available to researchers through our collections database, PastPerfect.

The Museum may occasionally accept short-term loans for specific temporary exhibit purposes.  We do not accept long-term loans.

No.  Items that have been formally donated to and accessioned by the Museum cannot be returned to the donor or their descendants.  A signed Deed of Gift transfers ownership of the items and all associated rights and interests to the Park City Museum.  This form is required for all accepted donations to the permanent collection.  The Museum hold its items in the public trust, which means that the public has ownership of each item as a piece of community history.  The item no longer belongs to one person but to the entire community.

We do not want anyone to donate items that are still important family pieces or that a family member will continue to treasure.  Any items donated to the Museum must have free and clear title.  If family members disagree about where the items belong, that needs to be worked out within the family before donating to the Museum.  If and when the time comes that the family no longer wants to keep the item, please contact us to inquire about donating it.

We depend almost exclusively on the generosity of donors to add to our collections.  We will only purchase items in exceptional cases.  On these occasions, in keeping with ethical practices we cannot suggest or set the purchase price, but can only react to prices set by the seller.

No.  Under the American Alliance of Museums Code of Ethics, museum staff are prohibited from providing a financial appraisal of any historical item.  Any desired appraisal should take place prior to collections transfer and is the financial responsibility of the donor.

Donations to the Park City Museum are generally tax-deductible.  Consult with a tax specialist to determine your eligibility.  You may also consult Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 526, Charitable Contributions and Publication No. 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property.  An appraisal may be necessary to receive a tax deduction.  The donor is responsible for contacting an appraiser for evaluations for tax purposes prior to any donation to the Museum.

The Museum may, with approval from the Collections Committee, remove objects, photos or documents from the collections though a process called deaccessioning.  Items that are damaged beyond repair, have a condition that puts other parts of the collections at risk, are duplicative of other items in the collections, or are outside the scope of the collections may be considered for deaccessioning.  Deaccessioned material may be donated to another museum, cultural or educational organization, or it may be disposed of in a responsible manner.

Collections are made available to researchers and the public through our collections database, PastPerfect.  This can be accessed in our Research Library by appointment only.  Please contact our Research Coordinator, Dalton Gackle, at research@parkcityhistory.org or 435-429-1540 to schedule an appointment.