The donations were indeed donations and signed by donors at the time.
It makes
no difference if groups amend or change their bylaws later. There is an
old legal
axiom that is partly true "possession is nine-tenths of the law." But
the basis is
real.
If you can also point out that you are providing preservation, access,
and availability
to researchers then .... the bylaws were changed out of fear that the
history of the
organization was being lost . . . you are wonderfully (and even before
such a change)
providing the positive preservation and access today.
The key is to remain positive, focused, upbeat, and happy that these
individuals and
organization made such a choice.
Dean
Dean DeBolt
University Librarian, Special Collections
John C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514-5750
850-474-2213
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________________________________
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Curator
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 11:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: returning scrapbooks to original organization
Hi-
I have a feeling this topic has been touched on before, but I wasn't
coming up with the correct words to find it in the archives, so....
We have scrapbooks and other documents from a national women's
organization that deal with their local chapter. Most of these items
were donated by individuals, but the donor of record on one collection
is the local chapter itself, signed by the president at the time. In
the intervening years the organization's by-laws have been modified to
say that no items (scrapbooks, yearbooks, certificates, etc.) may be
held by a public institution and giving the chapters guidelines for the
care and feeding of these items. The by-laws also say that items that
have been "placed" in other institutions need to be rescued and returned
to where they belong. This means that members of the local chapter are
wanting these items back. I don't want to give them back. My argument
is that the donations predate the modification of the organizations
by-laws, therefore they're mine. The items were given/received in good
faith and have been stored and cared in the intervening years. Their
argument is that their organization compiled the scrapbooks and that
their by-laws say they have to have them.
To make life even more interesting two of the scrpbooks were compiled on
ledgers that contained the county's poor rolls. We have been unable to
determine how the organization got the ledgers, but our argument is
that the ledgers trumps the scrapbook and so their isn't really any
negotiating on those. They have to stay here.
So, the big question is, "What do I do next?" How have other
institutions handled it when something similar occurred and who won and
is it worth the fight vs. the bad publicity. I'm sure I will have other
questions before this is all done, but right now my brain is spinning to
much to really think what they might be.
Thanks
Nikkie
Nikkie Cooper, Curator
Fort Morgan Museum
P.O. Box 184
Fort Morgan, CO 80701
970-542-4011
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www.ftmorganmus.org
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