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,
850-474-2213
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
970-542-4011
[log in to unmask]
www.ftmorganmus.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>