Tag: Acquisitions

Raymond's Store counter
Archives, Museum, Our Stories

Mom’s China, Dad’s Calendars, Your…

Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Every so often, following a Board meeting, we’ll stay behind to discuss the latest items on offer to the CMMM. Acquisitions meetings determine whether or not the Museum will accept or decline an artefact or the archival materials about which we’ve been contacted. Guidelines are in place to help make decision-making easier…

Our display space, our storage space and our volunteer resources are limited. By following our Significance Worksheet, we eliminate duplication and we maintain the museum’s focus on the stories directly relevant to the area… we work at creating a unique, manageable collection reflective of the people, events and history of the Cut Knife area.

Acquisitions: To Accept a Donation . . . or Not?

… but it’s never really easy. One night after the accept / decline process we chatted on afterwards about having to make these decisions in our personal lives about our own parents’ possessions and collections:

  • How do you refuse your Mom’s table settings when she asks if you will take them?
  • What do you do if you end up, anyway, with multiple sets of china, or silverware, or crystal glassware after she passes?
  • Do you have a place to display, or even to store your Dad’s collection of carved wooden decoys, or license plates, or calendars?
  • How do you let something go that meant so much to them, and holds so many memories for you? What will happen to it if you don’t keep it?

These are the same kinds of questions the Museum struggles with too, each time we review an artefact. We want to be able to preserve the item, to display it, and to share it, not simply to store it.

Sadly, this Trustee had the final word that night. She was describing the conversation she had had with her daughter, when she asked if she’d take home her Grandmother’s set of silver. Her daughter reacted with “What am I going to do with a set of silver?” Her mom replied, “You can do exactly what I do with it. You take it out once a year. You polish it. Then you put it back until next year.”

~ Debbie M.

outdoor exhibit machinery
Museum, Our Stories

Except One Thing

Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

Angie has been working the summer seasons at the Clayton McLain Memorial Museum since 2016. She’s the Staff Supervisor, Tour Guide, Jack-of-all-Trades, and most importantly, Assistant Curator who catalogues as many artifacts as she can, each summer, in between all of the above tasks and responsibilities. We are extremely fortunate that she is happy to return to the museum year after year.

A few weeks ago, we were talking about visitors to the CMMM and their responses to the Heritage Village. Angie noted that one of the most frequent comments she hears is, “You’ve got EVERYTHING here!” And, Angie’s response is always, “Everything. Except one thing.” Of course, we all want to know what that one thing is, and Angie’s answer surprised me, too.

The answer is jeans. Not just any old jeans, though. Angie’s referring to an authentic pair of old bib overalls that have a direct connection to the area. She said, “just ask if anybody still has a pair of Grandpa’s old jeans tucked away somewhere.” Unfortunately, both Angie and I know it’s not quite that simple.

For anyone who has an item they’re considering giving / donating / passing along to the museum, the Acquisitions Committee follows a strict set of guidelines to determine if a particular item should be added to the CMMM collections.

Read more:

On the other hand, a pair of Grandpa’s old bib overalls HAS to be relevant to the history of the area, doesn’t it?

~ Debbie M.

archives files
Archives, Our Stories

Acquisitions: To Accept a Donation . . . or Not?

Clayton McLain Memorial Museum

On March 17, 2015, the Cut Knife Chamber of Commerce dissolved. The organization had been a part of the Town since, at least, the 1970s and had hosted some well loved community traditions including the May Long Weekend Garage Sale, Oktoberfest and the Canada Day Pancake Breakfast at the Museum. However, now that it had disbanded, the question arose: What was to become of its records?

The first box of materials – with signed Transfer of Ownership, to the right. The items will be organized along timelines, described, filed in archival boxes and stored.

The Clayton McLain Memorial Museum and Archives has established a set of guidelines that helps us to determine whether, or not, a potential donation fits our mandate. These criteria were designed to keep us on track. Our display space, our storage space and our volunteer resources are limited. By following our Significance Worksheet, we eliminate duplication and we maintain the museum’s focus on the stories directly relevant to the area.

Honestly, if it were up to the individuals of the Acquisitions Committee and the Board of Trustees, we’d probably take in everything that was offered to the Museum. Most of us have a weakness for collections, for antiques, for documents and books or for items of a sentimental nature but that approach is unworkable. So, we’ve set up a procedural based upon what other museums are doing and we work at creating a unique, manageable collection reflective of the people, events and history of the Cut Knife area.

The Archives is a climate and light controlled, dust and pest free area.

The records of the Cut Knife Chamber of Commerce will be accepted into the Archives because they fit – to a tee – the requirement for historical significance: “. . . collection [that] contributes to changing the course of local history or [has] an impact on development of community.” The boxes of materials will be processed and, in time, will be available to the public for viewing or research.

~ Debbie M.