Donate to the Collection

Please review the information below regarding the donation of objects & documents to The History Museum’s Collection. Please do not drop off items to The History Museum without contacting us first. For any additional questions or concerns, use our collections contact form below or call us at 406-452-3462.

 

The purpose of the Cascade County Historical Society/The History Museum’s permanent collection is to collect, document, and preserve items of historical importance to Cascade County and the North Central Montana region.

Donating an object

The History Museum collects objects that tell the story of Cascade County and North Central Montana.

To donate a three-dimensional object to The History Museum’s collection, please begin by contacting Ashleigh McCann, Collections Curator at 406-452-3462 or by email collections@thehistorymuseum.org.

Do not drop off items without contacting The History Museum first.

The Collections Curator will ask you a few questions about your item, namely the item’s history of ownership, the age of the item, and most importantly, the item’s connection to Cascade County or North Central Montana. The History Museum cannot accept items that are simply old, they must be able to illustrate the story of our local history.

Offered items must be put through an accessions committee before they are accepted in to The History Museum’s collection. This may take a few weeks, since we make efforts to not accept duplicate items to our collection and to do as much research on an item as necessary before accepting it.

Please note: The History Museum Collections Department cannot accept items that

  1. Have no relevance to Cascade County or North Central Montana

  2. Come with restrictions, such as permanent display or exhibition of an entire collection

  3. Are in too poor condition or would have extraordinary storage needs

The History Museum must be reasonably assured that the donor has legal title to the object and can convey that title to the Museum. The Museum cannot accept items known to have been illegally imported or acquired, or to have resulted from the improper destruction of historic or archaeological sites, buildings, districts, or objects.

 
 

Donating archival material

The History Museum collects researchable materials that tell the story of Cascade County and North Central Montana.

A few examples of what The History Museum Archives collects:

  • Photographs of identified people, buildings, or landscapes

  • Yearbooks

  • Letters

  • Journals or diaries

  • Maps, blueprints, renovation information, architectural drawings

  • Scrapbooks

  • Business records, business or local pamphlets/brochures/other ephemera

  • City records

  • Published local history or locally written fiction or nonfiction

  • Oral histories

All of the above must be related to Cascade County or North Central Montana. The Archives cannot accept materials that are simply old.

To donate researchable material to The History Museum, please begin by contacting Megan Sanford, Archives Administrator at 406-452-3462 or by email archives@thehistorymuseum.org.

Do not drop off items without contacting The History Museum first.

Please note: The History Museum Archives does not accept the following examples:

  • Newspapers (we may accept popular headlines to sell with explicit donor permission)

  • Photographs which cannot be connected to our collecting scope

  • National-level publications (such as LIFE or National Geographic magazine)

  • State-level publications (some exceptions may apply)

Donation to the Collection Submission form

Please share as much information as possible about the item(s) you wish to donate to The History Museum. Our Collections Curator will respond to your email as soon as possible. Please allow at least four weeks for the accessions committee to review your offered item(s) as we must conduct as much research as possible to determine if your donation fits the needs and the mission of our collection.