From: "Seymour, Janet I - WHS" <Janet.Seymour@wisconsinhistory.org> Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 10:27:16 -0600 Subject: RE: Temporary Custody Receipt & Deed of Gift forms issue Message-ID: <488E289A5C909049B0E55F6B651B5B3501E8EF00B7E3@MEWMAD0PC01G02.accounts.wistate.us>
List Serve members,
This can be a common problem for local societies. For your reference, I hav
e attached a workbook on collections policies that addresses de-accessionin
g as well as a specific WI law that relates to museums and abandoned proper
ty. See page 16 for that information.
Here is a little bit of information about the Abandoned Property Act, plus
a link to the full statute.
Abandoned Property Act.
Have you ever wondered what you should do with a collection of historical r
ecords or papers that
someone (you might not even know who) loaned, deposited, or simply left at
your historical society long
ago? Because you do not legally own the collection, you naturally hesitate
to devote time and attention to it
or to ask another place to care for it.
In 1993, the State Legislature passed a new law to help you with a situatio
n like this. 1993
Wisconsin Act 18 created a procedure by which museums and archives can acqu
ire title to collections that
were left on loan or deposit and never reclaimed or returned. The purpose o
f this change to Chapter 171,
subchapter II of the Wisconsin Statutes is to help museums and archives leg
ally care for collections that
have in effect been abandoned at their doorsteps.
It is important for you to read the act in its entirety, because it include
s definitions of both archives
and museums that limit the applicability of its provisions. The act also sp
ecifies in detail a variety of
requirements for assuming legal title to collections that have been abandon
ed. These requirements include
notifications and responses to ownership claims. These requirements are too
detailed to include in this
manual, but we have included the full text of the Act here.
If you need to deal with a collection which has been left at your historica
l society, you can do so
with confidence in your legal rights by following the provisions of this ac
t.
Here is the link to the statute: http://nxt.legis.state.wi.us/nxt/gateway.d
ll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&d=stats&jd=171%20subchapter%20II.
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Stay informed about upcoming events and connect with local history and pres
ervation colleagues across the state.
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Janet Seymour
Field Services Representative - Northern Region, Wisconsin Historical Socie
ty
c/o Department of History, UW-Eau Claire
105 Garfield Avenue Eau Claire WI 54701
Voice: 715-836-2250
Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing Stories Since 1846
________________________________
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu [ [localhistory-request@listser
ve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Jack Berndt [JFBerndt1@frontier.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 3:34 PM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: Temporary Custody Receipt & Deed of Gift forms issue
In the past year 2010, a new staff of volunteers has discovered upwards of
a hundred-plus (no exact number...) old Temporary Custody Receipt (TCR) for
ms scattered about our museum. These are copied word for word from the Past
Perfect software program and typically include the donor's name. As I'm su
re many of you know, the TCR forms represent the initial phase in acquiring
an artifact, and when correct procedure is followed, the next step is to c
omplete and sign the Deed of Gift, to ensure legal ownership of a donation.
Therein lies our problem - for whatever reason in the past - a subsequent
Deed of Gift was not completed much of the time. In addition, the TCRs are
often partially filled out, some are signed by the donor, many are not. Cho
ice boxes were left unchecked. These forms go back through the past decade,
into the late 1990s. And as you might expect, a few of the donors are no l
onger living.
From an ethical and/or legal standpoint, are we as the current museum caret
akers obligated to go through each and every one of these aged and inherite
d TCR forms in an attempt to secure a signed Deed of Gift from the donor; o
r when warranted, relatives of the donor? We have been doing this, but it i
s a daunting and overwhelming task in terms of time and research. Our histo
rical society has a very small number of staff (all unpaid volunteers) and
given the usual attrition with this kind of help, it will predictably take
years and years to work on this problem. And the final count is not in... w
e are continually finding more TCRs as we look through and catalog our coll
ection!
Our museum has recently changed the collections policy so that from now on,
"going forward" - a Deed of Gift is immediately signed by a donor giving u
s legal ownership of an item(s) at the time of the initial exchange. Based
on these findings as described, the Board of Directors is also asking this
important question: do we legally own the articles in our museum when there
is no documented signed Deed of Gift, only a signedTemporary Custody Recei
pt associated with that item?
We're considering legal consultation at some point, but are curious if this
scenario is unique or have other museums encountered a similar situation.
Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed.
Thank you,
Jack Berndt,
Sauk Prairie Area Historical Society
Board of Directors & Acting Museum Manager