Genealogical Materials – where to donate?

[Connie Springer]

Hi, I have a client who has a huge collection of genealogical records and correspondence. He has put a lot online on sites such as ancestry.com and would like to donate his paper materials somewhere, but he has had trouble finding a repository for these. Any advice as to where to donate?

[Abigail Kabaker]

Connie,

Do his materials relate to a specific location or region i.e : Silver Spring, Maryland or Montgomery County, Maryland. What about a specific ethnic/cultural/religious group (asian-american, norwegian-american, african-american, Jewish, Lutheran, etc.) etc. In my area, both the County Historical society and State Historical Society will often accept these types of records, especially if most of them pertain to the region or feature a prominent local family.

In terms of an ethnic/cultural/religious group there are places like the Finnish American Heritage Center Archive and Museum in Michigan and the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago.

[Connie Springer]

Thanks, Abigail. This is a man in Cincinnati OH. None of the cultural/ethnic groups you mentioned are true of him and his wife. I appreciate the suggestions!

[Abigail Kabaker]

How long has the family been in Cincinnati? Does the material, or good chunk of it relate to Ohio? While these may be the obvious choices, I would try contacting the Cincinnati History Library and Archives or the Ohio Historical Society. As for the cultural groups I mentioned, those were just some examples. It is quite possible that there is a cultural/ethnic society that does relate to him.

The key here is to think of a larger group that would benefit. While this material is obviously important to this man and his family, a museum, archives , or library will want to look at the collection in a wider context.

A last resort, though limited in what they will accept, may be FamilySearch While run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they collect materials from people of all backgrounds. (My father has been working at our local center with Jewish records from Eastern Europe.) Their donation guidelines are here https://familysearch.org/sites/default/uploads/Donations-Guidelines-REVISION-12-July-2012.pdf
The drawback with them is they seem to not accept audio-visual or 3-dimensional materials.

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