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1 SAMPLE DOCUMENT Type of Document: Collections Plan Date: 2006 Museum Name: Historic Columbia Foundation Type: Historic Site/Landscape Budget Size: $250,000 to $999,000 Budget Year: 2007 Governance Type: Private, Nonprofit Organization Accredited: Yes Notes on strengths or special features: The document has the following elements: Identifies museum s audiences and how they will be served by the collections Reviews strengths and weaknesses of existing collections Includes gap analysis suggesting potential acquisitions & deaccessions Sets priorities for acquisitions and deaccessions Identifies collections held by other institutions that may affect museum s decisions Takes into account existing or needed resources Tied to interpretive plan (formal or informal) Tied to research plan (formal or informal) Other: History of the collection and collecting practices, Tied to overall Strategic Plan Implementation Plan USE STATEMENT & COPYRIGHT NOTICE The AAM Information Center has provided this sample document. It serves as an example of how one museum addresses a particular issue. Museums should compose original materials based on their unique circumstances. Any document produced by the recipient should not substantially use the contents of this sample as the basis. Materials in the AAM Information Center are provided "as is," without any guarantee or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. NOTICE CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS Under certain conditions specified in the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), libraries and archives may furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. The photocopy or reproduction may not be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of fair use, that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

2 Permanent Museum Collections Strategic Plan FY2006-FY2011 Executive Summary Artifacts form the foundation of any museum, as defined by the American Association of Museums (AAM). The collection, management, and preservation of historic artifacts is central to Historic Columbia Foundation s mission, which is to nurture, support and protect the historical and cultural heritage of Columbia and its environs through programs of advocacy, education and preservation. In January 2006, Historic Columbia Foundation unveiled a new strategic plan outlining the institution s goals, courses of action, and deliverables from The following document serves as a departmental supplement for the Foundation s main strategic plan and is intended to establish clear, achievable, and realistic goals for the institution s permanent museum collection and those staff tasked with its management. Purpose of the Plan The purpose of the following strategic collections plan is multifold: Establish an intellectual framework that outlines the future parameters of Historic Columbia Foundation s permanent museum collection. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the existing permanent museum collection in order to properly align future acquisitions and de-accessions with established strategic interpretative goals, understanding that growth and refinement of the existing collection will enhance visitation, public education and efforts to preserve local material culture. Promote a heightened understanding on the part of Historic Columbia Foundation s leaders, staff and various constituents of the institution s current holdings, and management resources, and elucidate future collecting and management strategies as defined by strategic interpretive goals. Create a roadmap for transforming Historic Columbia Foundation s permanent museum collection from an assortment of historic artifacts largely assembled for their temporal representation of certain eras represented within the four historic house museums into a dynamic assemblage of locally produced and/or used material culture suitable for use within these important sites and permanent and temporary exhibits located within other future venues. Historic Columbia Foundation Page 1

3 Audience As Historic Columbia Foundation s permanent museum collection is intended to serve a variety of constituents this document is designed to be accessible and used by several internal and external audiences, including, though not limited to, Historic Columbia Foundation s staff, Collections and Interpretation Advisory Committee, Board of Trustees, membership, volunteers, sister organizations, funding sources and potential donors. Institutional Values Statement As a steward of considerable cultural assets, Historic Columbia Foundation believes collecting, preserving and interpreting local history and material culture plays an integral role in heightening the economic vitality of, and quality of life for, the citizens of Columbia and Richland County through heritage tourism. Authorship and Process John Sherrer, Historic Columbia Foundation s Director of Collections and Interpretation compiled information and wrote the initial draft of this collections strategic plan for review by Executive Director Robin Waites, Collections Manager Shelia Washington, Curatorial Assistant Jennifer Thrailkill, and members of the institution s Collections and Interpretation Advisory Committee. Reviewers were chosen for their expertise in museum administration, collections management, registration, conservation and interpretation. Moreover, key volunteers, such as Rodger Stroup (the current Director of the South Carolina State Department of Archives and History and the former Executive Director of Historic Columbia Foundation), represented within the Collections and Interpretation Committee, brought to bear considerable institutional memory regarding Historic Columbia Foundation s collecting practices over the past 30 years. Sherrer subsequently edited the original document, incorporating content and editorial suggestions as submitted by these various contributors. A final draft was presented to Robin Waites for her review and subsequent submission to Historic Columbia Foundation s Board of Trustees. Initial preparation and subsequent editing for final submission of this strategic collections plan incorporated a number of institutional guiding documents, including, though not limited to, Historic Columbia Foundation s Strategic Plan, and resource factors, such as personnel, space requirements, and financial wherewithal. While acknowledging current realities, this plan promotes growth and refinement of the existing permanent museum collection through a holistic institutional commitment to its maturation whose goal is to better fulfill the spirit of Historic Columbia Foundation s mission. Profile of Existing Collection As of 2006, Historic Columbia Foundation maintains approximately 6138 artifacts in its permanent museum collection reflecting life in 18 th -, 19 th -, and early 20 th -century Columbia, South Carolina. Most of these artifacts have been owned outright since their entry into the permanent museum collection. However, through the recent dissolution of the Richland County Historic Preservation Commission, which formerly both owned and Historic Columbia Foundation Page 2

4 had on loan to it (both active and inactive) museum collections items, Historic Columbia Foundation s permanent museum collection has grown by 133 individual items. Of the total number of items maintained by Historic Columbia Foundation 4581 have been formally accessioned and entered into PastPerfect, the Foundation s registration database. At the time of this document s creation 1568 artifacts (largely textiles and small artifacts), carry no formal accession, yet have been accounted for through inventory. Artifacts mostly fall within the range of Federal ( ), neoclassical ( ), antebellum ( ), Civil War ( ), late Victorian ( ), and Depression era (1930s) periods. The majority of artifacts simply represents a certain era and is not of local origin or use. However, the collection does contain Hampton, Preston, Mann, Simons, and Wilson family pieces, to which Historic Columbia Foundation holds the majority of titles. Objects vary in composition, size, and contributing value and include furniture, various decorative arts, fine art, textiles, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera. Materials include wood, ceramics, glass, paper, cloth, precious metals, and animal products (fur, leather, feathers, ivory, bone). As with most museums, Historic Columbia Foundation maintains a permanent collection that contains pieces with varying degrees of interpretive importance and physical quality. This can be attributed to several factors: Interpretive interests at the time of artifact collecting; level of professionalism by staff members and board members at the time of collecting; and the level of rigidity with which collecting guidelines were observed. In some instances numbers of artifacts were received into the permanent collection so that a handful of highly contributing pieces may be acquired. The permanent museum collection has experienced many different eras of growth and retrenchment with the following episodes being the most notable: Restoration of the Robert Mills House Collecting during this era involved the accessioning of many fine examples of fine and decorative arts, both domestic and imported (English and French), reflecting the late 18 th through first quarter 19 th centuries. At this time the Foundation did a very fine job of securing contributions from founding members and key community representatives. Also at this time some items, inappropriate in terms of date of use, such as a moderately sized toy collection and some ceramics and kitchen items, were brought into the collection to help flesh out the historic house appearance of the property Restoration of the Woodrow Wilson Boyhood (now Family) Home By the time Historic Columbia Foundation assumed control of the 28 th President s home, the site had been run for over thirty years by the Women s Auxiliary of the American Legion. The site s artifacts included highly important pieces, such as the bed in which Wilson was born and other family items, as well as pieces of minor historical or representative value. Historic Columbia Foundation Page 3

5 Restoration of the Hampton-Preston Mansion With the establishment of the Midlands Tricentennial Exposition Center at this historic property, Historic Columbia Foundation received large quantities of artifacts relating to the Hampton family, including silver, ceramics, fine art, furnishings, books, personal accoutrements, etc. This windfall represented the greatest collection of artifacts valued for its high quality; its representation of material culture from the 1830s through 1860s; and its associative value with one of the area s most influential antebellum families Restoration of the Mann-Simons Cottage The establishment of the Center for Afro-American Culture at the site formerly owned by free-black midwife Celia Mann and subsequent generations of her family represented a true grassroots preservation movement of an important historic site. Unlike the approaches taken at the previous historic house museums, however, collecting at the Mann-Simons Cottage did not benefit from vast amounts of family-related artifacts, nor was a strict interpretive scheme established so that the site would represent a certain era. Artifact registration for the collections at this site did not parallel that at the other historic house museums, as the cottage was run as a quasi-independent museum until the early 1990s. No photo documentation of artifacts occurred, nor were any condition reports run on artifacts. Staff at the cottage employed a numbering system divergent from that used at the sites under Historic Columbia Foundation s immediate supervision and, in some cases, scant information was recorded as to artifact significance and rationale for inclusion in the collection. What transpired at the cottage during its early years mirrored that which plagued some early collecting practices at the Robert Mills House when that site was amassing artifacts During the management of the historic house museums by the Richland County Historic Preservation Commission, several items were introduced into the properties that have had lasting management repercussions. Though officially accessioned into the permanent museum collection of the RCHPC, these items management fell to Historic Columbia Foundation when the properties stewardship reverted to the Foundation in early Further complicating matters was the abandonment of these items when the RCHPC s last staff person retired in Artifacts accessioned by the RCHPC ranged from interpretively usable furnishings to items outside the sites interpretive scope, such as a Tiffany style lamp Introduction of the Jennie Feagle Collection After several years of benefiting from select loans from this local avid collector Historic Columbia Foundation received a significant bequest of hundreds of artifacts, many of which were incorporated into the interpretation of the Woodrow Wilson Family (Boyhood) Home. Along with artifacts carrying interpretative merit came items that fell well outside the interpretive needs and scope of the historic house museums. Some such items, such as a large selection of Mrs. Feagle s Meissen china collection, were placed on display within custom-built cabinets at the Seibels House. While perhaps beneficial as backdrops for the site s party and meeting rentals, these interpretively noncontributing artifacts were not as protected as those located within the historic Historic Columbia Foundation Page 4

6 house museums. A break-in over the July 4 th weekend in 2004 claimed several items. All remaining artifacts were removed thereafter and placed in storage until their deaccession in January Historic Columbia Foundation received ten artifacts, de-accessioned by the Charleston Museum, into its permanent museum collection. These items, including four Sheraton style chairs, a Rococo Revival over mantel mirror, an Empire style pier mirror, center table, and server, and two balloon-back chairs, were of strong representative value for the years and were placed within both the Hampton-Preston Mansion and the Robert Mills House to bolster those properties presentation After discovering that virtually none of the several hundred books located within the historic house museums had ever been formally accessioned Curator of Collections Elizabeth Bailey spent several months during the summer cataloging over 480 artifacts and creating hard-copy accession records Establishment of the Fall Line Consortium by Historic Columbia Foundation and eight sister organizations prompted the Foundation to more closely narrow its scope of collecting to local material culture. Since that time the Foundation has added over 60 items of a local nature, ranging from historic images (postcards of the historic house museum properties, local landmarks, and Main Street shots; 1870s illustrated newspapers; 1870s stereograph cards; 1870s/1880s-era illustrated souvenir booklets); locally manufactured and used furnishings; an 1855 men s vest from local tailor W.W. Walker; examples of locally sold and used silver, both hollowware and flatware; a Preston family silver ladle and carte de visit; locally minted Confederate currency; and a 1849 portrait by William H. Scarborough. Collections Management Activity Concurrent with the most recent spate of collecting has been the assessment of items previously contained within the permanent collections to determine their strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for future use in Historic Columbia executing its mission. Subsequent action from this inquiry has involved the de-accession of several hundred artifacts, mostly representing portions of the Feagle Collection, deemed of little interpretive value to the overall collection. Observing de-accession guidelines set forth by the American Association of Museums, an out-of-state public auctioneer carried out this de-accession in January 2006 in order to minimize the potential for negative local public relations, as well as to remove any potential conflict of interest of local collectors who may be members of the Foundation. Monies realized from the liquidation of this collection, comprised mostly of Bohemian glass, Meissen china and other ceramics, allowed Historic Columbia Foundation to establish a collections acquisitions and conservation fund dedicated exclusively to the betterment of the permanent museum collection through new acquisitions and care of existing pieces. Other artifacts within the permanent museum collection also merit de-accessioning due to their lack of interpretive value, physical state, or redundancy to the collection. This problem spans all aspects of the collection, but is most obvious in the textile, furniture, and ceramics and glass Historic Columbia Foundation Page 5

7 aspects. As in previous instances, the future liquidation of these cultural resources will be performed in compliance with existing Historic Columbia Foundation curatorial procedures that ensure their ethical disposition. Conservation of items contained within the permanent museum collection has also been a growing concern for Historic Columbia Foundation s staff. Currently, a 1850s-era marble garden fountain crafted by Hiram Powers for the Hampton-Preston Mansion is undergoing major conservation. Future conservation most likely will turn to much of the Foundation s fine art, both portraiture and landscape paintings, which are in need of cleaning and removal of over painting. Cataloguing and assessing the collections located within the Mann-Simons Cottage in an effort to upgrade their management was initiated in the fall of As of May 2006, all field work, or physical inventorying, photographing, and condition reporting has been completed. Entry of information into the Foundation s registration database is underway and will be completed within Future Collecting Parameters Over the past forty years Historic Columbia Foundation s collecting habits have been formed almost exclusively by the need to represent the area s past through the interpretation of the four historic house museums. This policy, by its nature, has naturally excluded material culture that would have effectively conveyed other aspects of the city and county s past, had they been displayed in a more traditional museum venue. A pitfall of this historic approach is the potential for the Foundation to lose relevance to broader museum audiences. In an attempt to reach wider audiences and better convey the area s history in a more synthetic fashion thematically, chronologically, and demographically, Historic Columbia Foundation should revise its future collecting parameters, while acknowledging three major factors: 1) exhibition space, 2) artifact storage space, and 3) staffing. While cognizant of these issues and their impact on collections management future collecting parameters should assume the following three-pronged approach: Enhance the interpretation of the four historic house museums by bolstering existing period rooms with needed items and introducing new period rooms and rotating exhibit spaces. o Presentation within the Hampton-Preston Mansion existing dining room should be improved to include complete place settings. Interpretation at the site should grow in new directions to include representation of a women s dormitory room reflecting the site s use as the College for Women and Chicora College and the property s time as a 1940s-1960s apartment complex. o The Woodrow Wilson Family Home should more realistically represent the family s experience, with particular detail to what forms of material culture would have been available to them during Columbia Reconstruction-era experience. Historic Columbia Foundation Page 6

8 o The Mann-Simons Cottage should be represented as a 1920s home thereby showcasing the family s activity during Jim Crow era Columbia, which would allow for the site s material culture to straddle the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. o The Robert Mills House could grow to accommodate more neutral, non-period room exhibition space that would allow for the interpretation of decorative arts reflecting local trends during the 19 th century. Continue to grow the permanent museum collection s historic images and ephemera that lend themselves to placement within temporary exhibits at host institutions, presence on the web in the form of virtual exhibits, and to driving the Foundation s historic preservation-based education and programmatic initiatives. Such collecting should include the substantial growth of the Foundation s existing historic postcard collection, as well as enhancing the photographic history of previously under- or unrepresented citizens of Columbia or Richland County. Consistent with the growth, Historic Columbia Foundation must ensure that its staff is knowledgeable of both conservation and digital manipulation and storage of these items so that they may be rendered easily accessible to the public. With the idea of institutional growth facilities-wise in mind, identify and pursue a variety of artifacts suitable for display within more traditional museum settings. Artifacts should be exemplary of various interpretative periods and themes as deemed central to implementing Historic Columbia Foundation s overall strategic plan at the time. In this manner the Foundation can ensure that it is ready to respond to the changing nature of its constituents over time and it can promote continued learning through compelling material culture not germane to the interpretation at the four historic house museums. Implementation Plan The implementation of this strategic plan will rest primarily upon the Collections Department staff, with oversight from Historic Columbia Foundation s Executive Director and input from the Collections and Interpretation Committee. The steps to take, those responsible for taking them, and the timeline for their completion, are as follows: Re-inventory all collections located on display within the historic house museums and within storage, ensuring that all artifacts are photographed, labeled with object identification numbers; and entered into the PastPerfect registration database. Collections Manager, FY ; FY Identify candidates for inclusion under the Abandoned Cultural Properties Act. Complete process to obtain title to identified artifacts. Collections Manager, FY Historic Columbia Foundation Page 7

9 Analyze newly revised inventory and earmark potential candidates for future deaccessioning. Draft de-accession lists for review by Executive Director and BOT. Director of Collections and Interpretation, FY Coordinate with Collections Manager the de-accession of artifacts through public auction and institutional transfer. Utilizing realized funding, further dedicate monies to an acquisitions and conservation pool. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Executive Director, FY Continue to identify and address gaps in current holdings of 19 th -century collections of local material culture; establish forums for discussion of potential growth in terms of 20 th- and 21 st - century historical artifacts; formulate potential acquisitions lists; cultivate potential donors; and secure new accessions, both through passive and active collecting practices. Potential immediate acquisitions include recently discovered examples of Hampton family silver and circa-1795 Charleston linen press/secretary/dresser. Potential future collecting of 19 th -century artifacts should include images of Columbia and Richland County; ceramics known through archaeological investigation to have been used at historic house museums; further examples of locally made or used furnishings, paintings, etc. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections and Interpretation Advisory Committee, FY Heighten the public s awareness as to the Foundation s collecting interest through the website, on-going research and publications, such as Historically Speaking; exhibitions; and personal and committee contacts. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Executive Director, Collections and Interpretation Advisory Committee, FY Dedicate funds from one year s capital campaign to the betterment of the collections, i.e. bolstering the fund for acquisitions and conservation. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Director of Development, Executive Director, FY Decline offers to accession artifacts that were not locally significant; artifacts for which the Foundation has better examples; reproduction items; and pieces that will not fit within the newly established collecting parameters. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Executive Director, FY Identify the physical storage needs of current and future permanent museum collections. Investigate alternatives to current collections storage areas and relocate artifacts accordingly. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Executive Director, FY Identify and prioritize candidates for conservation; investigate conservation costs; and begin conservation of most needy and worthy artifacts. Director of Collections and Interpretation and Collections Manager, FY Historic Columbia Foundation Page 8

10 Re-evaluate the collection plan within the next strategic planning cycle to ensure that existing plan remains aligned with overall institutional strategic plan s interpretive and programmatic interests and goals. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Executive Director, FY Ensure that all collections-based activities are in compliance with the American Association of Museums code of ethics. Director of Collections and Interpretation, Collections Manager, Executive Director, FY Evaluation While accomplishing many or all of the aforementioned objectives certainly could connote success, perhaps the greatest measure of Historic Columbia Foundation s success in achieving its collections-oriented goals will be in the effects these steps have on the institution s constituents, particularly in terms of dynamic and meaningful educational experiences, be they historic house museum tours, exhibits, publications, the website, programs, or research. Historic Columbia Foundation Page 9