n.the voluntary transfer of ownership of archival resources from a donor to an archives without compensationLethbridge 1955, 93The agency’s official records (col. 6, a) consist of State and local archives; its private records (col. 6, b) consist of manuscripts, maps, broadsides, and pictures. Both State and local archives (col. 7, a and b) are acquired by voluntary deposit, gift, and occasionally by purchase.Thompson 1965, 69GIFT A voluntary transfer of real or personal property (e.g., of a manuscript) without any consideration, or more strictly without a valuable consideration.Peterson 1979, 61Gift. In legal terms, a gift means that title to the property passes from the giver to the recipient, i.e., from the donor to the archives. The common legal characteristics of a gift are a clear offer, acceptance, and delivery.Peterson and Peterson 1985, 108Gift. A voluntary transfer of property without consideration. In popular language, a voluntary conveyance or assignment is called a deed of gift. Essential requisites of a gift are capacity of donor, intention of donor to make gift, completed delivery to or for donee, and acceptance of gift by donee.Bellardo and Bellardo 1992, 16GIFT An addition to holdings acquired without monetary consideration and becoming the property of the recipient, frequently effected by a deed of gift.SAA 1993, 12Archivists should be aware of problems of ownership and should not accept gifts without being certain that the donors have the right to make the transfer of ownership.Behrnd-Klodt 2008, 280, fn. 3A gift inter vivos is a voluntary and irrevocable transfer of property made during the donor’s lifetime where the donor intends to and actually does transfer title and deliver the actual property to the recipient.MacKay 2016, 203A legal term referring to the voluntary transfer of property without getting anything in return. Oral histories are generally transferred to repositories as gifts.Glandt 2021, 24When meeting with potential donors, be sure to explain the permanent transfer of ownership, so the donor understands the finality of the gift.Hunter 2020, 79A gift is a transfer of ownership without financial consideration.archival records donated to a repositoryPeckham 1938, 220After a manuscript or a collection of manuscripts is paid for or accepted as a gift—that is, as soon as its title has passed to the library, it is accessioned in the curator’s accessions book.Morris 1941, 105–106Europe has pointed the way in the preservation of business records. The example of the Krupp works in establishing the first modern private business archives in Essen in 1905 was followed by other German industries. In the following year the first central business archives was set up in Cologne for accumulating by gift the old business records of mining, manufacturing, banking, and shipping enterprises.Browne 1949, 357Gifts of such material will be sought by the archivist through personal contacts, and through the interest and help of the staff of the University as well as of its alumni and friends. No collection or part of a collection will be purchased or acquired by gift without a previous decision of the Committee on Archives and Manuscripts on its importance and value.Lethbridge 1951, 183The Radcliffe College Library announced on February 24 the gift of seven scrapbooks of clippings about the activities of Julia Ward Howe from Rosalind Richards, a granddaughter. Many letters, manuscript speeches, et cetera, are included, covering Mrs. Howe’s activities between 1886 and 1910.Lethbridge 1953a, 75The papers of Myrtilla Miner (1815–64), founder of the school for Negro girls in Washington that has since become Miner Teachers College have been given to the library. This gift of about 400 pieces includes some of Miss Miner’s family correspondence, papers and letters pertaining to the development and operation of the school, and letters from or to students, parents, and famous nineteenth-century leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, William H. Beecher, Emma D. E. N. Southworth, President Millard Fillmore, and Gerrit Smith.Warner 1965, 251–252Church records are transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections under two different deposit arrangements. The first is outright gift of the records to the Collections; the second is to relinquish them by what we call an indefinite loan. One or the other of these same two arrangements, in fact, applies to all materials we receive. By far the great majority of materials come to the Historical Collections as outright gifts.Kaiser 1969, 104Another feature closely associated with contemporary collections is the donation of materials in segments at regular or irregular intervals. The gift may extend over a period of years. It is the unusual rather than the normal occurrence when a collecting agency can approach a prospective donor, obtain materials immediately, and consider the donation or the collection complete. A great many donors of contemporary collections are still actively engaged in their careers and will continue to accumulate papers after an initial donation.Nelson 1973, 120The Rogers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound at Lincoln Center, New York Public Library, has received from Marian Horosko a gift of 263 tapes of her radio broadcast interviews with 200 major dance figures including choreographers, dancers, musicians, critics, and producers.Plavchan 1978, 345American Jewish Historical Society. The papers of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, one of the leading figures in American Jewry in the first half of the twentieth century, are now fully cataloged and available for scholarly research. The society received this collection as a gift from Rabbi Wise’s daughter, Justine Wise Polier, and Brandeis University. Included in the collection are letters, papers, and reprint and out-of-print publications which touch upon virtually every significant aspect of American Jewish involvement and shed light on the problems of civil liberties, education, politics, labor, and war and peace.Reed-Scott 1984, 25Collection policies can be a great help in showing a donor how the sought-after gift will fit into the overall collection. Equally important, policies will assist in dealing with unwanted materials. They forestall ad hoc decisions and minimize what F. Gerald Ham has called the acquisition of “random bits and pieces,” as well as provide a documented rationale for rejecting gifts that are outside of the overall collecting scope.Kaplan 1996, 290, fn. 2Mrs. Milgram’s gift of her husband’s papers included professional correspondence, manuscripts for his numerous articles and speeches, production files for several documentary films, and course outlines and lecture notes from his years of teaching. A thorough and highly organized researcher, Milgram had also maintained files for eleven experimental studies, including protocols, data files, and data analyses.Hackbart-Dean and Morris 2003, 107In 1940, Purdue University acquired 15 cubic feet of aviator Amelia Earhart’s papers as a gift from her husband, George Palmer Putnam. The collection was primarily composed of the papers relating to Earhart’s flights, but also contained some of her mementoes and personal belongings.Caswell 2009, 137He notes that the largest collection of phone-generated materials (originating from both mobile phones and land lines) came as part of a gift from the Sonic Memorial, an audio collection of materials relating to 11 September produced by the Kitchen Sisters for National Public Radio.Austin 2015, 8Jones’s 1860 gift to the Providence Athenaeum makes the Cuccioni the first large-format art photograph owned by a cultural institution in Rhode Island, or possibly, New England.Rettig 2019, 13In front of an audience, I accepted Wright’s three boxes 30 years after the flood. The gift was unsolicited, but welcome. The public nature of the donation impressed upon me that these documents, this subject matter, was not just important historically.a financial contribution to support archival activities and programsTrever 1944b, 290More than one hundred ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the United States made use of the facilities of the foundation for research or reference during the ecclesiastical year 1943-1944, according to the annual report of the foundation to the 1944 General Assembly of that denomination. Subsequent announcement has been made of the gift of $1,000, by a friend, toward the provision of certain photographic equipment.Stewart 1976, 16In many cases a donor will have additional materials to give; either supplementary additions to the original collection, different collections, or leads to other potential donors. In some instances, donors may even support the establishment of a collection with a financial gift.Helmuth 1981, 298In management or administration courses they should acquire understanding of administrative processes, sufficient for records management; and they should learn management techniques such as planning, personnel administration, and the pursuit of funds—in grants or gifts.Lowell 1997, 163The terms of this anonymous gift called for the Delaware Public Archives to match the donated amount from nonpublic sources within Delaware. The Department of State, parent agency of the Delaware Public Archives, established an “Archives Enhancement Fund” to receive the gift and contracted with a professional development specialist to advise archives staff on mounting a campaign to match the donation.Hartsook 2000, 49The Modem Political Collections Division of the University of South Carolina’s South Caroliniana Library is relatively small. We have an ambitious collecting program and a relatively static budget that funds two full-time staff members, archival and office supplies, and other necessities. Significant private support, through endowments and direct gifts that underwrite specific projects, is essential to our vision of Modem Political Collections as a vigorous entity promoting the study of government and politics in South Carolina.McKay 2002, 31In 1998, FGS set a $1.25 million goal for its Stern NARA Gift Fund, specifically targeted toward microfilming War of 1812 pension and bounty-land warrant records and the United States Colored Troop Compiled Service Records.Wexler and Long 2009, 488I believe this trust was core to Tee’s desire to leave her entire estate to Special Collections and University Archives. She trusted me to do the right thing and knew that her gift would make a lasting impact on our efforts to preserve and make available the lesbian history of Oregon.Purcell 2015, 10Supporters contribute funding for general archival purposes or for specific projects, such as funding to purchase archival supplies to house an architectural collection. Larger donations often form endowments, and the interest generated from the base gift can be used to support daily operations, pay employee wages, or purchase new collections.Shelstad 2018, 16Work with development officers to identify and ask donors for support for collection activities and preservation. I worked to obtain the library’s first endowed fund in my first year and successfully advocated for subsequent gifts for collection support, evidenced by the gift for the digitization of the Mexican manuscript collection.Dearborn 2022, 254Some policies reference individuals, often notable for their public service and connected to the home institution, whose donations—records or financial gifts—establish the archives and direct the collecting focus.
