Collections

Clay County Heritage has been collecting Clay County artifacts since 1960.  Over 18,000 artifacts are recorded in our Past Perfect database, and this continues to grow year after year.  Items in our collection are featured in exhibits or stored in our archival storage at the Heritage Center.

What is the process of donating an item to Clay County Heritage?

• Once you bring in an object, photo, book, or archival piece to CCH, our Director of Collections reviews the item to make sure we do not have duplicates.  If you are planning to donate your items permanently to CCH, you will fill out a Gift Agreement.  This is a signed document that legally allows CCH to take your item and use it for our organization’s purposes. 
• Our Director of Collections will then accession the item.  The accessioning process involves assigning a number to the item, carefully recording the item information in a ledger, and then recording the item information in our museum computer software, Past Perfect.
• Once the item is accessioned, we find a permanent spot to keep it in storage until we use it for an exhibit or research.  CCH uses careful storage and archival practices to protect all items in the collection. 
• CCH has thousands of donated items in its collection, and we have been organizing our collection for decades.  It can sometimes be a very laborious process to accession items, especially if there are many items donated.  We appreciate your donations and do our best at professionally archiving them for future use and enjoyment. 

 If you have an item you would like donated or loaned to the Heritage Center, please call the Heritage Center at 712-262-3304 or email the Director of Collections at registrar@claycountyheritage.org.