An explanation of the donation process, based on an actual example

Part One: Contact

When someone calls the Historical Society regarding something they want to donate I am the one they need to speak to; as curator I apply the criteria for acceptance and decide whether to accept the item. If I think the article should be accepted I will bring it to the collections committee for approval. But now and then something comes along that is so wonderful and so clearly a part of local history that I have no hesitation taking the item on my own.

This is what happened with Ray Bluske’s accordion. His daughter phoned one day to introduce herself and tell me about the accordion she had inherited from her father. She wanted to know if we would be interested in giving it a home. The story she told was that her dad, Ray Bluske, had been a musician in La Crosse: he played the accordion and had been the leader of a band, Ray’s Royals. Ray passed away in 1997, and she had the accordion. She also had a photo of him on a parade float in La Crosse playing with his band.

The fact that the prospective donor had documentation (the photo), and that she said the instrument was in good condition made it sound like a very good candidate for inclusion, and I told her so. We agreed that the next time she was coming through La Crosse she would bring the accordion. I asked her to bring any photos she had of her father with his band or accordion and I would scan any she did not want to part with.

Part Two: Receiving the Donation

The day the accordion arrived I was stunned by how beautiful it was. Inside an old and much worn plain leather case was an instrument made in Minneapolis by the Traficante family, who brought craftspeople from Italy to make their instruments. Their business was later absorbed by a larger company, but the name is still known in accordions. This accordion was in beautiful condition: the body is made of iridescent plastic made to resemble mother-of-pearl, cut in fanciful scrollwork and decorated with rhinestones. The scrollwork shows an American eagle and two American flags sprinkled with red, white and blue rhinestones. Above the buttons the maker’s name appears: “Traficante, Minneapolis Minn,” and straight across the front, an inch high in blue rhinestones is the name “Ray Bluske.” This was a wonderful memento of our county’s past!

His daughter had also brought photos of Ray, with his band, and with his father and brother, as well as one from later in his life. In all of the pictures he has an accordion in his hands, sometimes the same one I was looking at in my office. The donor was very happy to be leaving this family heirloom somewhere she felt it would be treasured and looked after; I was happy to accept such a colorful piece of the bigger story of how life was lived in mid-twentieth century La Crosse. The definition of the value of this object was about to expand from a family memento to a publicly-owned historic artifact.

This was a donation that completely satisfied our criteria for acceptance: it was a well-documented, important part of local history, and would serve for both research and exhibition. I knew it would be approved for accession. Ray’s daughter and I signed the standard deed of gift used to donate articles to LCHS. Like the deeds used by museums throughout the U.S., it states that the donor is the owner of the object, and that she has the right to transfer ownership. It also declares that all rights of ownership are transferred to the La Crosse Historical Society, including the right to dispose of it as we see fit. This is not a possibility that donors like to think about, but it would be dishonest of us not to acknowledge it. When we accept an item we are accepting responsibility to care for it as a museum artifact. This is a higher level of care than family belongings usually receive. We strive for temperature and humidity control, and protection from agents of decay such as dirt, insects, acidity and sunlight. Proper care for a large collection of objects requires resources, and LCHS, to be responsible to its members and community, needs to use its resources for objects that meet its mission.

Part Three: Registering the Artifact

After the deed of gift is signed and the donor goes home, what happens next? What did we do with the accordion? A written description was created, based on information from the donor, examination of the item and outside research into Traficante accordions. Photos were taken. Each deed of gift is numbered with what we call an accession number, based on the year and the number of accessions thus far. 2010.009 is the accession number for the accordion, and its individual object id number is 2010.009.01. That number is painted very small in an unobtrusive place for permanent identification.

All of this may sound like boring paperwork, but the processing of a donation is actually very symbolic and important. It is what transforms the family heirloom into a museum artifact. I use the word artifact to signify something that the Historical Society considers to be its own precious charge to guard for future generations. It is an object we have accepted responsibility for on behalf of all of you and which we have agreed to care for accordingly.

Part Four: Sharing the Artifact

I am looking forward to sharing the Bluske accordion by putting it on display, and by making color photos available on our website. When we display it we will do so in a way that protects it and preserves it for future La Crosse County residents to enjoy. In the meantime, you can see it here on our website.