Deciding on What to Collect

The Museum's history, art and culture collections connect us to our region's past, identity and creative spirit-and to the area's diverse cultures.

How does the Augusta Museum of History (AMH) decide what to accept into the collection? 

As a nationally accredited institution through the American Association of Museums, AMH must have written collection policies based on its mission that include criteria for items that are generously offered for the collection:

1. The Augusta Museum of History will collect material related to the history of Augusta, and the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA.)
2. Artifacts must possess interpretive value to local/regional history; they must have a story.
3. The material should be beneficial for exhibition, research, or scholarship.
4. Only those artifacts which can be properly stored, preserved, and cared for will be accepted.
5. Accessioned artifacts shall be acquired to be a permanent part of the museum collections as long as they retain their physical integrity, their identity, and their authenticity.
6. The AMH accepts objects unconditionally.  For example there is no guarantee an object will be exhibited.
7. No artifact can be appraised by a Museum staff member.  Staff may render impartial assistance to donors seeking independent, qualified appraisers.
8. A Deed of Gift (legal document of conveyance) and acquisition report with a description of the artifact and the conditions of transfer will be made for all acquisitions.

Preserving the CSRA's heritage is paramount, however, other factors need to be considered when accepting items for the collection: time to evaluate and process, funding for care, space for storage and display and personnel to actually do these things. When the AMH does accept a donation, the Museum assumes full responsibility for the object's care and preservation.

The Museum collects and values materials for their education potential and their relation to significant people, places, issues, or events of the CSRA and items can be two hundred years old to items from yesterday. The Museum's assessment of value is not based on prestige, nostalgia or monetary standards, but rather the artifacts relevancy to the Museum's mission.

The Augusta Museum of History has been incredibly fortunate over the years to have people, businesses and organizations that have made the decision to donate their treasures so future generations can appreciate and learn from the past.

Thank you all for your generosity!

Nancy J. Glaser, Executive Director

Coming up next for display in the A Quilt Journey exhibit funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation is a Feed Sack Quilt from the 1930s. During the Depression and the World Wars, ladies would repurpose grocery feed sacks to make colorful quilts.

The museum has partnered with Augusta Landmarks to bring a temporary exhibit on the history of Augusta's theaters. On exhibit until August 31, this display illustrates the popularity of downtown movie theaters in the 20th Century.

Part of the Augusta Museum of History's Vision Statement is to provide historical contexts for understanding the human experience, and to interpret and reflect the diversity of the region's people.  One way this is achieved is through our museum theater program Voices of the Past.  Two characters come to life on two different Saturdays per month.

Dr. Jean Embry performs The Other Tubmans.  She presents the story of Augustan Richard C. Tubman, his wife Emily, and their slaves.   William Tubman, who served as Liberia's longest serving President from 1944-1971, was an heir to that legacy.  How did it happen?  You have to hear the story! Embry is a professor of psychology at Paine College, has been involved in theater as a writer and actor for over thirty years, and is completing her fourth book of poetry and short stories.  She loves sharing stories of how Emily Tubman molded Augusta's economy and education.  "I enjoy seeing faces light up when they learn something new about Augusta!"    

Ken Smith portrays Petersburg Boat Pilot James Henry Balchin.  The story is based on the oral history of Mr. "Buck" Balchin, whose grandfather piloted cotton boats from Petersburg to Augusta in the late 1800's. Smith has been active in community theater in Mobile, Alabama, and in North Augusta.  He is an avid fisherman and says, "Now when I go fishing, it's interesting to look at different places on the river and think about all that history."

For more information and a schedule of Voices of the Past, click here or call 706-722-8454.

Julie Gazda, Education Manager

For example, Cabbage Patch dolls, which created a frenzy in the early 1980s, were created by a Georgia native, Xavier Roberts. When he was only a teenager, Roberts rediscovered a German sewing technique called needle molding and used it to create his "Little People" dolls, sold at craft fairs.  Within a few years, he had turned his dolls into a multimillion dollar brand.  Roberts also opened Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia where thousands of Cabbage Patch Kids awaited adoption set in the mythology he created for them.  This extremely colorful mythology told a story of a Bunnybee who showed a boy a field behind a waterfall where the Cabbage Patch Kids sprouted and awaited a child to take them home.

These objects, along with leisure suits, 8-track players, kaleidoscopes and more, help to tell the stories of the CSRA in the 1970s - 1980s. 

Sarah Carlson, Intern