413 322-5660 [email protected]

Wistariahurst Museum will collect a comprehensive collection of objects, artifacts, and documents through gift, purchase, or exchange, illustrating the history of Holyoke.

What artifacts is Wistariahurst Museum actively seeking for its Permanent Collections?

  • Photographs, artifacts, and textiles related to the History of Holyoke post World War II and the latter half of the twentieth century. This can include material related to cultural shifts, industrial changes, protests, and city-wide events.
  • Photographs, artifacts, and textiles related to Puerto Rican Migration and History in Holyoke
  • Items reflecting Holyoke’s Women’s History and Working-class related items and artifacts, like clothing, shoes, accessories, toiletry items, and photographs.
  • Photographs and artifacts related to the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Photographs, artifacts, and documents related to family ties to soldiers fighting in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
  • Select historical documents for for-profit and non-profit organizations that have operated in Holyoke for more than 50 years. 
  • Items relating to Papermaking and Papermaking history in Holyoke.
  • Items relating to the operation and government of the City of Holyoke. 
  • Items related to Historic Properties, like tenement housing, and working-class living conditions.

What items are NOT being accepted into Wistariahurst Museum Collections at this time?

  • Items that do not have a direct link to Holyoke History
  • Newspapers
  • Coins or currency
  • Pre-2000 military dress uniforms and accessories
  • Wedding dress or suits from any time period
  • Weapons 
  • China, glassware, silverware
  • Clocks and watches
  • Furniture and household accessories
  • Tools for woodworking, leatherworking, masonry, metalworking, mechanical repairs, and farming
  • Spinning wheels, sewing machines, looms, and other textile/sewing equipment
  • Office and business equipment
  • Electronics
  • Food processing equipment
  • Medical equipment and tools
  • Optics, including telescopes, microscopes, cameras, binoculars, and glasses
  • Scales and weights
  • Musical instruments, including pianos and organs
  • Transportation devices and accessories,
  • Animal specimens, neither animal skins nor animal bodies
  • Rocks and minerals
  • Fossils that do not have a Holyoke prehistory site documentation
  • Native American or Archaeological artifacts

This Collections Management Policy is an acknowledgement of Wistariahurst Museum’s responsibility to the public trust, and ensures that the Museum will strive to administer all Museum operations according to the highest museum standards.

If you are interested in donating materials to the collections at Wistariahurst Museum, please take a moment to complete this form and tell us about your materials. Once we receive your response, someone will contact you to ask for more details about your potential donation.

Thank you for thinking of Wistariahurst Museum

Donating Artifacts to Archive

Donating Artifacts to Archive

A Form to gather information about potential donations of materials to the Wistariahurst Archive.

First
Last
email address
Phone number
Select which collections to which the items relate:
What Kind of artifacts do you wish to donate?
Is there VISIBLE damage of the item?
Is there INVISIBLE damage of the item?
Is there evidence of mold or mildew?
Do the items smell moldy or musty?
Is there evidence of insect or rodent damage?
Have repairs been made to the item?
Has the item been stored in any of these places? Select all that apply
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