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• Artifact Donations

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is continually expanding its collections in order to better tell the stories of our shared maritime history in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. The Museum maintains many types of collections, including artifacts, photographs, manuscripts and archival materials, blueprints, maps, films and videos, ships logs and other research materials. We rely on the generosity of donors to help fulfill our mission through collecting historically significant items.

The cost of acquiring, processing, preserving and providing access to collections is substantial. Therefore, all items offered for donation are reviewed by Museum staff, the Collections Committee and the Board of Trustees before being approved and accepted into the collection.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is currently collecting items directly related to:

1. The maritime history of the Great Lakes
2. The maritime history of Wisconsin, including Wisconsin-built submarines
3. Submarine USS Cobia

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum carefully considers every item offered for donation to the collections. In order to do that, we need your help in gathering as much information as possible about the items you wish to donate.

The first step is to contact the museum about your donation. You will be asked to complete a donation form and provide photographs of the item(s) you wish to donate. The Museum staff will review the information you provide and contact you regarding your offer of a donation.

Next, potential donations are reviewed by the Collections Committee, which meets 4-6 times per year. Once your donation has been reviewed by the Collections Committee and the Board of Trustees, the Museum will inform you about the status of your donation and mail you a thank you letter and an official Deed of Gift form if your items are accepted.

You must contact the Museum staff ahead of time before you deliver or send any items to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. Items brought to the Museum without prior notice will not be accepted.

1. The items must be relevant to and consistent with the mission of the Museum.
2. The Museum must be able to provide for the storage, protection and preservation of the items, in keeping with professionally accepted standards.
3. Title to all items must be obtained free and clear, and without restrictions or limitations as to use or future dispositions. All donations are considered outright, irrevocable and unconditional gifts to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and are to be used at the discretion of the Museum. If, however, items are offered with restrictions or limitations, the condition will be stated clearly in the instrument of conveyance or Deed of Gift. Any conditions or limitations must be approved by the Collections Committee and the Board of Trustees.
4. The legal transfer of title, including adequate description of the items, will accompany all gifts and will be filed at the Museum. This document must be signed by both a Museum representative and the legal agent of the donor.
5. The items being offered must not represent an unnecessary duplication of objects of equal or superior quality already present in the Museum’s collections.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum has a policy, approved by the Board of Trustees, of changing materials on exhibit in order to preserve collections from ultraviolet light, dust and natural deterioration. Therefore, for the reasons stated above, no donation can be accepted for permanent exhibition.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

Museum representatives are prohibited from providing appraisals or any information on the monetary value of items donated to the collections. For help finding a professional appraiser, please see:

Appraisers Association of America
386 Park Avenue South Suite 2000
New York, NY 10016
212-889-5404
www.appraisersassoc.org

American Society of Appraisers
555 Herndon Parkway Suite 125
Herndon, VA 20170
703-478-2228
www.appraisers.org

National Association of Professional Appraisers
234 Lewis Wharf
Boston, MA 02110
617-720-0332
www.professionalappraisers.org

Please contact the museum by email or toll free by phone at 1-866-724-2356.