Donate Material

Smelter PhotoWe are honored when someone considers donating material to our museum. We carefully consider each donation to make sure it is a good fit for our collection and that we have the capability to care for the material. We take our responsibility for caring for our collections very seriously. Each object in the collection takes hours to prepare for exhibit or storage. It is also costly to maintain historical material in a protected environment long term. We are a small museum with limited resources and cannot always acquire the pieces we want. If we cannot take the material, we will do our best to suggest other institutions that might.  We do not accept any material dropped off at the museum unless prior arrangements have been made. Should you wish to assist the museum with a monetary donation to help us care for our collection, please call us.

Collections Scope:
Tooele Valley Museum’s permanent collections consist of historical artifacts, archives, and photo archives that tell the history of Tooele County in the twentieth century.

  • Historical Artifacts: Three-dimensional objects with historical or aesthetic significance
  • Archives: Historical records and documents
  • Photo Archives: Images such as photographs, negatives, film, postcards, etc.
The Tooele Valley Museum adheres to the Code of Ethics established by the American Association of State and Local History and the Code of Ethics for Archivists.

Authority:

The Museum Coordinator is the final authority on all decisions affecting the collection.

Acquisition Criteria:

  • Material produced in Tooele County
  • Material used in Tooele County but made elsewhere
  • Materials not made or used in Tooele County, but related to the history of the region and collected for research, exhibit, and educational use
  • We will only accept mine and railroad materials directly related to the Tooele Valley Railroad and the mines and smelters that operated in Tooele County
Materials acquired for the collection must be complete, in good condition and as fully documented as possible. The decision to acquire an artifact or specimen is based on a many factors:

  • The material must support the mission and goals of the museum and historic park
  • Significance of the material, such as association with an event or person
  • Representative of other artifacts or specimens of its kind
  • Physical Condition
  • Availability of human and financial resources to acquire, document, preserve and store the object
  • Opportunities for use within the collection and exhibits
  • Attributes that make the object a threat to users or other objects
The museum does not accept material of questionable origin (legal or ethical). We will not accept materials associated with the destruction of historic or archaeological sites or in violation of the terms and conditions of state, federal, and international laws and statutes. All collections are subject to the laws of Utah and the United States.