About the Collection

What do we collect? The Charlotte Museum of History’s mission and vision statements both emphasize the regional focus of our educational and preservation efforts. This guides us in determining what to collect and what not to collect. The always growing permanent collection is currently composed of about 7,000 artifacts and more than 6,000 archival items. The artifact collection is quite varied, covering furnishings, textiles, tools, clothing, toys and numerous household items from as early as the Carolinas' colonial era to the late 20th Century. In addition there is a small, un-catalogued collection of archaeological artifacts that were found on our historic site. The museum's archives houses historic documents and publications, photographs, postcards and genealogical papers, all of which bear evidence of the region's past and its people. More than 3,000 collections items are displayed in our permanent galleries and in the Hezekiah Alexander House, or used in changing exhibits. A computerized database is used to keep track of where things are and what condition they are in; it also contains a record of any research that has been done about the items.

What about hands-on items? The museum keeps an education collection, separate from the permanent collection, of items that may be handled during educational programs and presentations. These may be real historic artifacts or high-quality reproductions. The real artifacts might be duplicates, or be from the wrong area, or might not be in good enough condition to warrant keeping them permanently. Rather than being thrown away, they are put to good use as long as they last, enabling the museum to fulfill our mission of using objects for education while still preserving our permanent collection.

Why Collect? Museums collect for various stated purposes, but in the end all the objects and documents serve the same purpose – to tell a story. Whether the items are on exhibit in a museum, serve as part of a historic home or farm environment, or sit on shelves and in databases ready to provide information to researchers, they are all collected and preserved because of what they can tell us. For that reason, the collectors try to preserve, along with the objects, as much information about them and about the people and purposes associated with them as possible. Where this has not been done in the past, or where information is not available from the donor, museum curators and visiting researchers work to find out as much as they can. This research may go into exhibit text, educational programs, or publications, and is available through catalogs, websites and databases to share with others.

We make our collection available to researchers by appointment. To schedule your appointment, please contact Anne Lane or Kevin Larrabee.

 

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Fall 2009