Madison Historical Society – Policy for Donation to Collections

Thank you for considering a donation to the collections of the Madison Historical Society. Madison has an exciting and unique history to share, drawing interest from current and former residents and from many individuals, families and organizations with Madison connections.

If you have an item or items you believe may be of interest to the Madison Historical Society, we would like to hear from you. You can contact us at:

Phone: 973.377.0722 ext. 8

Email: historicalsociety@rosenet.org

or fill out the form below.

Donation Criteria 

Once a potential donation is brought to the Madison Historical Society, the staff examines it carefully. We review the object(s) using the following criteria:

  • The item relates to the Society’s collection. We collect objects and documents that are related to Madison history.

  • The object will help further the Society’s programmatic and educational goals.

  • The quality and physical condition of the item is good.

  • The provenance is known and relevant.

  • Some or all the following information is known: the original purpose of the item; who the creator/author(s) was; where and when it was created/written; its relationship to contemporary events; original and subsequent ownership.

  • The item is not a duplicate of an item(s) already in the collection.

Once the item is assessed one of two things will happen: 

  1. If a donation is accepted, two deeds of gift will be mailed to the donor. The donor signs the deeds and returns them to Madison Historical Society to be countersigned. An original copy of the deed is returned to the donor for her/his records.  Madison Historical Society retains the second copy with the files on the object.

  2. If the donation is not accepted, the donor will be notified. The item(s) will then be returned to the donor. 

Madison Historical Society does not, by law, provide appraisals or an assessment of the monetary value of an object. Madison Historical Society staff are also prohibited from recommending one appraiser over another. 

Please provide information about a collection item that you would like to donate, in the form below: