Donate Your Materials
Most items at the Austin History Center come from generous community donations. We rely on your support to preserve Austin’s history for future generations.
How to Start a Donation
If you wish to donate, please don't drop off materials; use one of the following methods:
- Online: Fill out our Contact Us web form.
- Phone: Call us at 512-974-7480.
An archivist will contact you to schedule an appointment.
The Donation Process
During your meeting, we will discuss your items and the Deed of Gift form. This form is a legal requirement to transfer ownership to the archives. The archivist will explain what this means for your collection and answer any questions.
Guidelines: What We Collect
If you have items not listed below, please call us at 512-974-7480 before discarding them. We may be able to help you find a better home for those materials. We accept items in digital format such as photographs that were born digital or taken with a digital camera for phone.
Personal Papers
- Family letters
- Diaries or journals
- Scrapbook materials, such as programs, invitations, other documentary mementos, obituaries, newspaper clippings
- Recorded or written oral history interviews or memoirs
- Legal records, such as wills, estate materials, deeds, court records, contracts
- Photographs and photo albums
- Motion picture film
Organizational Records
- Charters, membership lists, minutes, yearbooks, programs, press releases
- Correspondence
- Newsletters, brochures
Business Records
- Correspondence
- Financial records, such as ledgers, record books, inventories, annual reports
- Legal records, such as contracts, deeds, court records
- Ephemera, such as flyers, calendars, schedules, posters, menus
- Photographs or photo albums
Printed Materials
- Newspaper clippings
- Books
- Pamphlets
- Posters
- Broadsides
- Maps
Audiovisual Materials
- Music on disc, cassette tape, vinyl
- Oral history interviews
- Video
Artistic Materials
- Posters
- Drawings
- Photographs
Please note that although the AHC reserves the right to decline items that are in very poor or fragile condition, we are more than happy to accept such materials if they have been transferred onto an appropriate archival medium such as acid-free paper or digitized and saved to CD or DVD.
Items Not Suitable for Donation
- Information not specific to Austin/Travis County
- Blank forms
- Duplicates or multiple copies
- Family Bibles
- Artifacts - clothing, textiles, statues, models, jewelry and other three-dimensional objects
- Certain financial records, such as canceled checks and receipts
- Old newspapers
- Computer manuals
- Materials in poor condition, including defaced text or items that show evidence of mold, mildew, pests, significant embrittlement, or disrepair.
- Mailers, flyers, invitations, announcements and other advertisements that lack any substantive information about an organization, event or individual(s). In other words, we do not accept items that only list names, times, dates, locations or prices.
Preparation Checklist
To help our staff and future researchers, please do the following before your appointment:
- Add Context: Provide a list or legible notes on items.
- Include Details: List names of people, places, dates, and event titles.
- Check Condition: Ensure items are clean and dry.