Donate a Collection

The Archives collects manuscripts, photographs, and other items related to Butte history. We preserve collections of written, visual, audible, and electronic material, which ensures that the records will be available for research by generations to come.

The Archives can provide your materials with environmentally controlled, secure storage and can oversee their proper handling and use. Equally important, it can provide research access to the contents of the records, both to you and to others. In future years, researchers—including students, professors, genealogists, journalists, and many others—may find your records both interesting and of value to their work.


Have a collection that needs preserved, but you are not ready to donate it? We’re happy to offer advice regarding the preservation and care of your collection.

  • Listed below are types of materials in personal and family records that are often valuable to the Archives.

    • Letters/email

    • Memoirs/reminiscences

    • Diaries/blogs

    • Scrapbooks/photo albums

    • Professional papers

    • Genealogical information

    • Speeches/lectures

    • Articles/essays

    • Subject files

    • Legal documents

    • Minutes/reports

    • Brochures and fliers

    • Awards/certificates

    • Photographs (with subjects and locations identified)

    • Films/videos/audio tapes (including identifying information)

    • Websites

    Also of interest are files relating to an individual’s civic, business, religious, political, and social activities. Churches, political organizations, businesses, economic interest groups, community groups, voluntary associations, and professional associations all create materials that document their purpose, policies, and activities.

  • The Archives can provide environmentally secure storage for your organization’s records. More importantly, we can provide research access to the information in the records, both to members of your organization and to the public, as well as safeguard the records by monitoring their handling and use. By placing records in the Archives, you take an important step toward preserving them and the memories that they contain.

    Listed below are some types of organizational records the Archives preserves.

    • Architectural records

    • Articles of incorporation, charters

    • Audio recordings

    • Budgets

    • Bylaws and revisions

    • Clippings

    • Constitution and revisions

    • Correspondence/email of officers

    • Directories

    • Financial statements

    • Handbooks

    • Legal documents

    • Memoranda

    • Minutes of meetings

    • Membership lists

    • Newsletters and other publications (generated by the organization)

    • Organizational charts

    • Pamphlets, brochures, fliers, etc.

    • Photographs

    • Planning documents

    • Press releases

    • Reports (annual, committee, etc.)

    • Rosters

    • Scrapbooks

    • Speeches

    • Subject files

Have an item or collection you believe the Archives would be interested in? Please fill out the form below and an archivist will contact you shortly.