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Give
Financial Gifts
You may also be interested in providing financial support for the WVRHC through WVU Libraries. We welcome financial donations that enable our work to efficiently preserve, process and make collections available to the general public.
Material Gifts
The West Virginia and Regional History Center at WVU Libraries is always interested in receiving donations of historic documents, maps, photographs, books, and other information resources that fall within the Center's collecting focus and meet the teaching and research needs of the University. Ultimately, the vast majority of the Center's holdings exist today because of the efforts of generations of our loyal Mountaineer alumni, faculty, librarians, and friends who recognized their value and had the foresight to place them here to ensure their survival for posterity.
We encourage you to consider that you may own or have knowledge of historical materials
worth preserving. Please review the following information on what we collect, gift
policy and procedures and then contact us to discuss your donation.
The WVRHC adheres to best practices within the archives field, which stipulates that all donations must be made in mediation with an archivist and accompanied by a deed of gift. Any materials that do not meet these conditions will be offered back to the donor or, if the donor is unresponsive, dealt with according to WVRHC procedures.
What We Collect
The WVRHC collects materials that document the state of West Virginia and central Appalachia. This includes southwestern Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and western Maryland.
Materials collected may originate from prior to white settlement in West Virginia and the regional area through the present.
In addition to manuscripts, archives and manuscripts collections may include audiovisual recordings, works of art, artifacts, books, maps, photographs, slides, broadsides, newspapers, microfilm, and digital formats of all of the above.
Though there may be exceptions, archives and manuscripts collections generally exclude:
- Materials from outside the geographic areas described;
- Collections primarily composed of secondary or published materials;
- Research files consisting primarily of photocopies;
- Duplicate items will only be accepted if they’re in better condition than what is already in the collection or have an unusual and traceable history;
- We will generally not accept materials in poor condition or condition that require extensive conservation. Exceptions will be made for materials of prominent historical value;
- Three dimensional objects with little research value. Artifacts serve our purposes better when accompanied by contextual archival materials;
- Materials for which access is restricted in a way that would prevent the WVRHC from providing reasonable access. For example, if the donor requested that access be restricted in perpetuity or for a period of time deemed by the WVRHC to be unreasonable, if access was restricted to an unreasonably narrow group of users, or if access required a burdensome amount of permissions.
Examples of areas of interest include:
The WVRHC holds collections pertaining to numerous subjects, but the following are areas of particular strength.
- Appalachian Business and Industry
- Civil War
- Current and Historically Significant Events
- Environmental Issues and Activism
- Family and Personal Papers
- Feminist Activism in West Virginia
- Folklore and Folk Culture
- Labor
- Medical History in West Virginia
- Military History
- Modern Congressional and Political Papers
- West Virginia Statehood
- Transportation and Infrastructure
- Underrepresented and/or Marginalized Populations in Appalachia
- West Virginia University History
- West Virginia Authors and Artists
Subjects of special interest to the Rare Books Collection include:
- West Virginia and Appalachia rare books
- Shakespeare, his sources, and his contemporaries
- Mark Twain and his contemporaries
- Isaac Asimov
- Decorative publishers' bindings
- Illustrated books, especially botanicals and herbals
- Appalachian content and Appalachia depicted on publishers' bindings and dust jackets
Donations of collections or single items that directly support or complement our collections should be brought to the attention of the appropriate curator.
| Collection | Contact | Phone & Email |
|---|---|---|
| WVRHC, Main Collections | Lori Hostuttler, Director |
304-293-1116
LoHostuttler@mail.wvu.edu |
| Appalachian Collection and Rare Books | Stewart Plein, Curator of Rare Books & Printed Resources | 304-293-7531 stewart.plein@mail.wvu.edu
|
| Congressional Archives | Danielle Emerling, Congressional & Political Papers Archivist | 304-293-2574 danielle.emerling@mail.wvu.edu |
| University Archives | Jane LaBarbara, Head of Archives and Manuscripts | 304-293-0352 jane.labarbara@mail.wvu.edu |
Gift Procedures and Policies
If you are interested in providing a material gift to the West Virginia & Regional History Center please contact the appropriate subject liaison above. If possible, we would appreciate a complete description of the items, information about the condition and provenance of the materials and, if books, a list of printed books which includes author, title, date and place of publication.
WVRHC staff will make mutually acceptable arrangements to examine and/or pick up the gift, or have the gift shipped to WVU Libraries.
A deed of gift transferring ownership of the gifted material to the WVRHC is required. If you wish to claim a charitable tax deduction, the IRS requires that gifts valued at $5,000 or more be professionally appraised at the expense of the donor. Please consult a qualified tax professional or the Internal Revenue Service for additional information regarding tax treatment for material gifts.
We are honored that you are considering placing a gift with the West Virginia and Regional History Center, and we look forward to working with you in this process Those who donate are rewarded not only by the thanks of researchers at the WVRHC, but also by the satisfaction of participating in the effort to build the historical record and understand West Virginian and Appalachian history and life.