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Donating Items to the Research Center

Thank you for your interest in donating to the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) Research Center. Your donations allow us to continue the OHS mission to collect, preserve, and share the history of Oklahoma and its people.

Collections Policy and Guidelines

Collection guidelines are established by the OHS Research Division collection policy; further guidance is provided by the historic context review. When making a donation, please consider the following:

  • We ask that you schedule an appointment with our staff before bringing your items to the Oklahoma History Center.
  • Donations cannot be accepted without a gift agreement.
  • Donations may be tax deductible; however, OHS assumes no responsibility for evaluating donations. Any appraisals should be done prior to the donation.
  • All donations are considered outright and unconditional gifts to be used at the discretion of the Oklahoma Historical Society. We retain the right to add, exchange, or sell gifts at our discretion.
  • Because of the expense involved in housing, handling, maintaining, insuring, and exhibiting collections, loans cannot be accepted.
  • Donations are accepted at the discretion of the archivist/librarian and may be subject to the approval of the OHS Board of Directors.
  • If at any time, any portion of a gift is not deemed suitable to the purposes of the Research Division, it may be disposed of at the discretion of the archivist/librarian, or it may be returned to the donor if so specified.
  • Donations are incorporated into regular collections and placed with other similar materials for browsing and easy access. We cannot provide special display cases or shelving areas.

For complete details, please read our collection policy.

Keep in Mind

Materials NOT accepted include:

  • Out-of-state city directories, telephone books, yearbooks, and atlases
  • Photocopies of books, periodicals, images, and maps
  • Newspaper articles or clippings
  • Moldy or severely damaged materials

To Donate

Please contact our staff to discuss your donation and/or schedule an appointment. Each department may have special areas of focus, needs, or requests in regard to donations. Please see the department pages for contact info and further details.

Gift Agreements

All donations must be accompanied by a gift agreement. The gift agreement documents when an item was donated and from whom. It also officially transfers ownership of an item.

Please use the appropriate gift agreement for your donation:
Non-Published Materials (letters, personal records)
Non-published materials gift agreement (PDF)

Published Materials (books, periodicals, yearbooks, phone books)
Published materials gift agreement (PDF)



Donating to the Museum

The Research Center does not accept donations of artifacts, textiles, or art. If you have an item you are thinking of donating to the museum, please complete our museum acquisition inquiry form (PDF).