Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc.

Effective Date: February 23, 2016

Collection Overview

Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc. (MHV) is dedicated to exploring the history of the Russian Mennonites who settled in Manitoba after 1874. The museum’s collection constitutes an invaluable cultural resource that enables Canadians to learn about the history of this ethnoreligious group. The heritage buildings in the outdoor village, the artifacts in the Permanent Collection, the objects in the Working Collection, and the exhibits in the permanent gallery and the Gerhard Ens Gallery all serve to engage the public and promote understanding of the Russian Mennonite experience in Canada.

The objects in the museum’s care are categorized into two separate collections: the Working Collection and the Permanent Collection. The Working Collection contains objects that can be operated and handled by staff, volunteers, and the public. Although these objects are an important resource for the museum’s public and school programming, they are ultimately expendable and are not protected by the Collections Policy, the Collections Conservation Policy, or the Collections Disaster Management Procedures.

The Permanent Collection contains artifacts that will be cared for according to professional museum standards and in keeping with ethical museum practice. Mennonite Heritage Village holds this resource in trust for the benefit of future generations and therefore, the Collections Policy, the Collection Conservation Policy, and the Collections Disaster Management Procedures govern the care and preservation of this collection. Additionally, this Collections Policy will be reviewed by the Senior Curator, in collaboration with the Executive Direction at least once every three years to ensure it is kept up-to-date and in keeping with professional museum standards.

As stewards of this Permanent Collection, Mennonite Heritage Village will abide by the following Collections Policy:

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

“Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc., at Steinbach, Manitoba, organized under the Corporations Act of Manitoba, has been created to collect, restore and exhibit all those objects that best serve to illustrate the Russian Mennonite experience, primarily in Manitoba, since 1874.

The museum will collect, compile, restore, research, house, exhibit, and interpret those objects which can help to preserve for present and future generations the contributions made by Mennonite settlers to southern Manitoba, which are an important part of Canadian heritage.

Through the medium of its buildings, collections, interpreters, and pioneering demonstrations, the village illustrates the early Manitoba Mennonite village and its development into a more diversified rural village about the turn of the century.

The museum will serve all who are interested in the Mennonite experience, from its origins to the early period in Manitoba.”

This statement may not be altered without the consent of the Board of Directors of this organization.

2. SCOPE AND EXTENT OF COLLECTIONS

The collection is the heart of Mennonite Heritage Village. It is primarily through the medium of the collection that the visitor can appreciate the lifestyle of the early Mennonite settlers to southern Manitoba.

Following the guidelines specified in the Statement of Purpose, the collection will limit itself, in general, to those articles which are relevant to the understanding of the experience of Mennonites in Manitoba.
This includes artifacts from the Mennonite experience leading up to settlement in Canada in the 1870s, including those from the origins of Anabaptism in the Netherlands, from the Prussian, Russian, and Soviet periods of Mennonite history, and from Mennonite settlement in Canada. The goal of the collection is not to illustrate the global Mennonite experience; however, insofar as they help to contextualize and interpret Mennonite life in Manitoba, the collection may also include artifacts from later, post-settlement periods in Canada, and also from Mennonite groups around the world, such as Russian-descendant Mennonites in Europe and the United States, or Canadian-descendant Mennonites in Latin America. The goal of the collection should always be to assist in interpreting the Mennonite experience in Canada and every artifact collected should be able to further this aim.

Artifacts collected must be of present and /or future use. The collection shall be supported by research programs whenever possible.

3. ACQUISITION POLICY

Articles for the collection are generally acquired either by donation, gift, or bequest, or by purchase from funds allocated for this purpose. They may also be acquired through commission, exchange or transfer, or found on the premises.

3.1. Donations, Gifts, and Bequests:

Gifts made to the collection can be accepted or rejected by the Senior Curator. Substantial donations that may incur immediate or future costs, such as heritage buildings or vehicles, can be accepted or rejected by the Executive Director, in consultation with the Senior Curator. Donors will be required to sign an Official Donation Receipt stipulating that the donation is an outright transfer by gift of the full title to and interest in the object, in perpetuity; that this transfer is unrestricted and unconditional; and that the museum may use the gift as it sees fit, without ties, to be displayed, kept in storage, loaned, or deaccessioned at the discretion of the museum. All accepted artifact donations support the Statement of Purpose and the guidelines outlined in the Scope and Extent of Collections.

3.2. Purchases:

In general, items are donated to, rather than purchased for, the museum’s artifact collection. In exceptional circumstances, however, items may be purchased for the collection. In these special situations, the decision to purchase must be authorized by the Executive Director. At the discretion of the Executive Director, this decision may also involve the Board.

All items purchased for the collection should be made in the name of Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc.

3.3. Commission:

Occasionally, the museum may commission a project that results in a work of art or a replica. These works may be recommended for accession into the museum’s collection provided they fit the regular criteria for, and strengthen, the collection.

3.4. Exchange or transfer:

Acquisition of objects through exchange or transfer will be limited to objects from other Canadian museums. Exchanges or transfers from individuals will not be accepted into the museum’s collection. Items acquired in this way and accessioned into the collection would need to meet the normal criteria for inclusion in the collection. The Senior Curator will ensure the exchange or transfer of the material follows all applicable legal and ethical requirements and all appropriate documentation is completed prior to the exchange or transfer.

3.5. Found on the premises:

This category refers to objects that emerge during collections management activities which lack documentary evidence of ownership. Every attempt should be made to ascertain ownership of the object; however, if the Senior Curator is unable to determine ownership within a reasonable amount of time, the object may be chosen to be accessioned into the collection.

4. LOANS

4.1. Incoming Loans to Mennonite Heritage Village:

Incoming loans are defined as items temporarily loaned to Mennonite Heritage Village from individuals or institutions. These loans will usually be for the purpose of temporary exhibits. Mennonite Heritage Village will accept items on loan from individuals or organizations when the item provides a unique understanding on an aspect of Mennonite history that would not be possible through the artifacts in the museum’s own collection. Mennonite Heritage Village will only accept items on loan for non-exhibition purposes in exceptional circumstances. In these cases, the Senior Curator must provide a clear rationale for accepting the incoming loan into the museum’s collection, which should include an argument for the artifact’s exceptional significance to Russian Mennonite history, its connection to the Collection Policy’s Statement of Purpose, and adherence to the Scope and Extent of Collections.

The maximum term for all incoming loans should be two years, at which time the loan agreement must be reviewed by the Senior Curator. Upon review, the agreement may be

terminated or renewed for another two-year term. All incoming loans must be properly documented with legal loan forms, stipulating the time span of the loan, a description of the object(s), an evaluation from the owner, and pertinent information about the owner. Mennonite Heritage Village will ensure that incoming loans are covered by the museum’s insurance policy, from the moment it leaves the borrower’s premises to the point at which it is returned to the borrower.

All incoming loans will be accepted at the discretion of the Senior Curator. In exceptional circumstances the Executive Director will be involved in the decision. Exceptional circumstances may be defined as those involving an immediate or future financial impact, including but not limited to the purchase of a heritage building, the need for extra security or insurance or new facilities for storage or exhibit, or increased on-going maintenance costs. At the discretion of the Executive Director, this decision may also involve the Board.

4.2. Outgoing Loans from the Mennonite Heritage Village:

Outgoing Loans of artifacts from Mennonite Heritage Village can be made to other museums or responsible institutional organizations, provided that they guarantee a specific standard of security and proper care according to museum industry standards, as specified in the Outgoing Loan Agreement. Mennonite Heritage Village must receive a certificate of insurance from the borrower prior to entering into a legal Outgoing Loan Agreement, to ensure the artifact is insured by the borrower from the moment it leaves Mennonite Heritage Village to the point at which it is returned.

Outgoing Loans must be authorized by the Senior Curator and properly documented with signed loan forms. In exceptional circumstances the Executive Director will be involved in the decision. At the discretion of the Executive Director, this decision may also involve the Board.

5. ACCESSIONING ARTIFACTS

5.1. The Executive Director is ultimately responsible to the Board of Directors for all accessioning, registration, and cataloguing of acquisitions at the Mennonite Heritage Village. A trained, competent staff person, normally in the position of Senior Curator, will be designated by the Executive Director to perform the tasks involved.

5.2. The MHV will strive to ensure that all acquisitions are documented to convey absolute and irrevocable ownership to the Mennonite Heritage Village (Canada) Inc.

5.3. The MHV will obtain all available information about new acquisitions to the collection and continue research in order to update files with additional details as they become available.

5.4. All accessions will be registered and catalogued in approved museum standards and methods, as soon as possible, upon receipt by the MHV.

5.5. A Cataloguing Procedures Manual presents in detail all the forms, activities and steps required to completely document an acquisition of the MHV. The Virtual Collections program is the current method of collections data storage.

5.6. The Senior Curator, or other designated staff member, will follow the procedures presented in the manual for all acquisitions.

5.7. The MHV will up-grade and expand the Accession Policy to incorporate improved means of research and information storage.

6. DEACCESIONING AND DISPOSING OF ARTIFACTS

6.1. Artifacts may be disposed of by Mennonite Heritage Village only in accordance with the museum’s Collections Policy and in accordance with ethical museum practice.

6.2. Deaccessioning artifacts shall be undertaken only on written recommendation by the Senior Curator to the Executive Director. In exceptional circumstances the Executive Director will be involved in the decision. At the discretion of the Executive Director, this decision may also involve the Board.

6.3. All items to be considered for de-accessioning should normally have documentation conveying outright and irrevocable ownership to the Museum; objects without such documents may be considered for de-accessioning, but only after the Senior Curator has demonstrated staff attempts to locate the donor or heirs, and/or to have a Donor’s Agreement Form signed by them.

6.4. The rationale for de-accessioning should be identified explicitly by the Senior Curator in the Deaccession Form. The entry for the deaccessioned item in the Museum’s collection data storage system (currently Virtual Collections), as well as any paper documentation, should be updated to reflect its deaccessioned status. The electronic entry in Virtual Collections should be kept as an archive by the Museum, along with all documents pertaining to the history of the item, including donor documentation.

6.5. The reasons for deaccessioning an item may include:

– lack of relevance to the Collection Policy
– poor condition, not cost-effective to restore
– mistaken or missing provenance or identity
– inability of the MHV to preserve the item
– duplication in the collection
– acquisition of a superior example

Lack of relevance to the Collection Policy can be considered on its own as a sufficient rationale for deaccessioning an item. In all other cases, a combination of one or more of the above reasons would be required as a rationale.

6.6. Means of disposal of deaccessioned objects, in priority order, are:

A. to move it into the Working Collection for educational purposes in the Museum’s hands-on programs or in demonstrations;

B. to offer it to other museums in exchange for items that may enhance the MHV collection (assuming condition warrants such exchange);

C. to advertise its availability as a donation to other Manitoba, Mennonite and /or Canadian museums or other collecting institutions through notices in Association publications (again assuming condition warrants);

D. sale at a location away from the Museum, without participation by staff or Board members, and with all proceeds dedicated solely to the artifact restoration and conservation fund, and not available for capital, operating or other purposes; and

E. destruction, particularly if poor condition is one main reason for de-accessioning.

6.7. Deaccessioned objects of Canadian origin will not be permitted to be sold or gifted to recipients outside Canada, either directly or indirectly.

6.8. The Museum will consider deaccessioning items from its collection for the purpose of repatriation where other bodies or governments can show moral or legal right to the material, in cases where adequate conditions for the security and preservation of the items would be provided following repatriation.