Railroad Station Historical Society, Inc.

Archival Holdings

The Railroad Station Historical Society administers the Norman M. Barrett Slide Collection and the E. Everett Edwards Post Card Collection which include numerous views of depots and related structures. Copies are available to members at nominal charge. Please request information from Archivist Mark J. Camp (address below).

Archives Policy

The Railroad Station Historical Society recognizes that there are many restoration workers, authors, researchers. individuals, and societies that share our committments and interests. In our seeking to serve them all well, we have recognized the value of archives, and have set forth a policy so that we have a process for collecting and securing materials and for recognizing donors.

While we recognize the value of hardware, we believe that such material is better placed in museums that have the facilities for the prservation and display of such material. Our primary, though not sole focus, is on visual materials such as slides, negatives, prints, photographs, drawings, and postcards.

These materials will be sought for the Railroad Station Historical Society's archives, and all such donations will be secured archivally, stored under appropriate conditions, catalogued by the archivist(s), and made available for appropriate use. All charges for copies of materials will cover, at least, the cost of such copying. Any proceeds above such costs will be used exclusively for the further growth of the archives. Cash donations to the Railroad Station Historical Society to benefit the archives are appropriate and welcome. The loan of materials for copying is another avenue for enhancing the archives; it has already proven valuable and will continue to be encouraged. Material may also be given to the archives in trust; such materials will be used only in accord with the directives of the donor.

Donors of material to the archives will be acknowledged with a form that substantiates such tax deductible contributions. These contributions will be evaluated as to their fair market value by the Railroad Station Historical Society. and that will be reported on the form. In any instance where the value is established as greater than $5000.00 in any calendar year, certain provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1984 will apply. This law requires that an appraisal be made within 60 days prior to the giving of the gift. The appraiser may not be the donor, the Railroad Station Historical Society, any person employed by, related to, or in close association with the donor, or any party to the transaction(s) in which the donor acquired the property. The Railroad Station Historical Society, and especially its' archivist(s) will work closely with any donor to insure that we are within the law, and that donors receive all benefits that they are entitled to.

Donations will be acknowledged by letters of thanks from the Directors or Archivist(s), and with the permission of the donor, they will be publically thanked in the Bulletin of the Railroad Station Historical Society.

Please direct any questions or comments to: Archivist: Mark J. Camp, Mark.Camp@utoledo.edu