{"id":24998,"date":"2022-10-24T12:21:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T17:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crematoriumontreal.com\/don-darchives-familiale-a-une-societe-dhistoire\/"},"modified":"2022-12-22T11:50:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T16:50:28","slug":"donate-family-archives-to-a-historical-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crematoriumontreal.com\/en\/donate-family-archives-to-a-historical-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Donate Your Family Archives to a Historical Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you sort through your loved one’s belongings, you’re likely to find old black-and-white photos, yellowed birth certificates, announcements or diplomas from the turn of the century. Some boxes of memorabilia contain priceless treasures, but you worry that your closet is not the ideal place to store these treasures from another era.<\/p>\n

To remedy this situation, did you know that Quebec historical and genealogical societies can process and store your private archives, free of charge? An archives depository is the ideal solution for preserving these precious family documents that testify to the family, professional and love life of our family members. Historical societies’ archive service includes secure facilities that reduce the negative effects of time and limit the loss of documents.<\/p>\n

Definition of an archive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An archival document is a record of what a person or organization did during their lifetime. These document archives can be photos, negatives, slides, postcards, audio tapes (VHS, CDs or DVDs), letters, deeds (such as a bill of sale or a will), drawings, plans, manuscripts, etc.<\/p>\n

These documents are essential to understand the history of a region, to better grasp the contribution of its citizens to its development and to define the way of life of an era. With this in mind, archival societies acquire documents in order to safeguard the heritage of their territory, support historical research and facilitate access to heritage and its dissemination. In this way, archives may be consulted by the public, usually for a fee.<\/p>\n

Donate your archives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Would you like to donate your family archives to a historical and genealogical society? There are some in every region. The F\u00e9d\u00e9ration qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s de g\u00e9n\u00e9alogie<\/a> website lists most of these organizations in the province and offers a search tool<\/a> to find the one closest to your home or to the person who owned the archives.<\/p>\n

Societies generally accept all eligible donations and will work with you to determine the terms of access in a “donation agreement”. The archives will be stored according to a strict classification system, in a room that will protect the documents from fire and water damage.<\/p>\n

Tips for storing your archives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you want to keep your personal archives at home, here are some tips to protect them from damage for many years to come.<\/p>\n