Getting Involved
Personal Histories Preserved for Community Memory
For millennia, written records have provided essential clues to the past. Through letters, diaries, and unpublished writings of many types, and also through the audible, visual, and electronic records of recent times, researchers have been able to study and understand much about the history of particular families, communities, businesses, and organizations, the history of specific events and broader societal trends, and the history of the United States in general. Letters, emails, diaries, photos, and other material accumulated over the years give vital and unique information regarding your life or the history of your family. These materials obviously matter to you, and they may be important to your community, state, or nation, too. Whether or not members of your family attained a degree of fame, they have contributed to the heritage of a certain place and time. When you donate your personal or family records to a manuscript repository, your family history becomes a part of your community’s collective memory.
Donations of Historical Items
Your Personal Records Could Have Historic Value Listed below are types of materials in personal and family records that are often valuable to a researcher. This list, which is suggestive and not definitive, illustrates the wide range of documentation that is often useful for historical and administrative research:
Planned Giving
While we always recommend that you consult legal counsel or your financial advisor before making any major financial decision, we offer the following options for your consideration:
Bequests
Through a bequest you can make a gift of assets to the Forest City Area Historical Society through your will. A provision in your will that names the Society as a beneficiary of all or a portion of your estate will assure that you will leave a meaningful legacy in support of our mission. If you already have a will, you may consider adding a bequest through a codicil, which is a change to an existing will.
Charitable Gift Annuities & Charitable Trusts
Through a charitable gift annuity or charitable trust you retain an interest in the gift, with the remainder to be received by the Historical Society at a later time. There may be specific tax benefits to you and your estate in utilizing one of the planned giving tools in support of the Society.
Life Insurance
In the event that your life insurance policy no longer has the financial significance for your family’s financial security that it once did, you may wish to consider donating the policy to the Forest City Area Historical Society.
Cash
Cash donations are the simplest way to support the Forest City Area Historical Society. A cash donation can be made by cash, check or credit card. Your employer may offer a matched giving program.
Other options:
Appreciated Stocks
Real Estate
The Forest City Area Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to which are deductible to the full extent of the law. The Society’s current financial statement is available upon request.
For millennia, written records have provided essential clues to the past. Through letters, diaries, and unpublished writings of many types, and also through the audible, visual, and electronic records of recent times, researchers have been able to study and understand much about the history of particular families, communities, businesses, and organizations, the history of specific events and broader societal trends, and the history of the United States in general. Letters, emails, diaries, photos, and other material accumulated over the years give vital and unique information regarding your life or the history of your family. These materials obviously matter to you, and they may be important to your community, state, or nation, too. Whether or not members of your family attained a degree of fame, they have contributed to the heritage of a certain place and time. When you donate your personal or family records to a manuscript repository, your family history becomes a part of your community’s collective memory.
Donations of Historical Items
Your Personal Records Could Have Historic Value Listed below are types of materials in personal and family records that are often valuable to a researcher. This list, which is suggestive and not definitive, illustrates the wide range of documentation that is often useful for historical and administrative research:
- Letters/email
- Memoirs/reminiscences
- Diaries/blogs
- Scrapbooks/photo albums
- Professional papers
- Genealogical information
- Speeches/lectures
- Articles/essays
- Subject files
- Legal documents
- Minutes/reports
- Brochures and fliers
- Awards/certificates
- Photographs (with subjects and locations identified)
- Films/videos/audio tapes (including identifying information)
- Websites
Planned Giving
While we always recommend that you consult legal counsel or your financial advisor before making any major financial decision, we offer the following options for your consideration:
Bequests
Through a bequest you can make a gift of assets to the Forest City Area Historical Society through your will. A provision in your will that names the Society as a beneficiary of all or a portion of your estate will assure that you will leave a meaningful legacy in support of our mission. If you already have a will, you may consider adding a bequest through a codicil, which is a change to an existing will.
Charitable Gift Annuities & Charitable Trusts
Through a charitable gift annuity or charitable trust you retain an interest in the gift, with the remainder to be received by the Historical Society at a later time. There may be specific tax benefits to you and your estate in utilizing one of the planned giving tools in support of the Society.
Life Insurance
In the event that your life insurance policy no longer has the financial significance for your family’s financial security that it once did, you may wish to consider donating the policy to the Forest City Area Historical Society.
Cash
Cash donations are the simplest way to support the Forest City Area Historical Society. A cash donation can be made by cash, check or credit card. Your employer may offer a matched giving program.
Other options:
Appreciated Stocks
Real Estate
The Forest City Area Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, donations to which are deductible to the full extent of the law. The Society’s current financial statement is available upon request.